Henning eighth grader takes 21st place at state meet

Photos by Chad and Dani Koenen
Monica Hansen advanced to the state speech competition last weekend in the Twin Cities. Prior to leaving for the state speech meet she received a special send off on Friday morning.

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

Monica Hansen ended her speech season on the biggest stage in the state. 

The Henning School eighth grader qualified for the state speech meet, after taking second place at the section meet earlier this month. The daughter of Don and Sandy Hansen said she was excited to just make the finals for the section meet, let alone qualify for state.

“I was surprised I even made it to the finals in the section. I was really happy,” she said.

Last weekend Hansen competed at the state speech meet in the category of extemporaneous reading and finished in 21st place out of 24 competitors. While she didn’t make the finals at the state speech meet, Henning’s lone state entrant said she enjoyed the opportunity to end her season at the state meet.

“Just being there was an amazing experience,” she said. 

Hansen said she really enjoyed speech this year as it gave her an opportunity to grow in the activity, as well as spend time with her friends at the meets and practices. This was the first year she competed in the category of extemporaneous reading.