PINE RIVER — The Pine River-Backus speech team performed admirably this season, sending four to the section tournament and advancing Allaura Mandelbaum to the state tournament.
The speech team's performance was no Joke April 1 when they competed in the Subsection 23A tournament in Menahga. The top six speakers in each category advanced to the Section 6A tournament April 15 in Perham.
At the subsection contest, Mandelbaum placed first in serious prose, Silas Miller placed fifth in serious prose, Adam Poehler placed fourth in discussion and Morgan King placed sixth in informative speaking.
Mandelbaum was also awarded a 2023 Subsection 23 Impact Award for using their voice as a positive representative of the speech community.
The whole high school team received recognition for maintaining a combined overall GPA of 3.17.
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At the Section 6A tournament, Mandelbaum knocked it out of the house taking first in three preliminary rounds before advancing to the section finals, taking second overall.
Mandelbaum's performance piece was "The Yellow Wallpaper," by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in prose.
Miller, King and Poehler saw their season come to an end in the preliminary round.
The state speech tournament will take place at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 29, at Eastview High School in Apple Valley.
Jen Anderson and Courtney Benson coach the Tiger speech team.
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