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Abigail Peno represented North Branch Area High School at the State Speech Meet in Chanhassen on Saturday, April 16. She earned a spot at State by taking first place at the Section 7AA Speech Tournament in the Discussion category. Abby beat out 27 other students in her category and became the Discussion Section 7AA Champion. Abby has been an incredible asset to the Speech team over the last four years. Her dedication, hard-work, and attitude will be greatly missed next year.

Blake Degerstrom was also named first alternate to State in the Informative category. He missed making it to State by only a small percentage.

Abigail was accompanied at the State meet by Mark Ness, another member of the Discussion team. Mark was recently awarded the Most Valuable Senior Speech Member of the North Branch Area High School team. Coach Lattimore said, "We've had a great year. Some of the highlights have included taking home three team trophies and having nine students receive perfect scores from judges throughout the season. The students have worked extremely hard, and we've also had a lot of fun. We can't wait for next year." The Speech team is coached by Mindy L. Lattimore, Pam Newbauer, and Ben Westby.

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