From left, Soren Starkey, Parkersburg High graduate, and Emily “Em” Marlow, Parkersburg South graduate, hold recent awards received in the Pi Kappa Delta Nationals speech tournament held March 15-18 at West Chester (Pa.) University. (Photo Provided)

PARKERSBURG — Two Ohio University students who graduated from Parkersburg South and Parkersburg High have won national speech championships.

Emily “Em” Marlow, Class of 2020 at Parkersburg South, won first place in the interviewing category at the Pi Kappa Delta Nationals speech tournament held March 15-18 at West Chester (Pa.) University.

Soren Starkey, Class of 2018 Parkersburg High, won first place in Prose and first place in Duo Interpretation with a teammate from Dayton.

Marlow and Starkey have excelled in college speech competition throughout the season. Their coach is Jennifer Talbert.

Starkey won first place awards at speech tournaments in Alabama, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Virginia during the 2022-2023 academic year, including earning top speaker recognition Feb. 18-18 at the Ohio Forensics Association State Championship.