KELLOGG — Kellogg High School junior Harley Duce has a flair for the dramatic, and it showed last year when she performed at the Idaho High School State Drama Competition in Twin Falls.

Duce, in her third year as a drama student at KHS, performed “The Face in the Mirror” by KHS alum Ryan Griffin in the solo serious original category.

Following the district competition where she finished in third place, Duce went to state and finished with three superior ratings, and just barely missing the semifinals after scoring 9, 9 and 10 over the three rounds of judging.

Duce not only was competing against the very best in the state in that category, but also in another division of the same category as well.

“It was pretty difficult down there,” Duce said. “With the original category, you also have to compete with the ensemble (multiple performers) groups and since I was doing a solo piece, it was hard to compete against them.”

Duce was making her second straight appearance at the state competition level after competing in an ensemble last year.

She plans on retooling and getting back to state next year, but potentially in a different division.

“I got to watch a lot of the different categories that I hadn’t ever seen,” Duce said. “I want to try and get into one of those next year.”

Getting to watch other performers and how they interacted with their audiences and the judges are just a few of the things Duce picked up on during her time in Twin Falls.

She did well in her solo performance, but does like how the ensemble category allows the performers to depend on each other.

Her focus has now shifted toward preparing for the district speech competition during the first weekend in March.