For the 8^th consecutive season, the Joliet West Speech Team placed first and were named champions of the Southwest Suburban Conference Tournament. The tournament was hosted by Plainfield North High School on Saturday, January 21. In addition to the team win, there were nine individual tournament champions, and six tournament runners up. The team scored a record of 786 points, competing against Yorkville, Plainfield Central, Joliet Central,

Plainfield North, Plainfield East, Plainfield South, Minooka, Oswego, and Romeoville.

Tournament Champions are Belle Magosky (So.) - Poetry Reading; Caitlyn Murdock-Schey (Sr.) - Informative Speaking; Jackie Dowling (So.) - Radio Speaking; Joey Dowling (Sr.) - Oratorical Declamation; Karis Posteluk (Jr.) - Dramatic Interpretation; Marlie Potocki (Sr.) - Extemporaneous Speaking; Molly Murdock-Schey (So.) - Special Occasion Speaking; Maria Martinez (So.) & Rubi Maldonado (Sr.) - Dramatic Duet Acting; and Savannah Groh (Jr.) - Prose Reading.

Tournament Runners-Up are Caitlyn Murdock-Schey (Sr.) - Original Oratory; Calloway Walsh (Fr.) - Special Occasion Speaking; Daniel Sanchez (Jr.) - Original Comedy; Karis Posteluk (Jr.) - Humorous Interpretation; Lesly Hernandez (Sr.) - Poetry Reading; and Savion Long (Sr.) & Xavier Long (Sr.) - Humorous Duet Acting.

“I am so proud of this talented team and look forward to seeing what they accomplish next week for the start of the IHSA State Series!” said Head Coach Kristin Blake.