Leigh Speech Earns Runner-up at District Speech!
Launch the media gallery 1 playerOn Monday, March 16, 2026, the Leigh Speech team traveled to Wayne High School to compete in the D1-3 District Speech Meet.
The schools Leigh competed against in our district were Archangels Catholic, Bancroft-Rosalie, Clarkson, Lyons-Decatur Northeast, Randolph, Wausa, Winside, and Wynot.
The team placings had Wausa in 1st, with Leigh finishing in 2nd.
13 Leigh speech team members competed at this meet with multiple team members qualifying for state and earning medals. The top three competitors in each category qualify for the state meet in Kearney on March 27.
Senior Luke Eisenmann won Extemporaneous speaking, while senior Brayden Loseke finished behind him in 2nd, both qualifying for state.
Eisenmann also finished 5th in Persuasive Speaking, while junior Kaylee Brabec finished in 4th, missing state by just 1 spot.
The Duet Acting team of Lexis Gleason and Jocelyn Donnelly, both seniors, also qualified for state, placing 2nd.
Brayden Loseke also qualified for state in Informative Speaking, finishing 3rd, while junior Blake Loseke finished 5th in Entertainment Speaking.
Senior Sydney Messerlie also had herself a day by qualifying for state in both POI and Serious Prose, finishing 3rd in both events.
Junior James Moore finished 2nd in Poetry, qualifying for state, while sophomore Kaycee Lange earned a medal by finishing 6th in Poetry.
Overall, the Leigh team qualified 6 people in 7 events, finishing 2nd overall to the winner, Wausa.
Senior state qualifier Lexis Gleason said, “Our speech team traveled to Wayne and gave it our all. Although we had a long day, staying at Wayne until around 9, it was a great experience. I know that making it to state and performing at state will be some of my favorite memories for sure!
The team is coached by Mr. Ethan Hathaway and assisted by Mrs. Kim Loseke.
Head Coach Mr. Hathaway stated, “We had a tough district this year but our kids were locked in mentally and were determined to bring home silverware and qualify for State. We had 6 qualify for state across 7 events and had several just miss the mark by one or two places. I am very proud of the whole team for the whole season, and now off to take on state!”