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How do you follow up an outstanding season?
After last year’s achievement
of sending Speech Team member Julie Griffin-Carty ’05 to the Nationals in
Philadelphia, the Speech Team has pulled off another stellar season. Julie
might have been the first Ursuline student to reach the Nationals, but she
won't be the last! Ursuline continues to field a strong team with a lot of
depth and determination.
At the
Hall of Fame, Early Pumpkin, “Speech Jam,” Gracia, and Holly Fest
tournaments in the beginning of the year, veterans Stephanie Orphan ’06,
Alessy Hammett ’06, Elizabeth Cirillo ’07, and Catherine Levin ’10 placed
high in their respective categories, often in the top five or three.
Kelsey Grady ’10 and Rebecca Timson ’10 performed at “Speech Jam,” their
first tournament, and seventh grader Isobel Boles won 7th place in the
Novice Reading category at the Holly Fest (her second tournament).
Overall, Ursuline took Second Place at the “Speech Jam” in the Small
School Division!
Qualifying for the State Championship
At the
Holly Fest, a huge tournament with schools coming to Natick High School
from as far away as New York and Philadelphia, Orphan took part in the
grueling Pentathalon, competing in five categories! She placed 7th in the
Program Poetry category. Hammett (Prose), Cirillo (Declamation), Laura
Hartigan ’09 (Children's Literature), and Orphan (Humorous Interpretation)
also won "bids" in their categories, which means their performances were
good enough to earn enough points to qualify to compete in the State
Championship tournament on April 7 and 8.
To
qualify to compete in the State Championship, a performer must earn at
least two bids in one category. Bids are earned by placing in the top six
to seven in one category or performing well enough to earn enough points
even if the performer didn't place in the top six to seven (but usually
place in the top 10).
What a
lot of work!
The
students who participate in Speech work very hard, practicing for many
hours. A typical tournament day for them can stretch for hours. For
example, at the “Speech Jam” at Lincoln-Sudbury, students, coaches, and
parents who also serve as judges arrived at 8:00 in the morning and
finished up around 8:00 that night. Despite the long hours, the girls had
plenty of pep all day! It's not an easy thing to stand up and perform in
front of judges and fellow competitors. It takes a lot of confidence,
self-esteem, and poise.
Winding up the year
More
success followed during winter and spring. At the Lexington Combo, Hammett
and Molly Herzog ’09 placed fifth and seventh respectively in their
categories and Katie Day ’10 earned a bid in Novice Reading. The popular
Mardi Gras Tournament showcased the talents of Hammett, Orphan, Cirillo,
Maddie Heanue ’09, Hartigan, Levin, Kassie Ricci ’09, Boles, Day, and
Timson. Ursuline did well: Orphan placed 6th (Humorous Interpretation) and
Levin placed 5th. Hammett earned bids in Prose and Humorous Interpretation
and Cirillo earned bids in both Declamation and Prose while Hartigan
earned a bid in Children's Literature. Overall, Ursuline earned a trophy,
finishing in 12th place in terms of number of points earned by the
students in their rounds. GREAT, especially when you consider UA competed
against HUGE Speech teams from Milton Academy, CM, Natick, Needham,
Acton/Boxborough, Lincoln-Sudbury, and Sacred Heart.
The final
MFL tournament before the MFL State Championship was the Spring Fling at
Needham High School. Orphan, Cirillo, Levin, Hartigan, and Herzog
competed. Levin placed 3rd in Poetry, earning a second bid which allows
her to qualify to compete in the Poetry category at the MFL State
Championship. Orphan placed 7th in Oratory (earning a second bid to
qualify to compete in Oratory at the State Championship). Herzog earned a
bid for her performance and qualified to compete in Novice Reading at
"State." Hartigan won First Place in Student Judging. Way to go!
Parents Sheryll Strohl-Hammett and Gail Cirillo received the 2006 Needham
Parent Award for "Outstanding dedication and service to the students of
Ursuline Academy and all Forensics." The Parent Award is given out
annually at the Needham tournament, the last tournament of the year before
"State." The award recipient is chosen by the MFL leadership. Both Ms.
Cirillo and Ms. Strohl-Hammett have gone above and beyond for the Speech
team and have coached, fulfilled tasks such as registering Ursuline
tournaments, handling dues, judged every meet, and provided comforting
moral support and guidance. Liz Cirillo, who nominated them, said, “We may
be a small team, but because of them, we are a great team."
The National Forensic League New England District Qualifier Tournament
The
National Forensic League New England District Qualifier tournament was
held on March 10 and 11th at Milton Academy. To compete, performers must
have earned at least 25 NFL points, which are earned competing in the
Massachusetts Forensic League. Three of our girls qualified and competed:
Alessy Hammett (288 points), Stephanie Orphan (314 points), and Elizabeth
Cirillo (197 points). Schools participated from all over New England.
Hammett competed in Humorous Interpretation and made it to semi-finals.
Orphan (Original Oratory) and Cirillo (Prose) made it through the
qualifying rounds.
Next
stop, the States
The MFL
State Championship will be held on April 7 and 8. At this time, five of
our students qualify to compete at States: Alessy Hammett ’06 in both
Prose and Humorous Interpretation, Stephanie Orphan ’06 in both Humorous
Interpretation and Oratory, Elizabeth Cirillo ’07 in both Declamation and
Prose, Laura Hartigan ’09 in Children’s Literature, and Catherine Levin
’10 in both Humorous Interpretation and Poetry and Molly Herzog ’08 in
Novice Reading. They’ve done an outstanding job once again this year. Best
of luck to all of them, and congratulations to all the students who
participate in Speech and have the drive and courage to compete! |
