By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Sitka High drama, debate and forensics team once again swept all Division II titles at the state meet last weekend in Anchorage.
It’s the seventh consecutive year the team has won the sweepstakes title for the small schools division, plus at least one other team title at the meet.
The competition was Friday through Sunday at Bettye Davis East Anchorage High School.
“We had a really strong group this year,” said Christian Litten, who along with Amy Ainslie coaches the team. “They worked extra hard to make sure pieces were polished and spent extra time to make sure the pieces were competitive.”
He added that team members had the extra incentive of a chance to go to the national competition if they won their individual events.
The Sitka team took home the trophies for Division II team titles in the categories of drama, debate, forensics and “sweepstakes,” which is the overall high-point winner.
The team also captured first prize several individual events, including public forum debate, solo acting, duet acting, duo interpretation and dramatic interpretation. SHS competitors made it to finals in 10 events.
“Not only did they perform exceptionally well and have great success, they represented their school and town with class and professionalism and were incredibly courteous to other performers and schools,” Litten said.
In comments to the Sentinel, members of the Sitka team praised their coaches for bringing the most out of each student, and saluted their teammates for supporting each other during the contest.
“As the coaches or as anybody will tell you, state is a marathon, not a sprint,” said senior and co-captain Sam McLaughlin, who captured first in duo with Felix Myers, and second in duet with Sally Everson. Senior Maia Capp is the other co-captain.
“It’s a long, hard stressful weekend,” McLaughlin said. “Tensions are high, emotions are high but you know the team’s got each other’s backs. I’m really proud with how everyone was supporting each other, watching each other’s pieces and just being there.”
“Our coaches are amazing people in general,” agreed Myers, who took first in debate with partner Jamison Dunn, and in duo with McLaughlin. “They create a culture in DDF that is one where we work together, and make sure we are the best team and individuals that we can be. It’s a testament to their abilities.”
Litten sent an email to school officials and parents, announcing the win and thanking all for their support of the team.
Sitkans got a preview of many of the prize-winning performances last week in the DDF showcase at the Performing Arts Center.
In Anchorage, Isabelle Schmetzer, a junior, placed first in duet acting with Aiden LaFriniere, performing a scene from the stage play “Barefoot in the Park,” by Neil Simon. The scene is a mix of drama and comedy.
“It’s gone undefeated all year,” said Schmetzer. “We were pretty stoked when we got first place at state.”
She was also pleased to have placed fourth in the competitive public forum debate. Her partner in that event was Francis Myers, who is a freshman and brother to Felix.
Schmetzer said she thinks the reason they did so well was the work they put into their understanding of the topic, which was “Resolved: United States, right-to-work laws do more harm than good.”
“We kind of had the realization that we were taking the topic in the completely wrong direction and weren’t really understanding it,” she said. “We were able to find new evidence and get a better grasp on what right to work laws were in the first place.”
As a DDF team, Felix Myers and Jamison Dunn have the rare honor of placing first in public forum debate in back-to-back state tournaments. They did not win the event at the regional meet, but found a good strategy to take to state.
“It came down to we weren’t arguing the negation in a way we were proud of, and I think we didn’t figure it out,” Myers said of the regional meet. “But in the past four weeks we really did drill that negation case to get it as clean as possible and different from what everyone else was doing.”
Dunn placed first and Felix Myers placed second in debate speaker points.
Myers and McLaughlin captured top prize in duo interpretation with a piece from a TV script for “Big Mouth,” which coach Litten acquired from the show’s writers. The piece plays with some of the more embarrassing physical challenges of puberty. When it ended, both he and McLaughlin knew they could not have done it better.
“The moment we walked out of the finals room, all of us sort of broke down in tears because it just felt like a resounding moment,” he said. “It really came together and it was so perfect.”
McLaughlin agreed.
“We drilled that piece into the ground and we worked so hard to get this thing flawless, watertight, airtight, and the coaches were with us every step of the way,” she said. “We worked super hard on that piece and I’m really glad it paid off.”
Myers also captured third in foreign extemporaneous commentary. McLaughlin took second with teammate Sally Everson with a piece called “Pillow,” about a first date gone very wrong.
Schmetzer said the meet in general went well for the Sitka team, and she particularly enjoyed having family members who live in Anchorage see her performances.
The other first place finish was Eliot Holloway, who won in dramatic interpretation, with “Captain Everything,” a piece with a good mix of comedy and drama, which showcased his skills as a physical performer.
Following are the SHS results:
Team Awards:
Division II Drama State Champion
Division II Forensics State Champion
Division II Debate State Champion
Division II Overall Sweepstakes State Champion
Individual awards:
Foreign extemporaneous commentary: 3. Felix Myers
Original oratory: 4. Jamison Dunn
Dramatic interpretation: 1. Eliot Holloway
Humorous interpretation: 2. Ben Hedrick
Duo interpretation: 1. Sam McLaughlin and Felix Myers; 2. Sally Everson and Ben Hedrick; 5. Danica Majeski and Kylie Orlando
Pantomime: 2. Aiden LaFriniere and Jamison Dunn; 5. Zoe Trafton, Rita Christianson, and Danica Majeski
Readers theater: 4. Francis Myers, Kylie Orlando, Rita Christianson and Zoe Trafton
Duet acting: 1. Isabelle Schmetzer and Aiden LaFriniere; 2. Sally Everson and Sam McLaughlin; 4. Maia Capp and Rianna Bergman
Solo acting: 1. Aiden LaFriniere; 2. Eliot Holloway
Public forum debate: 1. Felix Myers and Jamison Dunn; 4. Francis Myers and Isabelle Schmetzer
Debate speaker points: 1. Jamison Dunn; 2. Felix Myers
The Sitka High School drama, debate and forensics team members and coaches pose after picking up their sweepstakes win trophy at the state DDF championships Friday through Sunday in Anchorage. They are, back row from left, Francis Myers, Aiden LaFriniere, Eliot Holloway, Felix Myers and Isabelle Schmetzer; middle row, Coach Amy Ainslie, Kylie Orlando, Sam McLaughlin, Sally Everson, Ben Hedrick, Zoe Trafton, Danica Majeski and Coach Christian Litten; front row, Jamison Dunn, Rianna Bergman, Maia Capp and Rita Christianson. (Photo provided to the Sentinel)
