Centura’s Shilo Smith earns championship at state speech meet, Centurions place fourth
The Centura speech team logged a fourth place team finish in Class C-2 and Shiloh Smith earned a state championship at the 2026 NSAA State Speech Championships held at Kearney High School on Friday, March 27. Smith medaled in three events at the state meet. She placed sixth in both Extemporaneous and Serious Prose, but her gold medal came from her first place performance in Program of Oral Interpretation. The Centura Oral Interpretation of Drama team of Ella Simon, Lauren Suntych, Gavin Whitefoot, Cambree Plate, and Karley Suntych finished in sixth place in that event. Also competing at the state meet were Ella and Lauren in Duet Acting, Ella in Entertainment, and Dottie Robertson in Persuasive Speaking. “This was Centura’s first state champion since 1989, and my highest team placing in my 15 years of coaching speech,” said head coach Kris Simon. “This was also the most events we have ever qualified for state.” Team members were, left to right, head coach Kris Simon, Karley Suntych, Shiloh Smith, Ella Simon, Lauren Suntych, Dottie Robertson, Gavin Whitefoot, Cambree Plate, and assistant coach Sophie Berry. (–courtesy photos)
