Large group speech ties school record

Creston’s large-group speech team has tied for the high school’s record of most groups going to all-state, sending four to this year’s speech festival.

The Creston speech team was met with success Saturday at the State Speech Large Group Contest in Waukee. Ten teams performed at the state competition, all receiving at least a single 1-rating. In order to continue on to the All-State Large Group Festival, a group must be nominated by at least two of the three judges as outstanding.

This year, four of the teams were honored with an all-state nomination, only the third time in school history so many groups have been sent. Previously, only the 1982 team under Jim Lippold and the 2021 team under current coach Laura Granger had sent this many groups.

Of the four teams continuing to all-state, only two will perform at the festival on Feb. 22. Held at Iowa State University, the one-act play and choral reading groups will share their talent at 11:25 a.m. and 2:28 p.m. respectively. The musical theatre and reader’s theatre groups will not perform, but will be honored along with the performing teams later that evening.

Along with performing at all-state, Creston’s one-act play is in the top eight of all one-act groups in the state, with choral reading being in the top 20.

“The speech team coaches are so very proud of the hard work and dedication of these talented students,” Granger said. “The success is a credit to the teamwork of everyone involved. We have had such an amazing year so far and love what we do!”