WSU competitive speech team has its best state run since the '90s...

Wayne State University's competitive speech team had four champions and won several other top honors at the Michigan Interscholastic Speech League (MISL) state championship, hosted by Central Michigan University, February 28 - March 1.

Senior Sydney Machesky, from Shelby Township, won first place in oratory speaking and won individual sweepstakes, an award that recognized the top performance by a student across several categories. She also finished second in dramatic interpretation, third in informative speaking, poetry, and impromptu speaking, and fifth in prose.

Junior Gaia Klotz won first place in dramatic interpretation and finished second behind Machesky in sweepstakes. Klotz and Machesky both received second place in the state in duo, an event in which the pair performed together. Klotz also finished third in prose and fourth in after dinner speaking.

Machesky and sophomore Nick Norton, by finishing first and second place in oratory speaking, qualified for the Interstate Oratory Association (IOA) national tournament, the oldest competitive speech contest in the nation. Founded in 1874, the IOA tournament is open only to the top two oratory finalists from each state. This year's contest will be hosted by James Madison University on April 25-26. Norton also finished second in informative speaking.

Junior Imran Nahin and partner senior Nikhil Adapa won a state championship in parliamentary-style team debate. This is Nahin and Adapa's second state championship in parliamentary debate. Nahin also finished second place in extemporaneous speaking.

Junior Sadia Ghazi finished second place in rhetorical criticism. Teammate Raviteja Suryadevara, a senior, finished in sixth place in oratory.

As an overall squad, the speech team finished second place in team sweepstakes, an award recognizing the top team performances. Additionally, the team won the Director's Quality Award for best rankings per entry into the tournament. Thus, while Wayne State's team is smaller in size than some of their competitors, they were recognized for having the best performances relative to the team's size.

According to graduate assistant coach Brandon Bumstead, "I don't believe the team has had this fantastic of a State run since in 1990s."

The team now prepares for the Pi Kappa Delta national championship in Indianapolis, March 20 - 23, and the National Forensics Association national championship hosted by Eastern Michigan University, April 18 - 21.

Pictured below are Coach Stephanie Wideman, Nick Norton, Sydney Machesky, Teja Suryadevara and Coach Brandon Bumstead.