The Powell High School speech and debate team opened the 2020 varsity season with some top individual performances.

That included strong showings at the Jan. 10-11 Trapper Rendezvous Forensics Tournament at Northwest College, which drew more than 300 students from Wyoming and Montana.

Sophomore Aiden Chandler led the PHS team with a first-place finish in oratory, senior Duncan Bond placed sixth in program oral interpretation (POI) and juniors Elsie Spomer and Jaxton Braten finished fifth in duo at the NWC tournament.

At last weekend’s Campbell County invitational in Gillette, Spomer claimed first place in humor and then partnered with Braten for a third place finish in duo. Chandler took fourth in oratory.

As a team, the Panthers took second place in sweepstakes for 3A.

“... things are going well,” said head coach Nicole Maier Reitz.

The PHS team includes 30 participants. Several new members have joined the Panthers speech and debate team, while returning members are working on new events, she said.

“We have three strong duo teams, a couple of humor pieces that have been placing in semi-finals, and Aiden [Chandler] with his oratory,” Maier Reitz said.

Freshman Dacovney Brochu is also “expected to do very well” in Lincoln-Douglas debate, the coach said.

All of the Panthers’ debaters graduated last year, “so this year we are building up our debate team again,” Maier Reitz said.

This year’s team is led by five captains: debate captains Devin Ott and Olivia Lobingier, and speech captains Duncan Bond, Anna Atkinson and Chandler.

The additional captains were needed as the Panthers take on more responsibilities this year. The team is hosting a tournament in February, which takes months to organize, Maier Rietz said.

In addition, they established a middle school team, “which also takes a lot of time and organization,” she said.

“We also have a parent group that has been a tremendous support for us this year,” Maier Rietz said.

The Panthers’ goal is to repeat their success from last year by sending a couple of team members to the national tournament, held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this summer. “Nationals is a great opportunity for students to earn scholarships for college,” the coach said.

The PHS speech and debate team will compete in Cody this weekend. The Powell Middle School team is slated to perform at the Cody tournament at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Cody High School auditorium. Middle schoolers also will perform at 4 p.m. Feb. 7 at the district’s Support Services Building in Powell (the old high school).

— By Tessa Baker