Eight 2014 state speech champions return to defend their titles in the same category, while one other returning champion will seek gold in a new category at the 2015 State Speech Tournament. This year's event will be held at Lakeville North High School on Friday and Saturday. Class A competition will be conducted on Friday and Class AA competition will follow on Saturday.
The material chosen by competitors ranges from the classics: I've Been to the Mountaintop by Martin Luther King, Jr. in Class AA Great Speeches; to the contemporary: Defying Gravity by Jane Anderson in Class A Serious Interpretation of Drama.
The tournament features the top three qualifiers from each of eight Class A sections and from each of eight Class AA sections in 13 different speech categories. The 2015 tournament qualifiers represent 168 high school teams: 99 Class A teams and 69 Class AA teams. Students from 316 Minnesota high schools participated in speech during the current school year on 186 Class A teams and 114 Class AA teams.
The categories are Serious Interpretation of Prose; Serious Interpretation of Drama; Serious Interpretation of Poetry; Humorous Interpretation; Storytelling; Extemporaneous Reading; Creative Expression; Original Oratory; Great Speeches; Discussion; Extemporaneous Speaking; Informative Speaking and Duo Interpretation.
The Class A field features returning 2014 Class A medalists: Chloe Litts of Staples Motley in Discussion; Bradley Foster, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley (WHA), and Spencer Svendsen, Staples Motley, Extemporaneous Speaking; Matthew Koring, WHA, in Humorous Interpretation; Hailey Bruns, WHA, Informative Speaking; Grace Steward, WHA, Serious Interpretation of Poetry.
