Apple Valley, MN (KROC-AM News) - A member of the John Marshall High School Speech Team won a state champion during the 2017 Class AA State Speech Tournament.

Ola Adebayo took the top prize in Poetry, becoming the first John Marshall student to earn a State Speech Championship and the first from any school in the Rochester School District to win a State Speech Championship in over 40 years.

Overall, the JM team finished 9th, and three members of the team competed in the final round of the competition. Micaela Buda ended up 8th in Poetry, Alia Hezil finished 5th in discussion and Adebayo was at the top of the Poetry contest.

2017 state speech tournament
photo courtesy Minnesota State High School League
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The overall Class AA team championship went to Moorhead High School for a second straight year with five members of the team winning gold medals. Moorhead also led all of the schools in the tournament with 16 medals, while Apple Valley was second with 14.

62 schools had teams or individual students participating in the tournament, which was held at Apple Valley High School last Friday.

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