Several South students won a plethora of medals at the Forensics competition in Lansing Saturday, April 19. After competing late into the night, the team walked away with a total of 13 awards.

Junior Emma Tapko competed in both Prose and Poetry events, and took second place in her Prose performance of Amelia Badelia, which qualified her for State.

“I was so happy, I literally almost started crying,” Tapko said.

Her sister Sophie, senior, also qualified for state in her Duo performance of “Pitch Perfect” with junior Riley Brennan. They will be repeating the performance at their Forensics Show at South at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 23.

Sophie also took first in Improvisational Duet Acting with Dakota Kramer. The pair portrayed parodies of Pamela Anderson and Michael Jackson, who adopt a child from the desert. Although IDA is not a state-qualifying event because it is not 6A, Tapko still enjoys competing in it whenever she can.

“It was like a special treat, like ice cream cake at a birthday party,” Tapko said. “It’s not 6A so we don’t get to do it very much, but when we do it’s really fun.”

Riley Brennan also took fourth place in Original Oration. Her piece centered around the recent Johnson County Jewish Community Center shootings.

“I didn’t write it to win,” Brennan said. “I wrote it to open people’s eyes to the fact that anything can happen anywhere, any time, and to anyone.”

As a whole, the Raider Forensics Squad took sixth place in Sweepstakes, with Sophie and Emma Tapko and Kris Sturm all qualifying for State at Olathe Northwest May 3. Their show on Wednesday will involve the team re-enacting their award winning performances.