Spuds take first in metro finale, prep for Nat Quals

Post date: Mar 13, 2017 7:14:38 PM

Last Friday, the Spuds made their final four hour trip to Minneapolis for the last regular season invitational; last Saturday, they returned to Moorhead with their third team championship.

With postseason tournaments looming, the Spuds entered the Eagan "Cats Gone Wild" tournament with 63 entries; 28 advanced to a final round and half of the categories offered held Spud speakers at the top. Those seven first-place finishes tie Moorhead's own mark for most in a single tournament with the seven they snagged at Marshall.

Taking home first place included first-year speaker Kenan Stoltenow (Drama), senior duo Abby Dahlberg & Skyler Klostriech (Duo), senior Carolyn Solberg (Great Speeches), junior Izzy Larson (POI), senior Sarah Schulz (Prose), sophomore Alyssa Haagenson (Storytelling) and a perfect five-judge final round score from Anna Larson (Inform).

The Spuds also took second place in six categories, highlighted by senior Alex Church who advanced to finals in Creative (2nd), Humor (2nd) and Oratory (3rd).

A full list of final round finishers can be found here.

Moorhead now turns to an important weekend in Brainerd as the NSDA Northern Lights District holds its annual National Qualifier tournament. Last year, the Spuds earned a record 19 spots at Nationals; this year, with the addition of double entering at the tournament, Moorhead will be represented by the following 18 students:

Jessica Anderson (Drama, Oratory)

Simon Beach (USX, IX)

McKensie Bedore (Inform)

Alex Church (Humor, Oratory)

Abby Dahlberg (Humor, Duo)

Alyssa Haagenson (POI)

Camryn Hodny (Oratory)

Sophia Klindt (Humor, Duo)

Skyler Klostriech (Humor, Duo)

Anna Larson (Inform)

Izzy Larson (Duo, POI)

Bridget McManamon (USX, IX)

Lance Morlock (Oratory, Inform)

Devon Solwold (Drama, Duo)

Dylan Stage (Drama)

Claire Stoltenow (USX, IX)

Kenan Stoltenow (Drama, Duo)

Anni Yoney (Inform)

These speakers will perform in preliminary rounds on Friday, March 17, with semifinalists advancing to competition on Saturday. The top finishers in each category will advance to Nationals held this year in Birmingham, AL in late June. The number of qualifiers per category is still to be determined and is based on the number of entries who perform in round one.

Updates can be found all weekend by following us on Twitter @SpudSpeech.