May and Moncur take fourth with duet at Worland

[caption id="attachment_7472" align="alignleft" width="189"] The combined speech and debate team from Lovell and Rocky Mountain High Schools is off to a good start this season already placing in a number of events at tournaments. Pictured are (back row, l-r) Dylan May, Assistant Coach Jason Zeller, and Cole Moncur (middle row) Mariah Harford, Mikayla Thompson, Sage Whicker, Head Coach Deb Fink and (front) Jessica Emmett.[/caption]By Patti CarpenterThe combined speech and debate team from Lovell and Rocky Mountain High Schools traveled to Worland this past week to compete against teams from 17 schools, Jan. 10-11.Dylan May and Cole Moncur took fourth place with their duet performance based on the play “Chicago.”  Moncur also made it to the semi-final round with his dramatic piece.“It was a very competitive meet this time,” said Coach Deb Fink. “There were a lot of good teams there.”Jessica Emmett and Sage Whicker combined their talents, performing a duet for the first time in front of judges. The two placed second in one of their rounds, which Fink said was very good for the first time out.The girls based their performance on the series Hetalia Axis Powers, a Japanese cartoon series designed to educate about world relations. Emmett plays the role of the country of Italy, and Whicker plays the role of Germany in their performance. Emmett said she encouraged her friend Whicker to join the speech and debate team and she is thrilled that she is doing so well.“She’s doing extremely well, she’s amazing and it was fun for me to introduce a friend to this activity,” said Emmett.Everyone on the team attended the event with the exception of Mariah Harford.“These kids keep showing me how much they really want to do this and how determined they are to do well,” said Fink. “They come back after a meet and they are ready to go again. That kind of enthusiasm is very encouraging.”Next up, the team will travel to Gillette for a two-day meet that will be held Jan. 24-25.