On Saturday, November 3, the speech and debate team competed in their first meet of the speech season. The meet was held at Westfield high School with 24 competing schools. “Women of Westfield” is typically the first meet of the year and is a women-only meet, put together by the Girl Scouts of America.

Senior and speech and debate captain Emily Pohl said, “I like that [the first meet of the year] is an all-girls meet because my freshman year there weren’t that many girls on the [Cathedral] team, or any of the teams for that matter. There were a lot of girls at this meet, way more than I ever remember seeing; it was really empowering.”

The Cathedral team placed fourth overall, with four competitors placing first, and each of the 10 competitors earning a ribbon. Senior Sophia Beeson placed first in varsity United States extemporaneous speaking, senior Emily Pohl placed first in varsity impromptu speaking, freshman Olive Schomacker placed first in novice declamation, and sophomore Micaela Ward placed first in varsity declamation. These speakers also “picketed,” which means that they were ranked first by their judges in every single round they competed in that day.

This meet was a fantastic kickoff to the season, which will conclude in mid-March with the sectional, district, and state competitions.

Senior and speech and debate captain Sophia Beeson said, “I am so proud of the rookies and all their hard work that came to fruition at our first meet this weekend. I can’t wait for everyone to keep practicing and bringing their best to each meet. For a team of ten competitors, we placed amazingly at fourth among much larger teams. If we keep up this momentum, I can expect a lot from our team this season.”