Junior Nic Lilly placed 2nd in Program Oral Interpretation at the Northern Ohio District qualifying tournament held in Poland, Ohio on Feb. 17-18. The placement earns him a spot competing at the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) tournament in Birmingham, Alabama this June.

Nic outlasted 39 competitors from the Youngstown District which consists of 19 speech programs located throughout Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana Counties. Six elimination rounds of competition gradually reduced the field down to a final round of competition. In the final round, Nic and five other speakers performed to earn one of three national qualifying slots. 

Nic is the second national qualifier from Champion HS and will also compete at the OHSSL (Ohio High School Speech League) finals in March. Nic is coached by adviser James Sheldon, assistant Jay Sheldon and Kayla Medzie. He is the son of Tara and Adam Arbogast and Jeff Lilly.