CLC speech team to vie in national tournament

With a regional gold medal in hand, eight College of Lake County speech team members are headed to St. Charles to compete in a national competition Sunday to April 19.

The CLC team earned a gold at the Phi Rho Pi regional community college speech competition in Elgin on March 21 and 22.

The national championship will be held at Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles.

Coach Joel Chmara said the team's success is due to their dedication to not only themselves but each other.

"Also, they are really goofy, which helps," he said. "I think nerd is in this year."

Chmara said the regional competition was the most successful tournament in the team's history.

Emma Holland of Round Lake Beach earned a silver medal in poetry and Kara Tuminello of Lake Villa earned a bronze in prose.

Noelle Theoharris of Wildwood won a gold as the top speaker of the tournament, plus a gold medal in speech to entertain, a silver medal in prose and a bronze medal in program oral interpretation.

Bill Struss of Libertyville took the silver medal in the top speaker category, along with gold medals in poetry, dramatic interpretation and duo, with Theoharris. Jasmine Houston-Burns of Zion earned a gold medal in prose and a silver in dramatic interpretation.

On Wednesday, the team hosted "The Night Before Nationals," to showcase some of its most successful events while giving students a final audience experience before heading to nationals.

Chmara said the team has participated in the national championship every year, but had previously competed in the middle division of schools.

This year, CLC will be with larger schools so it will be tougher, Chmara said.

"They are really determined," he said. "In fact, right now, with this tournament coming up, I feel like I should be thanking them in advance for how well they are about to do."