Campus

Yakking Raiders Earn Nebraska Frontier Conference Title

The Speech Team delivered strong performances, securing top finishes at the C2 Nebraska Frontier Conference.

Angel Bhandari, Assignment Editor (Culture) • March 4, 2025

On Wednesday, February 26th, the Yakking Raiders traveled to Parkview Christian School in Lincoln, Nebraska, to compete in the C2 Nebraska Frontier Conference tournament. With two competitors per event, the selected team consisted of 15 of its 20 members to compete across 10 events. Their outstanding performances earned them the title of Frontier Conference champions, accumulating an impressive 362 out of a possible 380 points. The team is led by Captain Siri Doddapaneni ’25, with Madison Marco ’27 serving as the Platforms Events Chair, Dori Primmer ’27 as the Interpretative Events Chair, Nadia Jeyaram ’28 as the Limited Preparation Events Chair, and Adrishya Kumar ’28 as the Novice Team Representative. They are coached by Baylor Winters, a pre-pharmacy student at the University of Nebraska Omaha, and Abhinav Suresh, a Brownell Talbot alumnus from the Class of 2016 who majored in business at Columbia University. The team departed from Brownell Talbot around 8:40 AM, prepared to face tough competition. The tournament format consisted of one preliminary round followed by a final round, with awards at 4:30 PM. The Yakking Raiders delivered exceptional performances, securing 1st place in 7 out of the 10 events possible to compete in.

Conference Results:

Duet Acting (DA)
Adrishya Kumar & Jasmine Nlam – RUNNERS-UP
Teagan McCallister & Violet Vacanti – 3rd Place

Entertainment (ENT)
Angel Bhandari – CHAMPION
Lara Blume – 4th Place

Extemporaneous (EXT)
Nadia Jeyaram – CHAMPION
Lara Blume – RUNNER-UP

Humorous Prose (HUM)
Dori Primmer – RUNNER-UP
Angelina Bhandari – 3rd Place

Informative (INF)
Elliot Clark – RUNNER-UP
Hayden Steffens – 4th Place

Oral Interpretation of Drama (OID)
Carter Bell, Siri Doddapaneni, Madison Marco, Jasmine Nlam, Dori Primmer – CHAMPIONS
Angelina Bhandari, Teagan McCallister, Hayden Steffens – RUNNERS-UP

Persuasive (PER)
Adrishya Kumar – CHAMPION
Madison Marco – RUNNER-UP

Poetry (POE)
Mahalet Kinde – CHAMPION
Carter Bell – RUNNER-UP

Program of Oral Interpretation (POI)
Mahalet Kinde – CHAMPION
Angelina Bhandari – RUNNER-UP

Serious Prose (SER)
Madison Marco – CHAMPION
Dori Primmer – RUNNERS-UP

With dominant performances across the board, it was this a truly successful day. Congratulations to all competitors and coaches on a well-earned victory!

About the Contributor

Angel Bhandari, Assignment Editor (Culture)

Angel is a junior at Brownell Talbot, and this is her third year on Verbatim. On campus, she is involved in robotics, varsity cheer, varsity speech, science olympiad, and is on the head of the school’s student advisory council! She is also the President of the Medical Minds Club and the Treasurer of the DECA chapter here on campus. Outside of school, she works as a Certified Nursing Assistant.