Forensic Union Posts Wins in Two Time Zones

The Forensic Union of Truman State University saw a semester of hard work culminate with great success recently. Truman captured the sweepstakes competition in its division at the invitation-only Pat Kennedy Memorial Round Robin, hosted by the University of the Pacific, in Stockton, Calif., Nov. 10-12.

Mark Buchheit, a freshman history major from Carthage, Mo., and Dylan Rothermel, a junior economics major from Homewood, Ill., reached the semifinals of the Pat Kennedy Memorial Round Robin. The tournament featured 12 teams, representing some of the top forensics programs in the nation.

The Round Robin was followed by the Paul Winters Invitational, the largest invitational forensics tournament in the United States during the first semester of the academic year.

Two of Truman’s parliamentary debate teams reached the quarterfinals of the tournament. The team of Keith Schnakenberg, a senior political science and communication double major from Buffalo, Mo., and Sara Archer, a senior accounting major from Riverside, Mo., joined the team of Buchheit and Rothermel in the “elite eight” of the tournament. The team of Trevor Alexander, a senior economics and English double major from Kansas City, Mo., and Stefani Wittenauer, a senior communication and political science double major from Belleville, Ill., reached the tournament’s octafinal (“sweet sixteen”) round. The two team’s overall performances put Truman in fifth place among debate schools, and in first place among small schools. Truman’s overall performance at the tournament topped several large universities, including the University of California at Berkeley, the University of California-Los Angeles, the University of Missouri-Columbia, the Claremont Colleges and Colorado College.

Truman also competed in a tandem set of two individual events tournaments, co-hosted by Doane College in Crete, Neb., and the University of Nebraska-Omaha, on the campus of Doane College, Nov. 10-12.

The duo of Cara Hurst, a senior English major from Chesterfield, Mo., and Mike Ito, a freshman political science major from Kansas City, Mo., took sixth in duo interpretation. Hurst also captured the fifth-place award in dramatic interpretation.
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