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!

UNO Helps High School Students "Speak Up!"

Photo: Two East students approach Niveditha, Cameron, and Iven to ask questions about the college experience.

Way back in November, Shelley Molland, speech teacher at Sioux City's East High School, contacted Coach Abbie to arrange a collaborative workshop between East High and UNO. On April 30th, the project became reality! UNO students Iven Mendoza, Cameron Logsdon, and Niveditha Rajagopalan traveled with Abbie to East High to host "Speak Up," an all-day workshop focused on teaching minority students how to find their voice and use it to prepare for college and the professional world.

Photo: Niveditha delivers her After-Dinner speech about arranged marriages to the audience of East students.

The workshop began with Iven, Cameron, and Niveditha performing a variety of events they used in competition this year. After each performance, the 70 high school students in attendance pointed out their favorite aspects of each piece and discussed the social themes embedded within the selections. Then, 10 East students were given one-on-one coaching time with Cam, Iven, and Niv. After some practice time, these 10 students performed their selections as their peers applauded enthusiastically. Following this coaching session, Iven, Cam and Niv shared their personal stories of what brought them to UNO, how they finance college, and what keeps them motivated to keep working hard both in forensics, and in the classroom. They answered several questions from East students, and even exchanged contact information with some students and have since been communicating about college preparation and the processes involved with applications and scholarships.

Photo: Iven, Cameron, and Niveditha answered questions about the various campus activities students can get involved in at UNO.

In this wonderful activity of competitive speech, we often talk about the importance of getting into the community and using our skills to make a difference. Iven, Cameron, and Niveditha did just that on Friday. They spent the day mentoring 70 exceptional students. When it was all said and done, one student approached Niv and said, "Everyone around me was telling me not to go to college, but watching you three today taught me I have to follow my dreams." Another student told Abbie, "College always seemed so out of reach and a little too difficult. Now it seems cool and really fun. I can't wait!" It was a beautiful day.

Kansas in Nebraska Swing

Photo: Stephanie Larsen, Jacki Miller, and Eastin Yates flashing a smile for the camera!

On January 23rd and 24th, the team traveled to Lincoln, NE to compete in the Kansas in Nebraska swing, co-hosted by UNL and K-State. Here are results:

Saturday, January 23rd:
Iven Mendoza: 1st in Duo with Cortney Griffith, 2nd in Poetry, 3rd in Prose, 3rd in POI. Iven also won individual sweepstakes.
Jacki Miller: 1st in Extemp, 4th in Impromptu. Jacki paced 3rd in individual sweepstakes.
Brian Robinson: 1st in Persuasion, 1st in ADS.
Jonna Rebensdorf: 2nd in DI, 4th in Duo with Stephanie Larsen, 6th in Prose
Tessie Stednitz: 5th in Informative
Eastin Yates: 4th in Poetry, 4th in POI
Cortney Griffith: 1st in duo with Iven Mendoza, 5th in DI
Danielle Steen: 2nd in Persuasion

UNO placed 1st as a team.

Sunday, January 24th:

Niveditha Rajagopalan: 1st in Communication Analysis, 4th in Persuasion

Iven Mendoza: 1st in POI, 5th in Prose

Jonna Rebensdorf: 4th in Duo with Stephanie Larsen, 5th in DI

Stephanie Larsen: 3rd in POI, 4th in Duo with Jonna Rebensdorf, 5th in Informative Speaking

Tessie Stednitz: 2nd in Informative Speaking

Brian Robinson: 2nd in Persuasion

UNO placed 3rd as a team on Sunday.

UNO placed 1st in combined team sweepstakes for the weekend.