Tweet

The Bellwood-Antis speech team kept up its steady pace in its speech meet on Tuesday in Blacklick Valley.

Four of BA’s finest placed, three of which took home a blue ribbon. Hannah Hornberger took first place in drama, Alivia Jacobs took first place in the informative category, and Haley Campbell took first in the declamation category.

All the while, Jenna Bartlett took home a second-place red ribbon the in informative category.

“I’m very pleased with the performance of all the students. With the holiday and the weather, it was difficult to get much practice in, but they worked on their own. We only have one more invitation left, then districts and regionals. I’m hoping we have some speakers who qualify for state and national tournaments”, said Mrs. Padula.

It was the second meet of the season for B-A, which competed at Bishop McCort earlier this month.

For a freshman like Haley, who placed fifth in her first  meet in December, it’s been quite the ride in senior high speech this season.

“I was intimidated by the competition, so getting first was really surprising,” said Haley.

Haley chose to perform “God Put You Here For a Reason” by Lizzie Valesquet. This speech essentially sums up the relatable teenage girl, who gets cyber-bullied for her appearance. The main character in the speech tell the audience about how her faith got her through her struggles.

Alivia and Jenna, one of the area’s top duos last season, were thrilled they could place in the informative category, despite having to go in direct competition with one another.

“I was really happy with my performance. Last meet I was fifth and this meet I was first, so I was extremely excited about my improvement. It’s cool that I get to do this category with one of my best friends because we’re always supporting each other and pushing each other to get better,” said Alivia.

Jenna was determined to adjust her pacing from the first meet.

“I was pretty happy with my performance; I went at a much slower pace and I improved from the last meet. So proud of Alivia though! 1st place!” said Jenna.

Mrs. Cunningham feels that they grew from their last meet.

“I am proud of the hard work that the students put in. The students who placed took the feedback from our last meet and made necessary changes to improve their performance,” said Mrs. Cunningham.