By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
From speech to drama and debate, Sitka and Mt. Edgecumbe high school competitors reached the top of the standings in multiple events at last weekend’s Drama Debate Forensics meet in Haines.
Other teams from Southeast that competed were host team Haines, Thunder Mountain High School, Metlakatla and Ketchikan. Skagway canceled due to illness, coaches reported.
“It’s really nice to be back in the swing of things,” said SHS senior Sagan McLaughlin.
Mt. Edgecumbe High School’s Mars Crabtree and Ethan Merculieff compete in the final round of improv duet acting at the DDF meet last weekend in Haines. Coach Lynn Bastoky said the event has been “wildly popular” in its first year. (Photo provided)
“As a team, we all did fantastic,” said SHS junior Ben Hedrick.
Mt. Edgecumbe performers also had a good meet.
“I was impressed by the performance attitude, the level of practice, and effort each student was willing to give,” said Cathy Hazel, Mt. Edgecumbe debate and speech coach. “To see the results of that commitment is amazing.”
Sitka High
McLaughlin took first in Readers Theater event, performing “Game Night” with Rianna Bergman, Maia Capp and Sally Everson. McLaughlin and Everson also had a duet “A Girl’s Guide to Saving the World.” “It didn’t final but it was still fun,” McLaughlin said.
She also was excited to be competing in improvisational duet acting, a new event. She placed third with partner Aiden LaFriniere.
Senior Rianna Bergman, in her first year of DDF, took first in informative speaking, talking about the sport of speedcubing as she actually speedily solves a Rubik’s cube.
“I talk about the history of speedcubing and solve a Rubik’s cube in the speech to show what I’m talking about,” she said.
Bergman and Maia Capp placed third in duet acting with a piece called “Assault Toast,” where one sister questions the other about the wisdom of turning a toaster into a home security weapon.
Ben Hedrick, a junior, placed first in humorous interpretation of a “Batman: the Real Story Begins.” He and Eliot Holloway placed seventh in duet acting with a scene from “Lone Star,” and he and Sally Everson took second in duo interpretation with a piece called “The Ad Lib” which he summarized: “Two people are performing a duo and it goes wrong ... because we forgot our lines.”
The two earned a command performance for the duo piece, said Christian Litten, who coaches with Amy Ainslie.
Sitka High Results
Extemporaneous commentary: 1. Isabelle Schmetzer; 2. Rita Christianson; 6. Francis Myers
Informative Speaking: 1. Rianna Bergman; 4. Jamison Dunn
Original oratory: 1. Jamison Dunn; 5. Isabelle Schmetzer; 6. Francis Myers
Dramatic Interpretation: 2. Rita Christianson; 5. Kylie Orlando
Humorous interpretation: 1. Ben Hedrick
Duo interpretation: 2. Ben Hedrick and Sally Everson; 3. Maia Capp and Kylie Orlando; 4. Rianna Bergman and Danica Majeski.
Duet acting: 1. Isabelle Schmetzer and Aiden LaFriniere; 3. Maia Capp and Rianna Bergman; 5. Danica Majeski and Rita Christianson; 7. Ben Hedrick and Eliot Holloway
Improvisational duet acting: 3. Aiden LaFriniere and Sam McLaughlin
Solo acting: 2. Aiden LaFriniere; 5. Sally Everson; 6. Eliot Holloway
Mime: 3. Zoe Trafton, Danica Majeski, Iman Baghouri, and Rita Christianson
Readers Theater: 1. Maia Capp, Rianna Bergman, Sally Everson and Sam McLaughlin; 3. Kylie Orlando, Francis Myers, Rita Christianson, and Zoe Trafton
Public forum debate: 4. Olivia Skan and Zoe Trafton
Speaker points public forum debate: 2. Isabelle Schmetzer; 4.Zoe Trafton
Ethan Merculieff (Anchorage) and Mars Crabtree (Chugiak) (both 4-year seniors) finaled in improv duet acting, a brand new event
Emily Hill and Hayden Raasch (both from Sitka, both third year juniors) earned second place in duet acting. World Wide Fans by John C. Havens
In extemporaneous speaking, Hayden Raasch (Sitka, junior) earned fourth, Atigun Pensley (Sitka, junior) earned third, and Cash Arrington (Nome, junior) won first place
Atigun Pensley and Hayden Raasch won first place in debate. Hayden also had first in speaker points for debate.
Ethan Merculieff earned first place for his solo and a command performance
Mt. Edgecumbe
From the Braves team, Ethan Merculieff (Anchorage) and Mars Crabtree (Chugiak) - both 4-year seniors - finaled in improv duet acting in its pilot year.
Coach Lynn Bastoky said the event is new but “wildly popular,” and hopes are high among performers that it becomes approved as a sanctioned event, which takes about a year.
Emily Hill and Hayden Raasch (both from Sitka, both 3-year juniors) captured second place in duet acting. World Wide Fans by John C. Havens
In extemporaneous speaking, Hayden Raasch, a junior from Sitka, took fourth; Atigun Pensley, another junior from Sitka was third, and Cash Arrington (Nome, junior) won first place.
In debate, Atigun Pensley and Hayden Raasch won first place in debate. Hayden also had first in speaker points for debate.
Ethan Merculieff took home first-place honors for his solo piece, which was also tapped by coaches for a command performance. Command performances are performed before all competitors at the end of the meet.
