KIMBALL -- Kimball Speech started out the semester with success at the Scottsbluff Bearcat Speech Meet Saturday. 

Junior Skyla Stierwalt placed first in Poetry at the first Speech meet of the semester. Three other students attended the meet: sophomore Charlotte Bremer, freshman Madison Eggli, and senior Amber Childers.

Speech Director Matthew Shoup said Stierwalt has been doing speech since her freshman year and has progressively gotten better. 

“She went to state poetry last year, so I knew she had it in her. She was so close last year, she is always getting better,” Shoup said “She is starting out on such a high note, I hope we can keep following that up.” 

He commended the other students on how well they did for being brand new to speech. 

“[Bremer] did absolutely wonderful; she performed a serious prose," Shoup said. "For the first time ever doing speech in front of anybody, she did fantastic. I think she just barely missed the placing."  

Eggli and Childers are both new as well, and they performed a duet, which Shoup said was fantastic. 

“It’s going to be an exciting season, I think,” Shoup said. “Mark Jefferis and I – it’s only our third year coaching it. It’s come a long way; it was an almost complete rebuild of a program, so it’s exciting that so early it’s starting to see some success, and we have great kids.”

The next Speech meet is in Bridgeport Saturday, January 24.