Memorial Speech & Debate Team

Memorial Speech had three Seniors - Chris Sermersheim (International Extemp), Luca Cirignano (International Extemp), and Matteo Cirignano (US Extemp) - compete in the NSDA national "Last Chance" tournament on April 24-25. The Tournament was massive - 574 schools from 44 States for a total of 1,959 contestants scattered between 15 categories.

Huge congratulations to Chris Sermersheim! Chris reached Finals in International Extemp and placed in the Top 16 in IX at the Tournament! Chris' stellar performance earned him a qualification to the NSDA National Speech and Debate Tournament in Richmond, Virginia June 14-19, 2026. Chris is now Memorial's 4th 3-time National Qualifier in school history and the first from Memorial to reach finals in a national speech tournament.

Chris' Nationals qualification now gives Reitz Memorial 6 National Qualifiers, another school record. Memorial's National Qualifiers are:
Duo - Sr. Lilly Hogue / Fr. Anna Hogue
Duo - Sr. Elizabeth Naas / Sr. Bella Eberhard (2-time NQ)
Humorous - Sr. Lilly Hogue (3-time NQ)
Informative - Sr. Audrey Schenk
US Extemp - So. Ethan Fehrenbacher (2-time NQ)
International Extemp - Sr. Chris Sermersheim (3-time NQ)

The Memorial Speech & Debate Season was a huge success. 5th place at State. 5 National Qualifiers. 2 National Academic All-Americans. Two Seniors finishing 2nd and 4th in career NSDA/NFL points in Memorial school history. And, a lot of laughs and smiles along the way. We celebrated the Memorial Speech & Debate Team and their parents at our annual Team Banquet on April 15. We had so much to be thankful for - fantastic teammates, supportive parents, and an incredible season. Thank you to everyone who supported us this year - parents, Memorial Speech alum, Memorial faculty (for letting us use their rooms to practice!), and the entire Memorial community. I speak for the team when I say that I hope that we made this community proud, and we are very proud to be Tigers!

All glory to God because God is good!

On to Nationals in June at Richmond, Virginia!

- Coach Fehrenbacher

The great news keeps rolling this week for the Reitz Memorial Speech and Debate Team!

The National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) has named Senior Lilly Hogue an Academic All-American. NSDA Academic All-Americans must obtain an NSDA degree of “Superior Distinction”, demonstrate outstanding character and leadership, and achieve high academic excellence. No more than 2% of all NSDA members receive the Academic All-American distinction.

Lilly is a three-time National Speech and Debate Tournament Qualifier. Lilly is the reigning two-time defending Hoosier Heartland District Champion in Humorous Interp, and Lilly and her sister, Anna, are the 2026 Hoosier Heartland District Champions in Duo Interp. In spite of all of her successes and accolades, Lilly is one of the kindest and most unassuming human beings you will ever meet. She is just an all around impressive individual! And, now, she is one of Reitz Memorial's 4 all-time NSDA Academic All-Americans joining Elias Beardmore (2023), Katelyn Fehrenbacher (2024), and her classmate, Chris Sermersheim (2026).

Congratulations, Lilly, on your Academic All-American designation!

Reitz Memorial Speech ended the Indiana post-season competing at the ISSDA State Finals at Penn High School in Mishawaka. Memorial was part of the raucous Section 7 crew that took State by storm and rocked the entire auditorium as Evansville-area competitors represented the "South" at awards in full force! Memorial's squad of 16 competitors and took 5th place overall in Class A!

10 entries advanced to "out rounds", and Memorial had several place in the Top 12 in Indiana. Your Tigers who placed at State are the following:

Quarterfinalists
Anna Hogue / Lilly Hogue - Duo Interp
Lilly Hogue - Humorous Interp
Elizabeth Naas / Bella Eberhard - Duo Interp
Chris Sermersheim - Impromptu
Steven Lasher - Impromptu
Luca Cirignano - International Extemp
Audrey Schenk - Informative

Semifinalists (Top 12 in Indiana)
Matteo Cirignano - U.S. Extemp
Chris Sermersheim - International Extemp
Reese Stahl - Broadcasting

With that, we reach that part in the post-season where we take a well-earned break before Nationals in Richmond, Virginia in June 2026. Congrats to the Reitz Memorial Speech & Debate Team for a fantastic season! Best of luck to our National Qualifiers at NSDA Nationals - Anna Hogue/Lilly Hogue (Duo), Elizabeth Naas/Bella Eberhard (Duo), Audrey Schenk (Info), and Ethan Fehrenbacher (U.S. Extemp)!

Reitz Memorial is now a 5-time Hoosier Heartland Districts Speech Champion. Reitz Memorial competed in HH Districts today at Bloomington South and walked away with 5 National Qualifiers, a Coach of the Year Award, and its 5th consecutive HH Districts Speech championship. We cannot begin to express how proud we are of this team!

Your Reitz Memorial National Qualifiers are:
1. Senior Audrey Schenk, Informative
2. Senior Lillian Hogue, Humorous Interp
3. Senior Lillian Hogue / Freshman Anna Hogue, Duo Interp
4. Seniors Bella Eberhard and Elizabeth Naas, Duo Interp
5. Sophomore Ethan Fehrenbacher, United States Extemp

First Alternates to Nationals are:
Quinn O'Daniel, Congress
Matteo Cirignano, United States Extemp
Chris Sermersheim, International Extemp

Other placings include:
4th place - Annabelle Theby, POI
5th place - Luca Cirignano, International Extemp
6th place - Carter Raben, United States Extemp
7th place - Matthew Mahinay, International Extemp

NSDA Nationals will be in Richmond, Virginia from June 14-19, 2026.

Our last Indiana post-season Tournament will be ISSDA State Finals on March 14, 2026! Looking forward to closing out the season in a big way!

Post-season has arrived! Memorial competed at Sectionals competition held at North High School on February 28! Memorial took 2nd place and qualified 18 for the ISSDA State Finals which will be held at Penn High School in Mishawaka on March 14, 2026.

Your 2026 Memorial Speech State Finals Roster is as follows:
1st place - Chris Sermersheim (International Extemp)
2nd place - Matteo Cirignano (US Extemp), Audrey Schenk (Informative), Meyer Herman (Declamation), Elizabeth Naas/Bella Eberhard (Duo)
3rd place - Carter Raben (US Extemp), Steven Lasher (Impromptu), Mia Oliva (Original Performance)
4th place - Chris Sermersheim (Impromptu), Luca Cirignano (International Extemp)
5th place - Jackson Winters (Impromptu), Ethan Fehrenbacher (US Extemp), Quinn O'Daniel (Discussion), Annabelle Theby (Performance Oral Interp)
6th place - Matthew Mahinay (International Extemp), Reese Stahl (Broadcasting), Anna Hogue/Lillian Hogue (Duo), Lillian Hogue (Humorous Interp)

State Finals are, again, March 14. But, the next competition is Hoosier Heartland Districts on March 7 at Bloomington South with high stakes - top 2 in each category qualify for the NSDA National Tournament to be held in Richmond, Virginia on June 14-19, 2026!

USI hosted the USI Screaming Eagles Speech Tournament on February 14th. USI rolled out the red carpet for these fantastic high school speech students! It was cool competing in a college atmosphere, and USI even treated the speakers to a taco bar for lunch!

Memorial Speech had arguably its best overall performance of the season at USI. Memorial's Seniors led the way, but multiple underclassmen including freshmen contributed big. Memorial finished a strong 2nd despite missing some of the team's typical contributors. In addition to landing 4 USI Tournament Champions and 3 near miss Champions, Senior Audrey Schenk (Info) and Sophomore Ethan Fehrenbacher (US Extemp) punctuated Memorial's outstanding effort by going straight 1s.

USI Tournament Champions: Audrey Schenk (Informative); Chris Sermersheim (International Extemp); Ethan Fehrenbacher (US Extemp); Lillian Hogue and Anna Hogue (Duo).

2nd place: Mia Oliva (Original Performance); Meyer Herrmann (Declamation); Chris Sermersheim (Impromptu); Annabelle Theby (POI).

3rd place: Carter Raben (US Extemp).

4th place: Jackson Winters (Impromptu); Clara Theby (Informative).

5th place: Lillian Hogue (Humorous Interp); Ella Clare Engbers (Impromptu); Matthew Mahinay (International Extemp); Mia Cirignano (Original Oratory).

6th place: Bella Eberhard and Elizabeth Naas (Duo); Xavier Thurston (Poetry); Annabelle Theby (Prose).

The regular high school speech season is now over! Sectionals (North High School on February 28) is next!

Memorial Speech & Debate has had a busy and successful past couple weekends!

First, the annual Southwestern Indiana Forensics Association (SWIFA) Tournament held at Bosse High School on February 7. The SWIFA Tournament represents a celebration of high school forensics in the Evansville area. The SWIFA Tournament was the first local Speech Tournament for the 2026 Calendar year, and it did not disappoint. Memorial had multiple tournament champions and finished 5th overall (with final team results being determined by taking the total team score and dividing that number by total team contestants).

1st place and Tournament Champions: Chris Sermersheim (International Extemp); Jackson Winters (Impromptu); Mia Oliva (Original Performance)

2nd place: Ethan Fehrenbacher (US Extemp); Lillian Hogue & Anna Hogue (Duo)

3rd place: Meyer Herrman (Declamation); Audrey Schenk (Informative); Carter Raben (US Extemp)

4th place: Reagan Engbers (International Extemp); Chris Sermersheim (Impromptu); Annabelle Theby (POI)

5th place: Reese Stahl (Broadcasting); Lillian Hogue (Humorous Interp); Steven Lasher (Impromptu)

6th place: Ranzy Rumjahn (Impromptu)

Reitz Memorial Speech & Debate Team started the 2026 calendar season on the road in Indianapolis at the Ben Davis Speech and Debate Tournament. It was a massive tournament with over 600 entries competing from around the state. Most of the big names in high school speech and debate were there. Reitz Memorial had a fantastic showing with 2 Tournament Champions, 9 finalists and 8 semi-finalists. Not bad for taking a travel team of just over 20 entries.

Tournament Champions - Audrey Schenk (Informative); Ranzy Rumjahn (Impromptu)
2nd place - Chris Sermersheim (International Extemporaneous)
5th place - Jackson Winters (Impromptu)
6th place - Reagan Engbers (International Extemporaneous)
9th place - Chris Sermersheim (Impromptu); Mia Cirignano (Original Oratory)
11th place - Reese Stahl (Broadcasting); Liam Hoar (Impromptu)

Semi-Finalists:
Ethan Fehrenbacher (United States Extemporaneous)
Aiden Burek (Informative)
Anna Hogue/Lilly Hogue (Duo)
Elizabeth Naas/Bella Eberhard (Duo)
Annabelle Theby (Prose)
Mia Oliva (Original Performance)
Quinn O'Daniel (Congress)
Joshua Chang (Congress)

Memorial returns home for the Central High School Speech Tournament on January 24, 2026. Way to go Tigers!

The National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) has named Senior Chris Sermersheim an Academic All-American. NSDA Academic All-Americans must obtain an NSDA degree of “Superior Distinction”, demonstrate outstanding character and leadership, and achieve high academic excellence. No more than 2% of all NSDA members receive the Academic All-American distinction.

Chris is a two-time National Speech and Debate Tournament Qualifier in International Exremp and broke at Nationals last year in Impromptu. Chris is also a two-time team captain and is actively involved in helping coach and mentor underclassmen in limited prep categories.

Congratulations, Chris, on your Academic All-American designation!