Andrew Phares and Drake Berry, finished the 2016 speech season in the top 200 national extemporaneous speakers. The junior and freshman recently competed at the 2016 National Speech and Debate Tournament in Salt Lake City June 12-17. Phares placed 128 out of 243, and Berry placed 197 out of 245.

This was Phares’ second year competing at nationals. “It felt a little more familiar since I’d been there the year before,” he said, “still stressful and tense because you’re facing some of the best competitors in your event in the entire nation. The first year, I was able to get all the jitters out,” Phares said the experience helped improve his speaking. “I was able to come back as a stronger competitor with a better idea of what I was going to be facing.”

Berry qualified for nationals as a freshman. “It was interesting and terrifying at the same time because I feel like it doesn’t happen as often,” he said. Like Phares, he will also use this experience to improve. “It allowed me to progress further and let me make sure I was aware of how the process works, and I think the best part was being able to see the other competitors and learn from what they had done,” he said.

To prepare for the tournament, Phares and Berry fit in as many practices as possible, and filed articles for use in their competitions. Phares competed against four finalists in his rounds and Berry competed against three.

“Coaching the kids that compete at the highest level is the epitome. You see all the kids that have done the best that they can,” said speech director David Cooper.

Cooper said that it’s hard to know what to expect when competing. “[Nationals] is one of those tournaments where you never know what could be highly successful or what could be extraordinary.” At normal tournaments throughout the season, there are between 60-70 speakers competing in a single event, but at nationals, there are 250 speakers in each event. “What you think may be perfect may be, in some judge’s eyes, mediocre. What you think is mediocre is perfect,” he said.

Both Phares and Berry hope to return to the national stage in the coming season.