By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Sitka High captured the sweepstakes and three other team awards in the regional championships for drama, debate and forensics January 27-28 in Juneau.
Mt. Edgecumbe also fared well in the field of more than 100 competitors, with more than a dozen students reaching finals in speaking and acting categories, and a third place team award in debate.
High school teams from Sitka, Mt. Edgecumbe, Metlakatla, Juneau, Ketchikan, Kodiak and Skagway were in the competition. Haines was weathered in and unable to attend.
Both teams were pleased with how it went.
SHS won the Region V team prizes for drama, debate, forensics and overall sweepstakes.
“There were some individual events where people did a lot better than they have in the past and for some people we got scores we weren’t completely happy with. But overall, when looking at all the events and everything, it was really good for all of us,” said Sitka High junior Felix Myers.
Cathy Hazel, who coaches the Mt. Edgecumbe squad with Lynn Bastoky, said she was proud of her team’s performance.
“We’re so pleased with how our team has vigorously worked to compete at the high standard required for the regional DDF. It is rewarding and inspiring to see their accomplishments due to their diligence and personal sacrifice,” Hazel said by email.
The teams are now preparing for the state meet February 24-26 in Anchorage.
Sitka High
Sitka High took 20 students to the competition, where some events, like readers theater, included teams of up to four, and some were for one or two. The Wolves took the top prize in five individual events and made finals in 13.
In the championship rounds, Myers was first in extemporaneous speaking, Ben Hedrick was first in humorous interpretation, Isabelle Schmetzer was first in individual oratory, and Aiden LaFriniere and Isabelle Schmetzer were first in duet.
Another top prize was brought home by a SHS Readers Theater team: Francis Myers, Kylie Orlando, Rita Christianson and Zoe Trafton.
Sitka coaches Christian Litten and Amy Ainslie over the next few weeks will be deciding on the 15 members of the team will go to state and which events they’ll enter.
Felix Myers said with his successes from the last three meets, he plans to enter extemporaneous speaking, an event in which competitors have 30 minutes to write a speech on a given topic. He and Dunn will be defending their state title in debate, and he and Sagan McLaughlin will team up for duo interpretation.
Their duo piece at Juneau, “Big Mouth,” placed fifth, but won the coaches’ choice for a command performance in front of all the competitors and judges at the meet. It was a strong category in general for the Wolves, with four teams placing in the top six.
Sagan McLaughlin, a senior, said in a text message that the regional tournament was generally “awesome.”
“Stressful, definitely but awesome nonetheless,” she said. “There was never a dull moment, being with all other Southeast teams was really fun. We all went and did our best and after regions we’re all fired up to do even better at state.”
Junior Zoe Trafton said at this tournament she liked the debate format, which included semifinals.
“Normally you have one or two audience members for a debate, a coach or the parents of the debaters, but with semifinals there’s only four debates going on at once, so you have a lot more audience members,” she said.
Trafton said events and the meet felt well attended, with generally more watching drama events than at other meets.
“There were basketball games going on at the same time as the meet, which I think contributed to that, but it felt warmer as a whole,” she said.
Sitka High DDF Region V champions pose for a photo after learning the results of the regional competition Jan. 28 in Juneau. They are, left to right, standing: Angela Bahna, Sally Everson, Zoe Trafton, Liam Laybourn, Maia Capp, Francis Myers, coach Amy Ainslie, Ben Hedrick, Isabelle Schmetzer, Sagan McLaughlin, Rianna Bergman, Kylie Orlando, Felix Myers, Jamison Dunn, Eliot Holloway. Front row: Danica Majeski, Rita Christianson, coach Christian Litten. Not pictured: Aiden LaFriniere, Olivia Skan and Imane Baghouri. (Photo provided)
Sitka High Results
Extemporaneous commentary: 5. Isabelle Schmetzer
Extemporaneous speaking: 1. Felix Myers
Original oratory; 1. Isabelle Schmetzer; 2. Jamison Dunn, 4. Francis Myers
Informative speaking: 2. Rianna Bergman, 4. Olivia Skan, 5. Felix Myers
Dramatic interpretation: 3. Isabelle Schmetzer, 5. Rita Christianson
Humorous interpretation: 1. Ben Hedrick; 6. Maia Capp
Duo interpretation: 2. Danica Majeski and Rianna Bergman, 3. Kylie Orlando and Maia Capp, 5. Felix Myers and Sagan McLaughlin, 6. Ben Hedrick and Sally Everson
Improv duet acting: 3. Ben Hedrick and Eliot Holloway, 5. Aiden LaFriniere and Olivia Skan
Duet acting: 1. Aiden LaFriniere and Isabelle Schmetzer, 2. Sagan McLaughlin and Sally Everson, 3. Maia Capp and Rianna Bergman, 5. Ben Hedrick and Eliot Holloway.
Solo acting: 2. Aiden LaFriniere; 3. Eliot Holloway, 5. Olivia Skan, 6. Sally Everson.
Mime: 2. Jamison Dunn and Aiden LaFriniere, 3. Zoe Trafton, Danica Majeski, Imane Baghouri, and Rita Christianson
Readers Theater: 1. Francis Myers, Kylie Orlando, Rita Christianson and Zoe Trafton; 4. Maia Capp, Rianna Bergman, Sally Everson and Sagan McLaughlin
Public forum debate: 2. Felix Myers and Jamison Dunn, 3. Isabelle Schmetzer and Zoe Trafton, 5. Imane Baghouri, Angela Bahna, and Liam Laybourn, 6. Francis Myers and Olivia Skan.
Coach Litten sent a note to Sitka High Principal Sondra Lundvick and other supporters, “You should be very proud of your Sitka Wolves DDF team. We are once again the Region V Champions in DDF. ... Thanks for all the support throughout the season!”
Mt. Edgecumbe
Coach Lynn Bastoky said she was pleased with her team’s performance.
“This team is a joy to work with, full of eclectic personalities but always supportive of each other and other teams as well,” she said. “A particular highlight was when a member of the winning debate team came to thank Cash Arrington for debate advice he’d given earlier in the tournament.”
Mars Crabtree, a senior from Chugiak and team captain, said the meet went well, with the added bonus of having the Kodiak team be a part of the competition as well.
Among the highlights:
Mars Crabtree and Cash Arrington (junior, Nome) finaled in Duet Acting, in a piece from “Masochism Tango” by Bruce Kane.
Peter Lowe (senior, Togiak) and Camron Isaak (sophomore, St. Mary’s) finaled in Improvisational Duet Acting.
In extemporaneous speaking, Cash Arrington finaled, Hayden Raasch (junior, Sitka) came in 4th place, and Atigun Pensley (junior, Sitka) came in third place.
Emily Hill (junior, Sitka) and Hayden Raasch earned third place in duo acting (“World Wide Fans” by John C. Havens).
Atigun Pensley and Hayden Raasch made it to the semifinals in Debate.
Bastoky said five debaters placed in the top 15 for debate speaker points: Cash Arrington, Hayden Raasch, Atigun Pensley, Sage Martin (sophomore, Port Alexander), and Ethan Merculieff (senior, Anchorage).
MEHS came in third in debate team points behind Ketchikan and Sitka High School.
