April 25th and 26th were the State competition days for Soddy Daisy High School’s Forensics team. Overall, the team performed exceptionally and improved from last year. In Tennessee, there are 5 different districts that perform throughout the year. During regular competitions, schools who are closer regionally usually perform against each other. However, towards the end of the year, those schools are separated into districts and compete in district competitions. The best performing students in each event (could be an individual, partner, or group event) move on to the State competition, where every participating school in Tennessee comes together and competes against one another.
This year, the Soddy Daisy Forensics team had several wins at the State tournament. The team took two group events to the competition, one placing highly and the other making it to finals and also placing highly. The first group event was One Act (a 45 minute play), which was Steel Magnolias performed by Amelia Montgomery, Gracie Howard, Payton Hunt, Dahlia Negrete-Regagnon, Emily Cardwell, and Addysen Lange. Steel Magnolias placed 2nd. The second group event was Interp (a 25 minute interpretation of a published material without costumes or stage props), which was The Bad Beginning performed by Eric Sumner, Gracie Headrick, Braden Hitchcox, Aidan Neil, Amani Bodewes, and Delia Bradshaw. The Interp was also student directed by Amelia Montgomery and Emily Cardwell. The Interp placed 4th.
In individual and partner events, Amelia Montgomery placed 4th in Dramatic Interpretation, Amani Bodewes and Braden Hitchcox placed 1st in Duet Acting, Delia Bradshaw placed 2nd in Pantomime, Natalee Wainscott placed 2nd in Prose, Gracie Headrick, Addysen Lange, and Nate Holloway placed 2nd, 4th, and 6th in Solo Acting accordingly, and Dahlia Negrete-Regagnon, Ryan Rutherford, and Emily Cardwell placed 2nd, 3rd, and 6th in TV accordingly. Along with these rankings, other notable awards included Addysen Lange, Amelia Montgomery, and Emily Cardwell as part of the One Act All-Star Cast, and Dahlia Negrete-Regagnon winning Best Actress in a One Act.
