Colby grad competes in national speech contest
Emmalee Empey, Colby High School’s 2023 valedictorian, was one of five students from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater who represented the Warhawk forensics team at the 2025 National Speech Championship, March 22-23 in Peoria, Ill.
Empey, the daughter of Gene and Jamie Empey of Abbotsford, is majoring in economics and mathematics. The Warhawks placed 14th in the nation at this year’s National Speech Championship. Empey was a quarterfinalist in extemporaneous speaking. Megan Ehle, a biology major from Janesville, reached the quarterfinals in dramatic interpretation and program oral interpretation and the semifinals in communication analysis and poetry. Abby Frey, a theatre major from Madison, qualified for the quarterfinals in dramatic interpretation and program oral interpretation and the semifinals in poetry.
Other quarterfinalists include Justin Rietmann, a computer science and English major from Merrimac, in impromptu speaking; and Amelia Moody, a management and entrepreneurship major from Fitchburg, in prose performance.
For the second time in its history, the team also attended the American Forensics Association National Speech Tournament.
A nationally recognized competitive speech team, the UW-Whitewater Forensics Team wins more than 100 awards annually. The team is advised by Brian Schanen, lecturer of communication, and competes yearround against the top teams from collegiate institutions around the country.
UW-Whitewater annually hosts the Whitewater Forensics Institute (WFI), which is scheduled for July 6-12 for competitors of all experience levels entering grades 9-12 next fall.
