Thermopolis speech team 5th; Glasson earns Coach of Year honors

WORLAND – The Hot Springs County High School forensics team captured fifth place in the Class 3A division at the state meet in Lander last weekend.

More than 500 high school students from across Wyoming competed at the state speech meet.

HSCHS coach Cindy Glasson said, “We’re a young team, so being just out of the top three is an accomplishment they should be very proud of.”

“We had four breaks into semifinals — Hannah Hu in oratory, Tyler Kay in humor, Lane Randall in humor, and Katie Burrows and Ashley Brawley in duet.”

Reilly Russell in poetry broke into quarterfinals, she said.

Breeze Petty missed moving forward in Lincoln-Douglas debate just by three slots, Glasson said.

“While nobody moved into finals, we did bring home medals in 3A – Hannah, who placed second in oratory, Tyler, who placed third in humor and third in POI, Katie and Ashley who placed third in duet, and Reilly, who placed third in poetry.”

“State and national qualifiers are always tough tournaments as they are three days of non-stop performances from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. There were more than 400 students competing last weekend, and for some, that just adds another layer of anxiety. All in all, though, I am quite proud of what this team accomplished at state. Now it’s time for a run at the National Qualifiers this weekend.” Glasson said.

“This team worked very hard, even over Christmas break, just to get ready for the season. It is just the second year of competition for all of them, so they have their feet under them this year. They are a very dedicated bunch and a true example of what a team is. It is not unusual to find four or five of them hanging out together, even over the summer, so they really are a tight-knit bunch. They have started picking their pieces before school started and have shown real growth all season long.”

Cindy Glasson was also named 3A Coach of the Year.

NFL QUALIFIERS

Rock Springs will host the National Qualifiers (NFL) meet this Thursday through Saturday.