After a long round of finals, great news awaited six of nine schools as they anxiously settled in the auditorium to receive awards. Antioch Community High School took home second place out of six and Buffalo Grove High School took home first.

Antioch students felt tingles and nerves as they began their final preparations for the Chicago Catholic Forensic League speech tournament. The CCFL tournament took place at ACHS with nine high school teams in attendance: Stagg, Buffalo Grove, Fenwick, Gordon Tech, Marist, New Trier, Notre Dame College Prep, Saint Ignatius College Prep and ACHS.

Participants can compete in six  general categories including extemporary speaking, declamation, oral interpretation, duo, dramatic and original oratory.

Freshman and tournament finalist Joshua Redman said, “It’s fun. Performing makes me a little nervous but once I get talking, I’m perfectly okay.”

Josh performed in original oratory, a competition where students are expected to write and perform their own speech.

Speech team captain and senior Jenny Wright has been on the team for three years. Prior to this year, she was a member of the team both freshman and junior years. Wright has qualified for  nationals in previous years. She performed a duo with Avery Herbon and performed in interpretation.

“The tournaments are really fun! I hope to qualify for nationals this year. I also love public speaking and acting,” said Wright.