Twenty Oakville Senior High School speech and debate team members recently competed against 17 other schools at the Parkway South Speech and Debate Novice Tournament, earning several notable finishes, including a pair of first-place honors.

John Fleming and Nick Eplin teamed up to earn First Place in the Public Forum Debate category.

Colin Mlynarek also captured a First-place finish in the Student Congress event.

Other Oakville winners included Lauren Taylor, fourth place in Original Oratory; LeeAnn Karpel, third place in Humorous Interpretation; and the team of Taylor Korte and Jane Darnell, who made the quarterfinals in Debate.

Besides individual honors, the Oakville High team finished sixth place overall with team members Kelsey Henzler, Art Koch, Courtney Schmeimeier, Taylor Korte and Jane Darnell earning membership in the National Forensic League. Oakville now boasts 35 NFL members.

The Oakville speech and debate team is coached by Ed Taylor.