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.

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!