The Joliet West speech team has competed at some of the most competitive invitational tournaments in the state of Illinois in the 2018-2019 speech season. Receiving an abundance of first place wins and winning a team trophy every tournament, to say the team has been successful would be an understatement.

Head Coach Kristin Blake says, “This has been our best season yet. I cannot believe what this team has accomplished. I am so incredibly proud.”

Alongside the success of the team as a whole, the individual’s successes have been very rewarding as well. Senior Kendall Schlegel states, “Being successful is the greatest feeling. Since I’ve been on the team for four years, the success solidified that all of my hard work has paid off. But my favorite part is being able to share my story to so many people and see how they relate.” The team is very hopeful for the upcoming month where they will be competing in the state series. The growth that the team has had in the past years has been astronomical as stated by four-year member and senior Tony Nardi: “It is really exciting to see how farthe team has come. I never would have imagined the day that I’d be able to see this many first place wins for the speech team. It has been a very eventful year and I can’t wait for the state series.”

On January 19, the team accomplished a conference overall team championship for the fourth year in a row. Additionally, eleven competitors won first place in their event out of the fourteen events, including Junior Anna Polacek who says, “The amount of work and passion that this team puts into their practice and performance is insane, and it clearly shows based on the number of successes this team has had. This team is truly incredible.”

The team is very hopeful for the upcoming month where they will be competing in the state series. The growth that the team has had in the past years has been astronomical as stated by four-year member and senior Tony Nardi: “It is really exciting to see how far the team has come. I never would have imagined the day that I’d be able to see this many first place wins for the speech team. It has been a very eventful year and I can’t wait for the state series. I don’t want to jinx it, but this year I hope we double it. However, I’d be happy either way” Last year ten members of the team qualified for sectionals with three advancing to state. This year, the team is sending thirteen members to sectionals with hopes of having a bigger presence at the state level. Whetever happens, this team has a lot to be proud of.