[fblike]
Two weeks ago, extempers from South Dakota competed in the South Dakota Activities Association State Tournament. South Dakota has two classes for its state tournament, which are then divided into International and United States Extemp categories.
In Class A International Extemp, Brady S. Jandl of Lennox High School became the first winner from Lennox since 2010. Jandl defeated Kadon Leddy of Milbank High School for the title. Jandl’s Lennox teammate August W. Meyer finished in third place.
In Class A United States Extemp, Berk Ehrmantraut of Beresford High School became the first state champion from his school in the category since 1992. Joe Miller of Vermillion High School finished runner-up for the second consecutive year and was trying to become the second consecutive Vermillion extemper to win the U.S. Extemp state title. Connor Lightfield of Milbank High School took third place, an improvement over his seventh place finish last season.
Class AA International Extemp saw Shyanne Redlin of Watertown High School successfully defend her state championship. Redlin defeated Ryan Wellman of SF Lincoln High School. She becomes the first back-to-back winner in AA International Extemp since Ann Fishback of Brookings High School accomplished the feat in 1996. Yilun Li of Brookings High School finished third.
And in Class AA United States Extemp Ryan Solberg gave Mitchell High School its fourth consecutive winner in the category, defeating Caleb Munce of SF Lincoln. Solberg was a return finalist, having placed fifth at last year’s state tournament. Emily Meier of Aberdeen Central High School rounded out the top three.
All of the finalists at the tournament earned an automatic qualification to the 2015 Extemp TOC at Northwestern University.
Here are the results of the 2015 South Dakota High School Activities Association State Tournament (Click here for tab sheet):
South Dakota is a state that splits its extemporaneous speaking categories and its state tournament also divides schools into two classes by size: Class A and Class AA. At this year’s South Dakota High School Activities Association (SDHSAA) State Tournament in Class A Vermillion High School swept both extemporaneous speaking categories. Robert Erikson ended Milbank High School’s two-year winning in International Extemp, defeating Morgan Jones of Milbank. In United States Extemp, Seth Miller gave Vermillion its third championship in the event in the last six years when he won the title over teammate Joe Miller.
Champion: Alex Thurman (SF Roosevelt High School)