The Onalaska High School forensics team is full of survivors. The team started off the season with a brand new coach, Chris Cavadini, who is a seasoned forensics coach and judge.

Working hard to rebuild the program after losing a handful of upperclassmen, the young team was dealt a blow that might affect their chances of performing at the State meet. Their season, which usually includes four to five non-conference meets, was cut short by budget problems.

In the past these non-conference “exhibition” competitions have been pivotal in the road to the state meet held in Madison in April. Judges at these events provide instant feedback on everything from tone and facial expressions to tempo and articulation.

The team could only afford to participate in the three conference meets — subdistrict, district and state. The team was in action last Saturday at the district meet held at UW-La Crosse. The five qualifiers from Onalaska performed with the best competitive speakers in the area and did exceptionally well for the team, made up mostly of freshmen and sophomores.

A duo of sophomore brothers, Zach and Adam Levonian, received high marks in the Radio and 4 Minute Speech categories; their high scores qualified them for the state meet.

First-year team members and freshmen Zoey Cobb and Mai Ge Xiong, who competed in the Prose category, will join the Levonian brothers at the state meet in April.

Amy Yin, a junior and second-year member, fell just short of qualifying for the state meet. She performed a selection from “Night” by Elie Wiesel in the Prose category.

Molly Koby is a senior at Onalaska High School