MavForensics Splits Squad!

(Photo: Preston did not want to leave Queeny's side, as the underclassmen got ready to leave for Minnesota.)

Welcome back friends! MavForensics has been staying busy with travel, practice, and plenty of tournament preparation. Though it took some physical breaking up of hugs and embraces, last weekend the team parted ways. It was the first time all year the team has split squad as Senior Lauren Ackerman and Juniors Cole Evans, Trae Graham, and Queeny Pimentel stayed in Omaha for the Creighton Double-Up and Sophomores Dan Cutter, Karlee Currin and Freshman Catie Zaleski, Preston Prauner, and Bridget Hames went north to attend the Larry Schnoor Invitational in Mankato, MN and the Bill Robertz Invitational in St. Peter, MN. The upperclassmen were graced with the luxury of sleeping in their own beds back in Omaha, a gift given rarely in the speech world. However, the freshmen and sophomores battled travel to not only Minnesota, but to TWO different campuses in Minnesota! Luckily, both groups were able to pull themselves from either town to town in a foreign state or out of their own comfy beds to all the way down the street. Yet, it was the distance from each other that weighed on all of the students’ minds. Thanks to Facetime, Skype, and the magic of cell phones the ailing groups were able to cure their familial withdrawals long enough to have a great showing at all ofthe tournaments, including an individual sweepstakes championship by novice Nithya Rajagopalan! Check out results:

(Photo: Upperclassmen to novices, traveling coaches to competitors staying home, everyone had parting words of inspiration to share.)


Larry Schnoor Invitational Saturday October 20^th:

Extemporaneous Speaking:

Nithya Rajagopalan, 1^st

Duo Interpretation:

Prauner/Zaleski, 3^rd

Program of Oral Interpretation:

Dan Cutter, 4^th

Persuasive Speaking:

Nithya Rajagopalan, 1^st

Preston Prauner, 2^nd

Bridget Hames, 3^rd

Communication Analysis:

Nithya Rajagopalan, 2^nd

Prose Interpretation:

Dan Cutter, 2^nd

Dramatic Interpretation:

Catie Zaleski, 2^nd

Karlee Currin, 4^th

Impromptu Speaking:

Nithya Rajagopalan, 2^nd

Dan Cutter, 6^th

Individual Sweepstakes:

Nithya Rajagopalan, 1^st

Dan Cutter, 2^nd

Team Sweepstakes:

UNO, 2^nd

Quality Team Sweepstakes Award:

UNO, 1^st

(The Quality Award is a special award given to the team with the highest quality of competition. It is determined by the number of points a team earns compared to the size of the team’s entry in the tournament.)

(Photo: The northern team having some fun and loosening up at warm ups!)

Bill Robertz Invitational Sunday October 21^st:

Communication Analysis:

Nithya Rajagopalan, 2^nd

Program of Oral Interpretation:

Catie Zaleski, 1^st

Persuasive Speaking:

Nithya Rajagopalan, 1^st

Preston Prauner, 3^rd

Bridget Hames. 4^th

Prose Interpretation:

Karlee Currin, 2^nd

Dan Cutter, 3^rd

Duo Interpretation:

Currin/Hames, 1^st

Prauner/Zaleski, 2^nd

Currin/Cutter, 4^th

Extemporaneous Speaking:

Nithya Rajagopalan, 3^rd

Poetry Interpretation:

Dan Cutter, 2^nd

Dramatic Interpretation:

Catie Zaleski, 3^rd

Impromptu Speaking:

Nithya Rajagopalan, 1^st

Dan Cutter, 4^th

Individual Sweepstakes:

Dan Cutter, 1^st

Preston Prauner, 2^nd

Team Sweepstakes:

UNO, 1st

Creighton Double-Up Saturday October 20^th:

Prose Interpretation:

Lauren Ackerman, 3^rd

Program of Oral Interpretation:

Traelon Graham, 1^st

Queeny Pimentel, 2^nd

Lauren Ackerman, 3^rd

Duo Interpretation:

Evans/Graham, 1^st

Ackerman/Pimentel, 4^th

Poetry Interpretation:

Cole Evans, 2^nd

Team Sweepstakes for Saturday:

UNO, 3^rd

Creighton Double-up Sunday October 21^st:

Prose Interpretation:

Lauren Ackerman, 2^nd

Queeny Pimentel, 3^rd

Traelon Graham, 4^th

Program of Oral Interpretation:

Queeny Pimentel, 2^nd

Lauren Ackerman, 3^rd

Traelon Graham, 6^th

Poetry Interpretation:

Cole Evans, 1^st

Lauren Ackerman, 4^th

Duo Interpretation:

Ackerman/Pimentel, 1^st

Evans/Graham, 4^th

Individual Sweepstakes for Sunday:

Lauren Ackerman, 2nd

Team Sweepstakes for Sunday:

UNO, 3^rd

Overall Sweepstakes for Creighton Double-up:

UNO, 3rd

(Photo: Upperclassmen at the Creighton Double-Up!)

Thank you for keeping up with our wonderful students! This week the team hosted a tournament here on the lovely UNO campus. The tournament is the Halloween Swing, cohosted with Doane College. FYI: It is Muppet themed and we WILL have pics! Thanks again for following! For more results follow us on Twitter @UNOForensics.

Mavs win Season Opener!

Hello speech lovers! The UNO squad had their season opener this weekend, September 28, 29, and 30th at Hutchinson Community College. We had a wonderful drive to Kansas on Thursday night, talking, singing, and enjoying the company of friends. Competition started on Friday! Here are results:

Hutchinson CC (Day 1):
Impromptu: Natalie Schneider, 4th.
Prose: Cole Evans, 2nd.
Duo: Queeny Pimentel & Lauren Ackerman, 1st. Cole Evans & Trae Graham, 2nd. Dan Cutter & Karlee Currin, 6th.
Extemp: Nithya Rajagopalan, 3rd.
Persuasion: Nithya Rajagopalan, 5th.
POI: Cole Evans, 1st. Queeny Pimentel, 3rd.
ADS: Karlee Currin, 1st.
CA: Nithya Rajagopalan, 3rd.
DI: Cole Evans, 1st. Trae Graham, 3rd.
POE: Queeny Pimentel, 1st. Trae Graham, 3rd. Catie Zaleski, 4th.

Individual Sweepstakes: Cole Evans, 1st. Queeny Pimentel, 3rd. Trae Graham, 4th.
Team Sweepstakes:  Mavs placed 1st in team sweepstakes for Day 1.

Photo: Preston Prauner, Catie Zaleski, and Natalie Schneider enjoy talking with friends before awards on Sunday night. 

Sterling College (Day 2): 
Prose: Lauren Ackerman, 1st Cole Evans, 2nd Queeny Pimentel, 3rd
Duo: Cole Evans and Trae Graham, 1st Queeny Pimentel and Lauren Ackerman, 2nd
Extemp: Natalie Schneider, 1st Nithya Rajagopalan, 6th
Persuasion: Bridget Hames, 3rd Nithya Rajagopalan, 5th
POI: Lauren Ackerman, 1st Cole Evans, 2nd Queeny Pimentel, 5th
ADS: Karlee Currin, 2nd CA: Nithya Rajagopalan, 6th
DI: Trae Graham, 5th
Poetry: Trae Graham, 1st

Individual Sweepstakes: Cole Evans, 1st Lauren Ackerman, 2nd Trae Graham, 3rd
Team Sweepstakes:  Mavs placed 1st in team sweepstakes on Sunday.

Combined Sweepstakes: Cole Evans placed 1st in combined individual sweeps. UNO placed 1st in combined team sweeps.

Photo: Queeny Pimentel and Lauren Ackerman practice duo during warm-ups. Karlee Currin warms-up her ADS to the white board!  

The team will head to Bethel College on Friday, October 5th for the annual Sunflower Swing. Follow breaks and results on Twitter @UNOforensics.

Mavs End Semester with Team Championship!

Hello friends of forensics! The team is thrilled to share that they brought home a championship team trophy from the end-of-semester showcase tournament! For the past several years, the University of Nebraska at Kearney has teamed up with Concordia College of Minnesota to host the last tournament of the semester. On the second day of the tournament, schools are invited to "showcase" their events. Students dust off their qualified events and bring everything they have worked on all semester to the showcase event. Many nationally-ranked schools participate in the tournament. This vibrant tournament features the stiffest competition UNO Forensics has faced all year. UNO is proud to bring home two team championships, one for the Lopers are from Venus tournament (held Saturday, December 3rd) and a championship from the Cobbers are from Mars showcase tournament (held Sunday, December 4th). Here are the results! Showcase Results! Traelon Graham: 1st in Poetry, 2nd in duo with Cole, 2nd in DI, 2nd in Individual Sweepstakes. Cole Evans: 2nd in Poetry, 2nd in Duo with Trae, 3rd in Duo with Tessie, Prose semis. Tessie Stednitz: 1st in POI, 3rd in Duo with Cole, 3rd in Poetry. Stephanie Larsen: 1st in Informative. Lauren Ackerman: 1st in Prose. Tunette Powell: 1st in Persuasion. Niveditha Rajagopalan: 2nd in ADS, 3rd in Extemp. Stephanie Henderson: 2nd in ADS, 2nd in POI, 4th in Poetry. Karlee Currin: 3rd in Prose, 6th in DI. Joy Kathurima: 3rd in ADS. Natalie Schneider: 4th in Impromptu.

Results from Saturday! Cole Evans: 1st in Prose Tessie Stednitz: 1st in POI Traelon Graham: 2nd in POI Stephanie Henderson: 1st in ADS Jacki Miller: 3rd in Extemp Karlee Currin: 5th in Prose Hope Stanley: 7th in Informative

Now that the first semester has drawn to a close, the team is looking forward to some much needed rest (and sledding at Coach Abbie's family farm). Happy holidays everyone! We'll see you again in January!