JAMESTOWN - Valley City captured first place at the 2006 State Class A Speech Tournament held at Jamestown High School on Saturday.

Mandan finished second, West Fargo third, St. Mary's fourth, Shanley fifth and Williston sixth.

Candice Paczkowski, West Fargo, was selected Class A speech coach of the year.

Students from 16 schools competed at the event.

The following are the top eight winners in each of the 14 events:

Storytelling: 1st, Conor Smith " Wahpeton; 2nd, Eric Halvorson " West Fargo; 3rd, Sean Scott " Williston; 4th, Steph Sandvick " Mandan; 5th, Cassandra Becker " St. Mary's; 6th, Paul Moch " Mandan; 7th, Jamie Martin " Valley City; 8th, Mandy Wagner - Century

Extemporaneous Speaking: 1st, Austin Lafferty " Mandan; 2nd, Jesse Martin " Valley City, 3rd, Tim Gulsvig " Devils Lake; 4th, Chris Krapu " Valley City; 5th, Amanda Brossart " Fargo South; 6th, John Stautz " Valley City; 7th, Kristen Vetter " Shanley; 8th, Bill Restemayer " Shanley

Extemporaneous Programmed Reading: 1st, Sholauna Peterson " Valley City; 2nd, Tracy Olson " West Fargo; 3rd, Allie Johnson " Fargo South; 4th, Ryan Nelson " St. Mary's; 5th, Alison Wanner " Mandan; 6th, RaeAnne Carlson " St. Mary's; 7th, Kayla Stamp " Williston; 8th, Hannah Christianson - Shanley

Dramatic Interpretation: 1st, Megan Lonski " Valley City; 2nd, Beatrice Hill " West Fargo; 3rd, Jen Voight " Minot; 4th, Chelsea Hanson " Mandan; 5th, Jacob Monson " Williston; 6th, Shea Thomas " Mandan; 7th, Emily Doll " St. Mary's; 8th , Britany Deville " West Fargo

Radio Broadcasting: 1st, Adam Pozgay " Williston; 2nd , Annika Nyman " Beulah; 3rd, Mary Beauclair " Shanley; 4th, Megan Lonski " Valley City; 5th, Karin Flom " West Fargo; 6th, Lauren Wold " Beulah; 7th , Suzanne Redekopp " St. Mary's; 8th, Kyle Vareberg " Valley City

Poetry Interpretation: 1st, Julia Whittle " West Fargo; 2nd, Amanda Pitzer " Mandan; 3rd , Natalie Lindberg " Fargo South; 4th, Rachel Overboe " Shanley; 5th, Alison Wanner " Mandan; 6th, Autumn Gawrylow " Beulah; 7th, Kelsey Schable " St. Mary's; 8th, Leah Ryan " Williston.

Serious Duo: 1st, Abram Jackson-Sean Volk " Valley City; 2nd, Amanda Hoff-Chelsey Hanson " Mandan; 3rd, Kayla Stamp-Bryce Harrison " Williston; 4th, Alex Swetich-RaeAnne Carlson " St. Mary's; 5th, Derek Van Dyke-Shea Thomas " Mandan; 6th, Karyn Ovre-Lydia Gilbertson " Devils Lake; 7th, Ariel Hammond-Mary Butler " Mandan; 8th, Kerri Houle-Kaylee Harles " West Fargo.

Speech to Inform: 1st, Jamie Martin " Valley City; 2nd , Mary Beauclair " Shanley; 3rd, Per Johnson " Valley City; 4th, Jessica Alm " Mandan; 5th, Ellen Mueller " St. Mary's; 6th, John Roller " St. Mary's; 7th, Rachel Stumpf " Mandan; 8th, Michaela Fisher " St. Mary's.

Impromptu Speaking: 1st, Conor Smith " Wahpeton; 2nd , Joseph Geinert " Jamestown; 3rd, John Stautz " Valley City; 4th, Alex Malm " St. Mary's; 5th, Rachel Leingang -Mandan; 6th, Jesse Martin " Valley City; 7th, Austin Lafferty " Mandan; 8th, Kevin Gutman " Century.

Speech to Persuade: 1st, Rachel Overboe " Shanley; 2nd , Molly Siegert " West Fargo; 3rd, Anne Jundt " St. Mary's; 4th, Lauren Wold " Beulah; 5th, Bill Restemayer " Shanley; 6th, Louisa Chen " Fargo South; 7th, Cassi Schriefer " Beulah; 8th, Sarah Pozgay " Williston.

Speech to Entertain: 1st, Sonia Halbach " Devils Lake; 2nd, Allison Denault " Valley City; 3rd, Joseph Geinert " Jamestown; 4th, Joe Connor " West Fargo; 5th, Stephanie Villella " Fargo South; 6th, Krissy Lehfeldt " West Fargo; 7th, Paul Neary " West Fargo; 8th, Alexis Dietz " St. Mary's.

Humorous Duo: 1st, Pat Gallagher-Ryan Klemisch " Mandan; 2nd, Sean Volk-Allison Denault " Valley City; 3rd, Joe Connor-Julia Whittle " West Fargo; 4th, Brittany Daville-Eric Halvorson " West Fargo; 5th, Steven Strom-Nick Strom " West Fargo; 6th, Ashleigh Leick-Brandon Clark " West Fargo; 7th, Emily Jorgenson-Hannah Christianson " Shanley; 8th, Kaitlin Teske-Rachel Wassberg " Fargo South.

Humorous Interpretation: 1st, Paul Neary " West Fargo; 2nd, Mark Frenzel " Mandan; 3rd, Tracey Olson " West Fargo; 4th, Mikayla Walther " Beulah; 5th, Jen Voight " Minot; 6th, Weston Swetich " St. Mary's; 7th, Andrew Rasmussen " St. Mary's; 8th, Jared Deckert " Devils Lake.

Serious Prose: 1st, Hannah Porter " St. Mary's; 2nd, Matt Thompson " Devils Lake; 3rd, Louisa Chen " Fargo South; 4th, Steph Sandvick " Mandan; 5th, Sarah Pozgay " Williston; 6th, Mary Butler " Mandan; 7th, Sholauna Peterson " Valley City; 8th, Cassie Bjerke " Fargo South.

The sixteen participating schools were Beulah, Bismarck Century, Bismarck St. Mary's, Devils Lake, Dickinson, Fargo Shanley, Fargo South, Grand Forks Central, Grand Forks Red River, Jamestown, Mandan, Minot, Valley City, Wahpeton, West Fargo and Williston.