The Iola High School forensics team finished 12th at a state competition this past weekend.
Even though the contest was virtual, students and faculty did their best to make it feel like an event.
IHS celebrated with a “send-off to nowhere,” with students lined up along the sidewalks and cheering as the team of competitors left the building Friday. Team members then enjoyed a dinner and activities together.
When it came down to the actual competition, it was just each student, a Chromebook and Zoom in different classrooms.
“It is hard to perform to basically just a camera, but they worked hard and it paid off,” IHS forensics sponsor Regina Chriestenson said. “I think we are very prepared to be strong competitors for next season and hopefully, we will be going to in-person competitions in 2022.”
Jon Poffenbarger was the only student who had previously competed at state, since last year’s competition was canceled because of COVID-19.
Other results:
Hannah Andersen took 3rd in Oral Interpretation of Prose
Jon Poffenbarger took 5th in Oral Interpretation of Prose
Honorable Mentions:
Cara Porter broke into semi-finals and took 11th in Oral Interpretation of Poetry
Wyatt Westevelt missed breaking into semi-finals by one point and took 14th in Oral Interpretation of Prose
