River Repinski, entered in four categories, placing top 6 in three of the four at the Cotter home meet on Saturday, March 26.  In extemporaneous reading he took first in three rounds.  The other categories he participated in were duo, with Bryce Tienter, humor, and impromptu.

River has been a member of the speech team for a few years now. He does humorous interpretation where he puts on a ten minute performance in which  he acts as every character.

“Speech is about drive, it’s about power, you stay hungry, you devour, put in the work, put in the hours, and take what’s ours.”

During COVID, River’s talent really showed as he excelled, putting in the work and honing his skill. “If you want to do well,  have fun,” River said .

“I had a lot of friends who pushed me towards being in speech and plus its a very interesting and fun activity that I would urge everyone to join speech as it is great on college applications and a good life skill over all,” said River. “A lot of people do speech for a long time, and the people who quit… we laugh at them.”

River earned the NIETOC (National Individual Events Tournament of Champions) bid in an online meet earlier this season.

The NIETOC  bid is something awarded to extraordinary speech participants. A participant in competitive speech needs two NIETOC bids to move on to nationals. River narrowly missed getting the second bid.

River is now prepping for sub-sections with the goal of earning a trip to the State speech meet.