On March 26, 2025 the Lincoln East Speech team walked out of Kearney High School as Nebraska State Speech Champions for the third year in a row. Coming in from a successful regular season, the speech team had high expectations to perform well, and the team delivered. With all events from districts qualifying to State, and 17 out of 20 events qualifying for a final round, this year’s State Speech Competition was a landslide victory for Lincoln East.
The Lincoln East Speech team is renowned for their talented team members and victorious season record. On top of winning State last year, the team also got third out of over 150 schools at the National Individual Events Tournament of Champions (NIETOC) and top ten out of over 2000 schools at the National Speech and Debate Competition. It’s evident that the team has had some prior success, but with victory comes a lot of hard work from both the competitors and the coaches.
“The team works so hard all year long that by the time it reaches State, it’s really just putting on the finishing touches,” Lincoln East speech coach Nick Herink said. “This year’s team really knew what they were doing. We came in during spring break for about two hours a day. We came in on weekends leading up to State. We stayed up really really late preparing. After all the hard work the team put in, it didn’t feel like we were reinventing the wheel, we were just putting on some polish at the very end.”
It’s clear that this team is filled with a lot of accomplished individuals that put in the work, and while everyone on the team has contributed greatly, it’s important to acknowledge the success of the senior class. Not only are they extremely talented and have won numerous awards, but they’re also fantastic role models that have placed a strong foundation for the team.
“We have a group of seniors who have been the backbone of building up this team ever since we kind of collapsed after Covid,” Herink said. “So it was really special to get to see their moment in the sun during State. It kind of felt like the end of a long running sitcom; the series finale where everyone gets what they wanted. We even got to see the juniors, sophomores, and even our little freshmen have the opportunity to learn from these big kids and have their moment. This year’s State Speech Team was a special group because of the senior class but also seeing the great underclassmen that are extending the tradition into the future.”
All the seniors on the team have contributed immensely to the Spartan Speech success. Seniors Nusrat Amin, Jack Welstead and Max Apel, all became state champions with Amin winning in entertainment and Welstead winning in persuasive. Apel ended up winning all three of his events of humorous interpretation, program of oral interpretation, and dramatic interpretation, an accomplishment that has never been done before in Nebraska state history.
“I was extremely happy and thankful for the triple win,” Apel said. “It was an amazing end to my NSAA speech season. This is a legendary team and thanks to Herink and Barts, it always will be. We all worked together to achieve the overall team win and I’m thankful for all of my teammates and the work they put in.”
Apel has had countless victories on this team. However, his biggest contribution to the team is not the wins, it’s the leadership and friendly manner of Apel and all the other seniors that has helped lead the team to success.
The victory from State is an amazing achievement for the Lincoln East Speech Team and shows the hardwork and dedication the team put in all year. But what makes this team special is not their awards, it’s the good character and kindness displayed by the team members that truly distinguishes this team from any other.
