Forensics Team Gets Last Win Before Nationals
Truman’s speech and debate team earned multiple individual and team awards Feb. 23-27 in Corpus Christi, Texas, at the “Speech on the Beach” tournament hosted by Del Mar Community College.
Team awards included first place in individual events sweepstakes and the overall tournament championship.
Junior Andrew Grojean captured the tournament championship in dramatic interpretation and impromptu speaking. Grojean also won second place in persuasive speaking and fourth place in prose interpretation.
Sophomore Jessica Petrie also excelled in multiple events, taking first place in both informative speaking and extemporaneous speaking.
In addition to the individual event awards, Grojean took second place and Petrie won third place in individual speaker awards, given to top competitors based on points from each event.
“This was a great opportunity to see competition from a different geographic area, and I’m very proud of how well the team performed,” Petrie said.
Freshman A.J. Taula finished second place in poetry interpretation and he and freshman Arielle Long-Seabra earned third place in duo interpretation. Long-Seabra also brought home a sixth place trophy in prose interpretation. Sophomore Sarah Agbehia finished fourth in extemporaneous speaking.
The parliamentary debate team, consisting of senior Dylan Clark and freshman Alan Rassoolkhani, finished in the top eight of the tournament.
“We weren’t quite sure what to expect as we had never travelled to Corpus Christi before, but it turned out quite well for us,” Russ Luce, assistant director of forensics, said. “This was a great last [invitational] of the season to get us ready for the national tournament in April.”
Anyone interested in competing in forensics should contact Kristi Scholten, director of forensics, at kscholten@truman.edu.
Team awards included first place in individual events sweepstakes and the overall tournament championship.
Junior Andrew Grojean captured the tournament championship in dramatic interpretation and impromptu speaking. Grojean also won second place in persuasive speaking and fourth place in prose interpretation.
Sophomore Jessica Petrie also excelled in multiple events, taking first place in both informative speaking and extemporaneous speaking.
In addition to the individual event awards, Grojean took second place and Petrie won third place in individual speaker awards, given to top competitors based on points from each event.
“This was a great opportunity to see competition from a different geographic area, and I’m very proud of how well the team performed,” Petrie said.
Freshman A.J. Taula finished second place in poetry interpretation and he and freshman Arielle Long-Seabra earned third place in duo interpretation. Long-Seabra also brought home a sixth place trophy in prose interpretation. Sophomore Sarah Agbehia finished fourth in extemporaneous speaking.
The parliamentary debate team, consisting of senior Dylan Clark and freshman Alan Rassoolkhani, finished in the top eight of the tournament.
“We weren’t quite sure what to expect as we had never travelled to Corpus Christi before, but it turned out quite well for us,” Russ Luce, assistant director of forensics, said. “This was a great last [invitational] of the season to get us ready for the national tournament in April.”
Anyone interested in competing in forensics should contact Kristi Scholten, director of forensics, at kscholten@truman.edu.
