Forensics Racks Up Big Wins
Faith Long, O&B Staff Writer
Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: News
The forensics team recently brought home first place, beating out 17l other colleges and universities when they traveled to compete in the Marks Invitational Tournament in Pensacola, FL. C-N topped such schools as former national champion University of Texas-Austin, University of Florida, Clemson, Florida State and Ball State.
Many members of the team took first place in their individual events as well. Josh Adams and Luke Willoughby took first in Parliamentary Debate, Nathan McGhee in Novice Prose, Alex Davis and Jordan Rasnic in Duo Interpretation, and Laura Broyles in Rhetorical Criticism.
Fourteen of the team members brought home an award, and eleven of those were in multiple categories; Drew Stewart was awarded for six events and Kyle Long five. Their accumulation of points gained the team a 72.5 lead over the University of Texas-Austin, a former national champion.
The team met with similar success when seventeen team members traveled to Gainesville, GA, in early January. Every member returned with at least one award. C-N students represented six of the top ten speakers in the tournament's individual events. This left them in first place for the individual events with 118 points and 97 point lead over the other teams.
There is potential in the rest of the season as well - the team will compete in the state championships this month. After that they will host a tournament in Gatlinburg for high school students, compete in the Christian College Championships in Ohio, the Pi Kappa Delta tournament in Minneapolis, and then the National Forensics Association tournament in Athens, OH.
Coach Chip Hall is confidant and excited about their opportunities.
"We're bigger than we've been, but not just in numbers, in high quality pieces," he said. "It's a young team but we have good student leadership and a lot of dedication. We'll do well."
There are no seniors on the team, so there is a chance that all of the members will be returning. With a good season last year and so far this year as well, Hall and the team see promise in next year's season.
"We're very ELE," says Luke Willoughby, a freshman member of the team. "Everybody loves everybody. It's about the team; when our teammates move on to finals and we don't, we go to support them. At the end of the day, it's about Carson-Newman."
Many members of the team took first place in their individual events as well. Josh Adams and Luke Willoughby took first in Parliamentary Debate, Nathan McGhee in Novice Prose, Alex Davis and Jordan Rasnic in Duo Interpretation, and Laura Broyles in Rhetorical Criticism.
Fourteen of the team members brought home an award, and eleven of those were in multiple categories; Drew Stewart was awarded for six events and Kyle Long five. Their accumulation of points gained the team a 72.5 lead over the University of Texas-Austin, a former national champion.
The team met with similar success when seventeen team members traveled to Gainesville, GA, in early January. Every member returned with at least one award. C-N students represented six of the top ten speakers in the tournament's individual events. This left them in first place for the individual events with 118 points and 97 point lead over the other teams.
There is potential in the rest of the season as well - the team will compete in the state championships this month. After that they will host a tournament in Gatlinburg for high school students, compete in the Christian College Championships in Ohio, the Pi Kappa Delta tournament in Minneapolis, and then the National Forensics Association tournament in Athens, OH.
Coach Chip Hall is confidant and excited about their opportunities.
"We're bigger than we've been, but not just in numbers, in high quality pieces," he said. "It's a young team but we have good student leadership and a lot of dedication. We'll do well."
There are no seniors on the team, so there is a chance that all of the members will be returning. With a good season last year and so far this year as well, Hall and the team see promise in next year's season.
"We're very ELE," says Luke Willoughby, a freshman member of the team. "Everybody loves everybody. It's about the team; when our teammates move on to finals and we don't, we go to support them. At the end of the day, it's about Carson-Newman."
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