Forensics Claims Fourth Consecutive State Title
Issue date: 2/26/10 Section: News
|
"When this group comes together and is operating on all cylinders, good things happen," said Chip Hall, director of the program and instructor in C-N's communication department. "They've worked so hard, and this is the payoff."
Senior Laura Broyles defended her persuasive speaking championship winning the event for the second year in a row. This is especially significant as this win qualifies her to be one of two representatives from the state of Tennessee at the Interstate Oratorical Association competition held this year in Oklahoma City. This is the oldest, and some might argue most prestigious speech tournament held in our country. Noted figures to have competed at the IOA include Robert Lafollette, William Jennings Bryan, Barbara Jordan, and Oprah Winfrey.
Sophomore Alex Davis won the state championship in After Dinner Speaking as well as winning second place in prose interpretation and third in duo interpretation with his partner Jordan Rasnic.
Hall marvels at the strides Davis has made in a single year. "Alex has gone from running mostly on raw talent to creating performances with nuance, polish and depth. He can play funny and serious equally effectively- and really proved it this weekend."
Juniors Josh Adams and Drew Stewart each won individual titles in Extemporaneous Speaking and Parliamentary Debate Speaking respectively.
But all of these first place finishes don't begin to tell the story, the story of 19 talented students who came together to contribute to what was a truly a team effort. C-N had finalists in 10 of the 11 individual events. Fourteen different C-N students were in these final rounds.
"This team isn't a one trick pony," Hall said. "We have students who excel at the prepared speaking events, we have others who think incredibly well on their feet and find success in limited preparation events, and we have others who really know how to get inside of characters and literature and also know how to convey those skills to an audience. We are amazingly balanced. This balance made the difference for us this year."
Be the first to comment on this story