Truman Forensic Union Comes On Strong at the 74-Swing Speech Tournament

 
Truman’s Forensic Union, speech and debate team, attended its second tournament of the season with strong performances and two qualifications for the National Forensic Association championships in April.

Six members traveled to Illinois to compete at the annual 74-Swing hosted by Bradley University and Illinois State University. In addition to their hosts, Truman faced impressive competition from other top forensic teams in the nation, such as Western Kentucky University, Northwestern University and the University of Northern Iowa.
 
The first award of the weekend went to freshman Brian Kantanka during the Dan Smith Invitational portion of the tournament. Kantanka was declared the top novice in poetry interpretation based on his strong performance against varsity competitors.
 
The success continued with freshman Clarissa Todd and sophomore Mahliyah Adkins-Threats both making it to the finals in their events. Todd placed fourth in the novice division of Prose Interpretation. Adkins-Threats took her poetry interpretation to the varsity division final round, where she placed fifth.
 
The team travels next to the University of Central Missouri for the Missouri Mule, Oct. 18 and 19.

Participation in the forensics program is open to any student in good standing, regardless of prior speech and debate experience. For more information, visit forensics.truman.edu or contact Christopher Outzen, director of individual events, at coutzen@truman.edu, or Kevin Minch, interim director of forensics, at kminch@truman.edu.