The Speech Team placed eighth overall in the IHSA State Speech Individual Events competition Feb. 15-16. The team also qualified seniors Gillian Giudice, Hannah Mira Friedland and Elizabeth Woo for the National Forensic League National Speech & Debate Tournament at a district tournament March 3.

Woo was named State champion in the Original Oratory event and runner-up in the Non-biased Informative Speaking event, while Giudice was named a State finalist in the Humorous Interpretation event.

According to Woo, her familiarity with her competitors contributed to the pride she felt after winning.

“It was unreal,” Woo said. “A lot of the competitors that I was competing against were people I had seen before, […] so when I found out I won [the State championship], I guess it was rewarding in the sense that all the hard work I had put into it paid off.”

According to head coach Afrodite Skaouris, her favorite moment of the competition went beyond simply winning the awards.

“After Elizabeth’s final State round, one of her judges came up to me where we were all waiting for results,” Skaouris said. “She said, ‘If that girl doesn’t win State, I think there’s something wrong with the judging.’ Having somebody come up to you and find you just to tell you something like that is huge.”

According to Skaouris, a key moment before the State competition was a qualifying tournament at Downers Grove South. This tournament determines which events are sent to compete on the State level—an accomplishment considering the difficulty of South’s particular sectional competition, Skaouris said.

“It just kind of built to this big moment at [Downers Grove South] where we placed as a team which is so difficult,” Skaouris said. “It’s not that difficult to place individually, but as a team that’s a collective effort.”

The team ultimately qualified for five events to compete in the State tournament. Friedland, who competed in the Prose category, performed one of those events at the tournament.

“In terms of doing successfully, […] this year with both [of my] events has been really solid,” Friedland said. “I’ve finaled almost all weekends and then at Downers Grove South, […] I got first in Dramatic Interpretation […] and then [got] to State for Prose. I had never gotten to state before.”

Friedland qualified for Nationals in the Dramatic Interpretation category, while Giudice qualified in Dramatic Interpretation, and Woo in Original Oratory. According to Woo, the three seniors who qualified for Nationals, which are to be held in June after graduation, view the tournament as a chance to bond as a team for the last time.

“[Nationals are] definitely harder than state,” Woo said. “[…] So it’ll be challenging, but I don’t think it will be stressful.”

Woo, like most of the Speech Team’s seniors, is in her third year on the team. Skaouris believes that this core of seasoned members has been key to training newer members.

“The 15 seniors [have] done a great job of teaching their youngsters […] the ropes,” Skaouris said.  “I hope [next year’s returning team members] have seen what the seniors have done this year and what it takes to do really well, so we’ll see if we can have that team dynamic next year.”

The seniors have also helped ease Skaouris’s transition from assistant coach to head coach of the Speech Team, according to Skaouris.

“Seeing [some of the returning members] grow to the state they are now as seniors has been so fun,” Skaouris said. “Honestly, they’ve made my life so easy because they know what they’re doing, and my coaching has just been like, ‘Beautiful, do that on Saturday.’ They’ve taken so much ownership over everything that they do.”

According to Friedland, the team’s overall success is also dependent on each member’s passion and commitment to the team.

“When you do choose to commit a lot of time to [Speech], you have to do it not just for winning trophies and stuff, because sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn’t, but [also] because you really like it, and you’re committed to the people there,” Friedland said.

The National Forensic League National Speech & Debate Tournament will be held June 16-21 in Birmingham, Ala.