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.

MavForensics Brings Home Championships from Sunflower Swing!

Hello speech lovers! MavForensics had an outstanding second tournament of the year at the Sunflower Swing, hosted by Bethel College and Sterling College, October 6th and 7th. Perhaps the biggest victory for the team, however, was surviving the weekend when almost everyone was sick. Cole competed in a DI round where he stopped speaking to cough for 45 seconds! He probably would've been better off staying home and resting, but you know how these things go: one minute, the students are fine, the next, they're struggling to speak! We all had a great weekend, but were also excited to return home and get some much-needed rest over Fall Break. Check out results:

                                  Photo: Team prepares for competition by warming up vocals and building energy!

Saturday, October 6th: 
Extemporaneous Speaking: 
Nithya Rajagopalan, 4th

Program of Oral Interpretation: 
Cole Evans, 2nd
Queeny Pimentel, 3rd
Dan Cutter, 4th

Duo Interpretation: 
Karlee Currin & Bridget Hames, 3rd
Catie Zaleski & Preston Prauner, 4th
Karlee Currin & Dan Cutter, 5th

Prose Interpretation: 
Trae Graham, 1st
Queeny Pimentel, 4th

Poetry Interpretation: 
Catie Zaleski, 1st
Cole Evans, 2nd
Trae Graham, 4th
Queeny Pimentel, 5th

Dramatic Interpretation: 
Trae Graham, 3rd
Karlee Currin, 6th

Persuasive Speaking: 
Nithya Rajagopalan, 1st
Bridget Hames, 2nd
Preston Prauner, 4th

After-Dinner Speaking:
Karlee Currin, 4th

Communication Analysis:
Nithya Rajagopalan, 5th

Individual Sweepstakes for Saturday: 
Nithya Rajagopalan, 3rd

Team Sweepstakes for Saturday: 
UNO, 1st

                                                             Photo: Trae Graham rehearses during warm-ups!

Sunday, October 7th: 
Extemporaneous Speaking: 
Nithya Rajagopalan, 2nd

Impromptu Speaking: 
Dan Cutter, 4th

Program of Oral Interpretation: 
Cole Evans, 1st
Queeny Pimentel, 3rd
Trae Graham, 4th
Dan Cutter, 5th

Duo Interpretation: 
Cole Evans & Trae Graham, 1st
Karlee Currin & Bridget Hames, 2nd
Karlee Currin & Dan Cutter, 5th
Catie Zaleski & Preston Prauner, 6th

Prose Interpretation: 
Cole Evans, 1st

Poetry Interpretation: 
Trae Graham, 1st
Queeny Pimentel, 2nd
Catie Zaleski, 3rd
Cole Evans, 4th

Dramatic Interpretation: 
Trae Graham, 1st
Karlee Currin, 6th

Persuasive Speaking: 
Bridget Hames, 1st
Nithya Rajagopalan, 3rd
Preston Prauner, 5th

After-Dinner Speaking:
Karlee Currin, 1st

Communication Analysis:
Nithya Rajagopalan, 4th

Individual Sweepstakes for Sunday:
Cole Evans & Trae Graham had an unbreakable tie for first place!

Team Sweepstakes for Sunday: 
UNO, 1st
UNL, 2nd
Hastings College, 3rd

Combined Individual Sweepstakes: 
Trae Graham, 1st
Cole Evans, 2nd

Combined Team Sweepstakes:
UNO, 1st

Thanks for reading and keeping up with our students! On October 20th and 21st, we will split squad. Cole, Trae, Queeny, and Lauren will compete at Creighton University. Karlee, Dan, Natalie, Nithya, Bridget, Preston, and Catie will travel to Minnesota State University-Mankato and Gustavus Adolphus College. To see 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.