Thayer Central Speech team claims district title

Not only did the Thayer Central Speech team triumph over seven other schools at the C2-4 District Speech meet — Franklin, Elm Creek, Alma, Harvard, Blue Hill, Cambridge and Overton — the Titan Talkers also qualified 10 students in nine events for the state meet March 23 in Kearney.
“The Titan Talkers made sure the day was one for the record books,” Coach Justin Bomar said.
Thayer Central hosted the district meet Monday. The team was led by four event champions:
Junior Maggie Harris in Serious Prose; Junior McKenzie Johnson in Informative; Junior Dakota Cherney in Entertainment; and Sophomore MicKael Halverstadt in Extemporaneous Speaking.
In addition to event champions, the Titans qualified five more programs: Harris for second place in Poetry; Cherney for second in Humorous Prose; Junior Holly Timmerman for second place in Persuasive; Junior Duet Acting team of Keegan Casey and Dylan Fischer for second place; and the Oral Interpretation of Drama team, Seniors Dalton Williams and Cade Friedely, along with Junior MaryRuth Dodes and Halverstadt for third place.
Several members of the speech team medaled. Junior Yong Wang took two, fourth place medals home in  Entertainment and Persuasive. Sophomore Jayden Leonard and Freshman McKenna Leonard earned fourth place in Duet Acting. Junior Bridget Linton won fifth place in Informative. The OID team of Buchannan Tietjen, Kenzie Remmers, Kelby Mumm and Chloe Hintz took fifth place. Mumm added a sixth place in Poetry.
“It’s been wonderful to see our kids grow and compete, and just put in the work to have the success they did,” Bomar said. “It took the work of every last kid to make an impact. It makes me proud as a coach to say to the least.”
Scoring was as follows: Thayer Central, 381; Franklin, 361; Elm Creek, 336; Alma, 111; Harvard, 102; Blue Hill, 63; Cambridge, 57; and Overton, 24.