, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
The third time was the charm for Luverne High School freshman Zander Carbonneau, as he claimed a fifth-place medal in extemporaneous speaking at Saturday’s Class A state speech tournament in Apple Valley.
“It was pretty nice. It was kind of a surprise to make it to the finals, but it was a good one (surprise) at that,” he said.
The top eight speakers in each of the 13 competition categories moved on to the finals.
Also competing at the state meet were senior Parker Carbonneau, junior Roselynn Hartshorn and sophomore Bri Kinsinger.
Kinsinger finished 24th in creative expression and Hartshorn 21st in original oratory.
Parker Carbonneau, a three-time state tournament qualifier, placed ninth in extemporaneous speaking, one place out of moving on to the final medal round.
A low score in Round 1 prevented the senior from advancing.
“Every judge has their own preferences and things they look for, and the political nature of extemporaneous speaking can also introduce subconscious bias,” said coach Gavin Folkestad.
“Parker was absolutely deserving to compete in finals. It is disappointing that it only took one judge who held a drastically different viewpoint from the other to significantly alter the outcome.”