Seven students were vying for the top award.
Olivia Temm was one of three John Paul College students named as the sole national scholarship recipients for their grades by Speech New Zealand last year.
Each student was graded on a year's worth of work done through an extra-curricular speech and drama syllabus.
Cate Mills has been the Rotorua Speech and Drama Competition convener for five years.
She told the Rotorua Daily Post on the weekend that it was a positive event.
"It's one of the only opportunities in Rotorua to perform and compete. We have our outside adjudicators that come in and give them feedback," she said.
Mills said most of the competitors were from local schools but some travelled from Taupō and Hawke's Bay.
Pam Logan, Colleen Bassett, and Josephine Carpenter were judges, and they announced the results late last night.