FSHS forensors start season late, earn 24 medals

After being snowed out the first week of its season, the Fort Scott High School forensics team headed out in three directions during the season's second week.

At the conclusion of the week, the squad had three top-four finishes and 24 medalists.

FSHS earned its first sweeps title at Iola on the strength of 12 finalists. Those who led the team were Kira Dugan, who placed first in Serious Solo and fourth in Humorous Solo; Baker Weilert, who placed second in Serious Solo and third in Poetry; Angel West, who placed third in Original Oration and fourth in Extemporaneous Speaking; Ashley Allen, who placed third in Extemporaneous Speaking and fourth in Prose; Matt Carrillo, who placed fifth in Poetry and sixth in Humorous Solo; Laila Alshawish, who placed second in Humorous Solo; and Caleb Moore, who placed fifth in Informative Speaking.

At Independence, the Tigers finished in third place as seven Tiger competitors advanced to the finals round. Finishing in the top six were Austin Shelden, who placed first in Serious Solo and fifth in Poetry; Jenni Wilson, who placed second in Serious Solo and fourth in Improvisational Duet; Becky Lemke, who placed fourth in Serious Solo; and Katlyn Torres, who placed fourth in Improvisational Duet, fifth in Prose and sixth in Informative Speaking.

Only six students made the trek to St. Thomas Aquinas to compete against the top Kansas City teams in the state. FSHS was able to fill a full team due to the efforts of Kai Simmons-Mims and James Lipscomb who both competed in five events.

"To think that they could prepare this many events where others are just getting one or two up and running is a testament to their efforts; just two weeks ago, Kai won a state medal in debate," FSHS coach Brian Weilert said. "It is efforts such as these that make our team strong."

The squad finished fourth, and missed a sweepstakes trophy by only five points. Medalists included Simmons-Mims, who placed second in Poetry; Chris Herman, who placed third in Humorous Interpretation; Lipscomb and Megan Midkiff, who placed fourth in Duo; and Jeff Durbin, who placed fifth in Dramatic Interpretation. The sixth competitor who contributed to the sweeps finish was Chavez Gaynor, who just missed finals with a seventh place finish in Poetry.

"To be able to go out to three different tournaments and be this competitive is not unusual for us," Weilert said. "We have developed an attitude on the team, that no matter who competes for us, whether first year or fourth, we can do well. You can see that just by the efforts of Austin Shelden and Caleb Moore who medaled in their first tournament ever. In forensics, there are no freshman or JV divisions, you just step right into the heat of it all. With this said, we still have a lot of work to do in order to get where we need to be. But, I am excited for what this year holds."