For one weekend, metro-area students transformed Gateway High School into a lively showcase of the spoken word. From performances of poetry, humor and drama to heated debates and impromptu talks, students competed against one another in the 2007 Continental League Speech and Debate Tournament.

Competitors from Gateway and Rangeview high schools practiced with their coaches since the beginning of school to prepare for the regional tournament. Their hard work helped catapult many of the students from a highly competitive field of participants into the final rounds.

Rangeview student Ben Zigterman placed first in extemporaneous speaking, an event which challenges students to talk at length about a topic that judges assign to them only minutes before. Zigterman’s first-place finish sent him to the National Qualifying meet the following week, where again he earned top honors. Zigterman will compete in the national tournament in Kansas this summer.