The Bishop Noll Speech team won 4th and 5th places at the Indiana state speech tournament at Fishers High school on March 10.

Thirty Indiana high schools attended the tournament, battling one another with speeches about medicine, technology and cultural music. The Bishop Noll team discussed the Marvel movie Black Panther soundtrack and diversity of music culture over the years. Although only two BNI students made it to the state finals, the Bishop Noll speech team had enough points from earlier in the post-season to capture a team trophy. Bishop Noll’s sole representatives were freshmen Kiara Rivera and Jackie Vasquez.

“Mr. Burgun was a motivational coach all season and did everything possible for us to do great and this shows by us receiving a 5th place in state as a Volume 2 team,”  said Rivera, who participated in a Socratic seminar with five other competitors. “Speech has really made me a better person more responsible organized and smart and how to work and discuss things that are happening around the world with kids my age and be able to learn from other even from different cultures and schools.”

Vazquez did International Extemporaneous Speaking.

“It’s a really big deal for us because we haven’t got a trophy at state since the ‘80s. It’s a real accomplishment for Volume II because this our first state trophy and we hope to go back and get 3rd place,” Vazquez said.