Congratulations to seniors John Hofmeister, Tatiana Burton, and Lindsay Swiggum who this past weekend placed in the top 6 speakers in the nation at the National Catholic Forensic League Speech and Debate Tournament. The tournament was held in Albany, New York, and involved over 2500 speakers from 529 schools. Hofmeister was named the National Champion in Original Oratory; Burton finished 3rd in Oratory; and Swiggum took 5th in Oratory.

AVHS was the only school in the nation to have 3 Finalists in one event. Out of 225 competitors in each event, other Apple Valley students finished as follows: Ashley Tanberg–top 12 (Prose/Poetry), Bryan Porter–top 24 (Prose/Poetry), and Szuyin Leow–top 24 (Original Oratory).

Once again, Apple Valley was named a “School of Excellence” in Speech, placing it among the top 5 schools in the United States.

Congratulations to AVHS Senior Chris Theis for winning the National Lincoln Douglas Debate Championship at the National Tournament of Champions held in Lexington, KY this past weekend.

Chris made history with his victory by becoming THE ONLY DEBATER TO EVER WIN the Championship TWICE in the 23 year history of the TOC. Last year when Chris won the Championship he became the SECOND JUNIOR to ever win the tournament (and the first junior to win it since 1992).

Seventy-six debaters qualified to attend the Tournament of Champions based on their high-ranking elimination round performances at various national qualifying tournaments held throughout the year. Among those seventy-six debaters was Apple Valley’s Michelle Keohane who also gave the Top Speaker, Jake Nebel, his only defeat during the seven preliminary rounds. Michelle finished with a 4-3 record.

Apple Valley Debaters have now been in the final round of the TOC five times. In addition to Chris those former AVHS Debaters include David Singh, (2nd) 1996; Kelsey Olson,(2nd) 2002; and Tim Hogan, (2nd) 2004.

Apple Valley capped its State Season with a remarkable performance at this years Class AA State Speech Tournament held at Gustavus Aldophus. Winning 5 of the 13 events, AVHS posted an impressive finish, beating out other nationally acclaimed schools (Lakeville No had 3, Eagan had 2 and Eastview had 1). The state champions include John Hofmeister in Drama (who was defending his title from last year), Tatiana Burton in Poetry, Sarah Brickner in Great Speeches, Kate Brown in Extemporaneous Reading, and Lindsay Swiggum in Oratory. All of Apple Valley’s champions were seniors. Emily Peterson (Storytelling) and Ashley Tanberg (Prose) took seconds. Other finalists include Szuyin Leow, Abbie Gotter, Chris Theis, Mia Owen, and Michelle Keohane. Sophomore Khadija Said competed at state in Discussion but did not advance to finals.

Apple Valley completed its second week of the invitational season with another strong performance at Lakeville South H.S, taking third overall. The weekend was marked by strong performances from Sarah Brickner with a 1st place finish in Great Speeches, and Rachel Gulden with a first place finish in Informative. Apple Valley also had four students take runner-up, Emily Peterson (Storytelling), Szuyin Leow (Oratory), Ashley Tanberg (Prose), and Julia Tindell (Great Speeches). Once again, AVHS had four students in the final round of Informative, with Kirby Hermansen in third, novice Szuymei Leow placing fourth, and Abby Schoebeck in 7th.

Lakeville South also offered a novice division, in which AVHS won three categories, Sean Cheren (Extemporaneous Speaking), Maire Clement (Prose), and Jason Madore (Extemporaneous Reading). Overall, AVHS sent 23 students to novice final rounds.

Next week, the team will be hosting its own tournament.