Hermantown's Marinos wins state title in speech; 22 Northlanders medal

BROOKLYN PARK — Hermantown junior Paul Marinos is the sole speech state champion from rural Northern Minnesota this year.

Marinos is the Class 2A champion in the category of Serious Prose Interpretation.

Twenty-two other students from the Northland earned a medal at the state meet Friday and Saturday, April 24-25, in Brooklyn Park. After three preliminary rounds, the top eight speakers advance to a final round with five judges, and medals are awarded based on those results.

Two others from Hermantown medaled: Sophomore Izzy Lampi finished sixth in Humor, and junior Alee DeVlieger placed sixth in Creative Expression.

Staples-Motley had the most finalists of any Northland team with five: Walker Johnson (Creative Expression) and Maddock Harvey (Storytelling) are 1A runners-up, Tristan Rendon (Prose) placed third, Meredith Hoemberg (Extemporaneous Reading) took fifth and Joshua Cushing (Creative Expression) finished sixth.

Johnson, a senior, earned her fourth-career state medal. Only 67 other students have hit that mark over five decades, with just 11 of them from Northern Minnesota.

Pequot Lakes' Lil Corbett (Discussion) and Pillager's Maria Stumbo-Ruiz (Pillager) are both 1A runners-up.

Mountain Iron-Buhl's Isabelle Appelwick (Informative) and Jasper Helander (Original Oratory) both took third.

Staples-Motley finished fourth among 1A teams, the same place as last year, with 27 points. Pequot Lakes and Mountain Iron-Buhl tied for eighth with 12 points.

Finalists earn points toward the team score based on how they finish, with champions earning eight points and eighth place earning one.