Perham was one of only two school districts in Minnesota to bring home two gold medals from the 2012 Minnesota High School League Class A State Speech Tournament.
The only other school district to achieve this was Fairmont; nine other schools won one gold medal each.
A total of 211 Class A teams competed in speech statewide this year. Of those, 100 teams repre-sented their schools at the state tournament, held at Chanhassen High School on Friday, April 20.
Eleven students represented Perham at the tournament, competing in nine categories. Taking home golds were Kenzi Kovar and Gabe Pankonin, who competed in Duo Interpretation, and Karlee Om-berg, for Great Speeches.
Cannon Falls led all schools with seven medals and Fairmont, Mounds Park Academy and Walker-Hackensack-Akeley had six apiece. With medals awarded to as many as eight top finishers, 52 schools were represented by students awarded medals.
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STATE CHAMPIONS
Duo Interpretation:
Kenzi Kovar and Gabe Pankonin, 12th grade
Great Speeches:
Karlee Omberg, 12th grade
STATE RESULTS
Drama:
Hannah Lorenz,
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12th grade
22nd in State
Great Speeches:
Julia Pearson, 8th grade
19th in State
Discussion:
Mark Huebsch, 11th grade 9th in State (missed by one point to finals)
Original Oratory:
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Jenny Rensch, 11th grade
8th in State
Inform:
Rachel Newville, 9th grade
3rd in State
Duo:
Chris Knutson and Rory Risk, 10th grade
9th in State (missed by one point to finals)
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Creative Expression:
Brian Howey, 11th grade
3rd in State
