No audience.
No applause.
No judge's table.
That's what Madison High School oral interp students -- as well as other students across the state -- encountered this year. Unlike athletes, who have continued to engage in games against competitors, all oral interp events were held virtually.
"It took a lot of the fun out of it," said oral interp coach Matt Groce. "We practiced. Then, we'd have to set up in a classroom or band or choir practice room and record it."
As a result, the students didn't get to travel or receive the immediate feedback of audience response to their performances. Still, of the 14-member team, five students in four separate categories received superiors at the State Oral Interp Festival.
Sydney Bezenek and Morgan Callies received a superior for their duet. Other superiors were earned by Kate Comes in oratory, Lilly Tolley in poetry and Hannah Aldridge in humor.
The reader's theater team also qualified for state but did not receive a superior. The team included, in addition to Tolley, Faith Smith, Brittany Splonskowski and Ellie Studer.
"I was, by the end, very impressed," Groce said.
He explained that last year's graduating class included many students who had comprised the school's varsity team for three years. He didn't know what to expect this year -- especially considering the nature of this year's competitions.
"It was harder for the kids to get in the right place," he explained, referring to the psychological space needed to present their pieces well.
When they perform live in front of an audience, the students experience an adrenaline rush.
"You get up on stage. You see a judge sitting ten feet in front of that and you perform," Groce said, describing what students would experience in a normal year. Cameras provide no feedback beyond the recording.
He said some students made a single recording and submitted it for several of the regular-season competitions. Based on judging he did, he suspects that was a common practice across the state. However, perfectionists approached it a bit differently.
"They would hit stop and start for hours if you would let them," Groce said.
For group events -- such as duets and reader's theater -- a second challenge was added to the challenge of competing virtually.
"The rules said they could not be in the same room when they recorded," Groce reported. "We would all get on a Zoom call and they would have to perform over the computer."
That changed the dynamic of the readings. They couldn't have multiple voices speaking at the same time. The students couldn't interact with one another.
Groce said they had to find creative solutions to basic questions, such as: What do we do to make it look like we're interacting? On top of that, they had to deal with technical issues, such as glitches and screen freezes.
Adapting to all of those changes would have been more than enough for the fledgling team to face this year, but it wasn't all they were asked to face.
"In the middle of the season, I ended up in quarantine for two weeks," Groce said. He had tested positive for COVID.
Fortunately, none of the students tested positive as a result of having had close contact with him. They were also fortunate in having members of last year's team willing to step in to work with them while Groce was in quarantine.
Initially, the team didn't do as well as Madison oral interp students have done in recent years, but by incorporating feedback from judges, they began to improve.
"I know they surprised themselves by the end of the year," Groce indicated.
Only two of this year's team members had previously competed at regionals. For them to qualify for not only regionals but also state was exciting.
"It was fun to see them figure out, `Hey! I actually am good at this'," he said.
Groce described this year's results as remarkable. He began the season with a smaller team than he has seen in recent years -- 14 as opposed to last year's 26. He lost some of his experienced team members because they didn't like the parameters established by the South Dakota High School Activities Association to keep students safe.
"This isn't what they were interested in -- what we were doing this year," Groce stated.
He also had fewer incoming freshmen than he has had previously. Still, when he watched those who participated mature in their craft and succeed in competition, he was pleased.
"Setting COVID aside, if you told me that we'd get the results during the season and postseason that we did, I would have been surprised," Groce said.
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