Cape Central High School Winning Streak continues with two District Championships

Several members of the Speech and Debate Team pose with medals, plaques and trophies earned at the District 1 Tournament. Front row are Cassidy Brown, Veda Riley, Tim Heinsman and Aaron Hahn; back row are Matt Pirtle, Tony Guidos, Kelsey Martin, Coach Dr. Al Nicolai, Austin Wicker, and Quitman McBride III.

Cape Central High School walked away from the District 1 Speech, Debate and Drama tournament at Southeast Missouri State University Saturday with two District Championships in two different categories. The team of Kelsey Martin and Tony Guidos won the Cross-Examination Debate Championship, while Quitman McBride III claimed the District Championship in Humorous Interpretation and also finished second in Storytelling. The Tigers finished second overall among a total of twenty-two teams, qualifying for the state tournament in April at Columbia.

Co-captain Veda Riley qualified for State with a second-place in Original Oratory, and Danny McElreath's second-place finish in Radio Speaking also earned a trip to Columbia. Lindsey Kolb finished third in Lincoln-Douglas, and the team of Jillian Bowers and Prithvi Rudrappa and partners Lizzie Nussbaum and Claire Herbst made it to the semi-finals. Others earning All-District honors were Lessley Dennington (in two events,) Matt Pirtle, Emma Segar, and the Duet Acting team of Veda Riley and Austin Wicker. Central's One-Act play finished in third place at the Special Events venue.

The previous week, at the New Madrid County Central Invitational Tournament, Speech and Debate Co-captains Lessley Dennington and Veda Riley won first-place in Prose Reading and Original Oratory, respectively, and Matt Pirtle finished first in Extemporaneous Speaking. The team of Claire Herbst and Lizzie Nussbaum captured first in Public Forum Debate, while Jill Bowers and Clayton Smith finished second. The Tigers earned four other seconds and one third place for a total of ten trophies for the tournament.

Nicknamed "The Central Intelligence Agency", the CHS Academic Competition Team racked up another championship at Jackson High School Feb 20, defeating Poplar Bluff 410-210 in the championship game. Josh Wen led the Tigers with a top-medalist performance, averaging sixteen tossups per game. Central also beat Leopold, Poplar Bluff and Perryville in the preliminary rounds before knocking off Cape Notre Dame in the semifinals. The CIA ran their current win streak to fifteen games with their third straight tournament win; their season record stands at 23-3. Chelsey Caudle, Owen Hill, Adam Legrand and Kelsey Martin also played for the Tigers.

The CIA also dominated the twelve-team Central Invitational Tournament last month. Senior Josh Wen and junior Prithvi Rudrappa set individual game records for the Tigers as the CIA won all five of its games en route to the championship. Central defeated New Madrid County Central in the semifinals and Poplar Bluff in the championship game, running their team record for the season to 18-3. Rudrappa made the all-tournament team, and Wen scored top medalist honors. Dr. Al Nicolai is Speech and Debate and Academic Competition Team Coach.