Results from State!

Photo: Stephanie Larsen, Eastin Yates, Tessie Stednitz and Allison Henri enjoy a team dinner on Friday night.

The forensics team had an amazing state tournament on February 20th. We traveled to Doane College to compete against the other amazing schools in our state. On Friday night the team enjoyed dinner at the 9th Street Grill (see photos above). The tournament began early Saturday morning and UNO had a great showing! In addition to having five state champions in six events, UNO won the state Quality Award and placed 2nd in team sweepstakes.

Photo: Jonna Rebensdorf, Cortney Griffith, Iven Mendoza, Tessie Stednitz, Allison Henri, Blaine Miller, and Cameron Logsdon stopped for a photo after the awards ceremony.

• Cameron Logsdon was the state champion of Prose and Program of Oral Interpretation. He also placed 2nd in Dramatic Interpretation and 4th in Duo with Allison Henri.
• Niveditha Rajagopalan was the state champion of After-Dinner Speaking. She also placed 2nd in Oratory, qualifying her to compete at the national Interstate Oratory Contest at the University of Oklahoma in April. Niveditha also placed 3rd in Extemporaneous Speaking.
• Iven Mendoza was the state champion in Poetry. He also placed 2nd in Program of Oral Interpretation and 3rd in Duo with Cortney Griffith.
• Brian Robinson was the state champion in Impromptu Speaking. He also placed 6th in Oratory, 2nd in Extemporaneous Speaking, 5th in After-Dinner Speaking and was a semi-finalist in Communication Analysis.
• Tessie Stednitz was the state champion of Dramatic Interpretation.
• Allison Henri placed 3rd in Program of Oral Interpretation and 4th in Duo with Cameron Logsdon.
• Blaine Miller placed 3rd in Communication Analysis, 4th in Dramatic Interpretation, 4th in Prose Interpretation and 6th place in Duo with Danielle Steen.
• Danielle Steen placed 6th in Duo with Blaine Miller.
• Cortney Griffith placed 3rd in Duo with Iven Mendoza and 5th in Dramatic Interpretation.
• Eastin Yates placed 6th in Program of Oral Interpretation and was the top-novice in Prose Interpretation.
• Stephanie Larsen placed 7th in Informative Speaking.

In addition to this competitive success, UNO was very pleased to have three students nominated for the Spirit of NIFA Award. Each school in the state nominates two students for this award who demonstrate leadership, professionalism, and success both competitively and/or in leadership roles. Three UNO students were nominated by other schools for the award: Niveditha Rajagopalan, Brian Robinson, and Eastin Yates. The winners were both from UNL, Taylor Sloey and Mallory Marsh. Congratulations to two outstanding students for this well-deserved award!

Finally, as was mentioned above, the state tournament is unique because the top two speakers in Oratory advance to compete at the national Interstate Oratorical Association tournament at the University of Oklahoma in April. Niveditha Rajagoplana placed 2nd in Oratory, Amanda Bouc from Doane College was the champion of the event. Both ladies will travel to Norman to the oldest public speaking competition in the nation. Good luck!

Photo: Three very happy coaches! Ryan Syrek, Abbie Syrek and Vanessa Hatfield are all smiles after the state tournament.