Small but mighty Speech Team wins State Championship

Heidelberg’s Speech Team continued their successful season at the Ohio Forensics Association’s State Tournament at Akron University on February 17. Together, Kelsey Stanfield, Ellis Herner, Taylor Ratliff and Belle Lawrence combined their talents to bring home the 2024 Team State Championship (President’s Division).

Kelsey led the team’s efforts earning the State Champion title in After Dinner Speaking and 2nd Place in Rhetorical Criticism. Taylor earned her individual honors by placing 5th in Persuasive Speaking while Ellis rounded out the team’s individual efforts with a 6th Place in Dramatic Interpretation. Team members competed in nine individual events throughout the weekend. Their cumulative efforts garnered them enough total points to be crowned State Champs.

Director of Forensics Dan Higgins, noted, “Our team and school may be small, but we are mighty! There is a tremendous amount of preparation that goes into these events and the weekends can be exhausting for the students. I’m so proud of them for never letting up and really modeling the best of what it means to represent the ‘Berg. I could not have asked for a finer showing from our team.”

Heidelberg’s Speech Team seniors will be traveling to Glendale, Arizona, in a few weeks for the Pi Kappa Delta National Speech Convention and Tournament where they will be competing against hundreds of students from universities across the country. Heidelberg has been a member of Pi Kappa Delta since 1921 and has been attending these tournaments for as many years.