More than 100 Ohio County middle school students took part this week in the annual middle school forensics program.
Students from Triadelphia, Wheeling, Warwood and Bridge Street middle schools competed in five categories: Prose, Poetry, Declamation, Duo and Debate.
Wheeling Park High School hosted the event, and Park speech team members served as judges.
Article Photos
Photo by Sarah Harmon
Pictured are Triadelphia Middle School students who placed first in their respective category at the Middle School Forensics Competition on Tuesday at Wheeling Park High School, front from left, Josie Daugherty and Caroline Humphrey and, back from left, Sarah Ihlenfeld, Emma Blair, Betsy Brossman and Jordan Shanley.
"I've been running the competition for about nine years and I think it's a terrific activity for the middle school students, because it achieves the basic goal of improving their communication skills, particularly in front of a group," said William Cornforth, head of speech and drama at the high school. "At a young age that is a very good education accomplishment. They also get to meet kids from the other middle schools, and they get to interact with the Wheeling Park kids who are really their teachers, as well."
Triadelphia Middle School ruled the event, taking first-place honors in four of the five categories. Forensics coach Lara Parsons praised her students for their hard work.
"... Some would even come in early before school to get pointers and practice. They're a really good group of kids," she said.
Fact Box
Overall winners at Ohio County annual middle school forensics competition:
Prose
1st Place - Allee McCardle, Wheeling
2nd Place - Perry Maness, Triadelphia
3rd Place (tie) - Maguire Glass, Warwood
3rd Place (tie) - Rowan Courts, Warwood
4th Place - Grace Myers, Bridge Street
5th Place - Maggie Aulick, Triadelphia
6th Place - Katie Hedrick, Warwood
7th Place - Kylie Parker, Bridge Street
8th Place - Emily Braun, Bridge Street
9th Place - Lauren Shultz, Bridge Street
10th Place - Vance Mazure, Triadelphia
11th Place - Kylie McKennan, Bridge Street
12th Place - Shayla McFarland, Bridge Street
Poetry
1st Place - Jordan Shanley, Triadelphia
2nd Place - Adam Craig, Wheeling
3rd Place - Emily McIntosh, Triadelphia
4th Place - Kelley McCardle, Wheeling
5th Place - Sydney Mofett, Bridge Street
6th Place - Kelsey Chacalos, Warwood
Declamation
1st Place - Sarah Ihlenfeld, Triadelphia
2nd Place - Hinal Pujara, Triadelphia
3rd Place - Katherine Leary, Triadelphia
4th Place - Wolfram Winter, Warwood
5th Place - Grace Morse, Warwood
6th Place - Benjamin Jones, Bridge Street
Duo
1st Place - Emma Blair and Betsy Brossman, Triadelphia
2nd Place - Samantha Pearl and Joana Tsuhlares, Warwood
3rd Place - Ella Penhos and Shawn Gutherol, Triadelphia
4th Place - Emma Smith and Julianna Pond, Triadelphia
5th Place (tie) - Remi Sau and Ritika Reddy, Triadelphia
5th Place (tie) - Rikki Ross and Sarah Miller, Warwood
7th Place - Hannah Chenoweth and Natalie Turner, Warwood
8th Place - Annarenne Speaker and Jared Ullom, Warwood
9th Place - Josie Laing and Mark Hawkins, Triadelphia
10th Place - Faith Richter and Kailey Filben, Wheeling
11th Place - Abby Hudrlik and Breanna Sayre, Bridge Street
12th Place - Rebekah Horsky and Sarah Horsky, Triadelphia
Debate
1st Place - Caroline Humphrey and Josie Daugherty, Triadelphia
2nd Place - Nolan Mattern and Ronnie Saunders, Wheeling
3rd Place - Morgan Glass and Marissa Garlitz, Warwood
4th Place - Jared Jorden and Zack Zoilkowski, Triadelphia
5th Place - Allison Holmstrand and Abbey Delk, Triadelphia
6th Place - Melina McCabe and Amber Blankenship, Wheeling
Triadelphia Middle student Sarah Ihlenfeld, the daughter of U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld II, thanked her father for his assistance.
"I was excited to get first place" in the Declamation category, Ihlenfeld, a seventh-grader, said. "My dad really helped me with practicing the speech, because he did speech at Wheeling Park, so he gave me a lot of good pointers."
Triadelphia's winners were:
- Poetry - Jordan Shanley
- Declamation - Sarah Ihlenfeld
- Duo - Emma Blair and Betsy Brossman
- Debate - Caroline Humphrey and Josie Daugherty
Taking first place in the Prose category was Allee McCardle of Wheeling Middle School.
