The CHS Speech and Debate team triumphed in the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) tournament at Ladue High School during March 12-13 and the National Forensic League (NFL) Districts competition at Pattonville High School during March 4-6.

Student competitors Will Schedl, Kathleen Naccarato, Brett Virgin-Downey, Becca Steinberg, Emma Riley, and Robert Love qualified for the Nationals competition, as they did very well in their events and debates in the NFL Districts tournament.

Naccarato, Ian Miller, Corrine Yap, Riley, and Love advanced to the State competition after winning a third place or better in the MSHSAA tournament.

The CHS Reader’s Theater also advanced to State tournament.

According to Speech and Debate coach Brenda Bollinger, the team did a great job at MSHSAA.

“This has been one of the best MSHSAA tournaments I have been to,” Bollinger said. “CHS had a competitor in every event final. All but one placed 4th or better. This tournament was the largest number of students that I’ve taken to MSHSAA since I’ve been here.”

Schedl, co-president of the Speech and Debate team, agrees with Bollinger.

“We did not drop a single entry going into the finals,” Schedl said. “It’s pretty cool when Ms. Bollinger and Mr. Jenkins, our coaches, are not allowed to judge an events final round because there is a Clayton kid in every one of them. But CHS only advanced one debate team out of six to quarter-finals.”

Freshmen Riley and Love won first place in duet acting, and junior Miller won first place in radio speaking. Sophomore Yap won second place in humorous interpretation. Senior Naccarato received a third place in extemporaneous speaking.

“My partner and I worked very hard the week beforehand, but that was about it,” Riley said. “When we got to the tournament, we did much better than we had expected. There weren’t that many duo teams that we were competing against, but as we got further we were meeting fewer and fewer freshmen and more and more varsity teams. Getting to the final round felt like a really big accomplishment. At the awards ceremony, when they called second place and it wasn’t us, we couldn’t believe it. We had gotten first place. Honestly, the tournament was one surprise after the other.”

Bollinger thought that Miller’s performance was spectacular.

“It was really cool,” Bollinger said. “It was the first time that Ian had done radio speaking, and he ended up winning first place.”

Miller was surprised yet pleased about his results.

“I competed in dramatic interpretation – usually my best event – and radio speaking for the first time ever,” Miller said. “Happily, and surprisingly, I placed first in radio speaking – qualifying to State – and placed only fourth in dramatic interpretation. I now really love radio, and I hope I can become better at interpretation for next year’s season.”
Yap was extremely pleased that she won second place, even though the main reason she competes is to have fun.

“I had a great experience at both tournaments,” Yap said. “I love acting and doing speech, and I’m really glad that I got second place.”

CHS Reader’s Theater also advanced to the State competition, making the total number of students going to State 24.

“Everyone performed well above expectations, and expectations were very high,” Schedl said. “But since Reader’s Theater hasn’t done poorly within any current student’s memory, it’s hard to say if we did better, but the amount of work put into rehearsing and perfecting is certainly very commendable and is the reason why we are always so successful.”

At the NFL Districts tournament, Schedl (Congressional debate), Naccarato (US Extemporaneous Speaking), Steinberg (Original Oratory), and Riley and Love (Duo Interpretation) advanced to the National tournament.

As co-president, Schedl thought that the team had done very well at NFL Districts.

“This tournament is one of the most stressful, hectic, exhausting, and insane tournaments of the year by far but also one of the most fun,” Schedl said. “At Districts, the stakes are a lot higher, so the whole culture changes. Again, we had less than our hoped-for success in debate. Even though we aren’t sending any debaters to Nationals, several of our debate teams performed fantastically and came very close. We had a lot of unexpected success in events, though. We had a freshman novice duo team win first place and advance to Nationals, which is incredibly exciting.”

This is the first time Steinberg is going to the Nationals competition but says that the NFL competition polarizes people greatly.

“The tournament was a lot of fun,” Steinberg said. “It is a really great experience because I went with so many friends, not just from Clayton, but from schools all over the area. But about half the kids are really nice while the other half gets really mean because they are so competitive.”

Riley also thought that the tensions rose at these tournaments due to the stress of other competitors.

“Even though people are supposed to be competing at tournaments, everyone’s really friendly with each other,” Riley said. “But at NFL and MSHSAA tournaments, I felt like the competitiveness had gone way up and the attempt to be friendly had gone down a little. These are the tournaments that matter; the other tournaments throughout the year are essentially preparation for these tournaments, where the skills get put to the test. As a freshman, the stakes weren’t as high for me.

Yap is not attending Nationals, but she disagreed with Steinberg and Riley’s viewpoints of the atmosphere of the competition.

“Surprisingly, this tournament didn’t seem any more competitive than the others I’ve been to,” Yap said. “There was a very casual atmosphere, and just seemed like there were greater incentives. I actually thought it less serious than previous tournaments.”

Schedl was very pleased with the team’s hard work.

“I was incredibly proud to be a Clayton team member,” Schedl said. “There wasn’t a single Clayton competitor that didn’t give it their all, who didn’t perform admirably. Also, our team size is at the largest it has ever been and exceeds schools of comparable size. The level of commitment and hard work far exceeds the stereotypical laid-back view of CHS and our success. I am proud to have served as president over such an amazing team.”

The State competition will be held in Columbia, MO on April 23–24. The National competition is going to be held June 12–19 in Kansas City, MO.