-by Alyssa Braver (’16) and Kaitlin Kinsella (’17)

HUNTINGTON, WV — It was homecoming weekend at Lafayette, and even though our football team might not have won, the Lafayette Forensics team had a successful and enjoyable weekend competing at Marshall University’s 2014 Chief Justice tournament. It was the first time the team has been to Marshall since Nationals in 2013 in which now senior Ryan Monahan (’15) was a semi-finalist. This time he was determined to claim the title of champion.

Juniors Alyssa Braver (’16) and Vanessa Milan (’16) also competed in the debate tournament, as did freshman Emily Carter (’14). This was the first time Emily Carter debated in the open division of debate, an impressive feat for a freshman. Junior Vanessa Milan was also double-entered in Persuasive Speaking, in which she competed for her first time. Vanessa was the only member of the Lafayette team to do both debate and speech, demonstrating the true meaning of what it means to be a member of the forensics team.

After a 5-1 record in the preliminary rounds, Ryan Monahan advanced to a quarter-final round in which he defeated St. Anselm’s Rebecca Pelletier on a 3-0 decision. This set up a semi-final round between Ryan and Purdue’s Taylor Brewer. Ryan once again emerged victorious in a 3-0 decision. The other semi-final round was a close-out between Western Kentucky’s Mark Allseits and Bailey Rung. Mark Allseits advanced as the higher seed. Mark and Ryan had an intense final round about the viability of Lunar Solar Power. On a 2-1 decision, Ryan Monahan won the tournament, making it his second victory in a row after winning Lafayette’s tournament earlier this month. In a dominating performance, Ryan only lost two ballots the entire tournament, in addition to receiving the top speaker award.

The Lafayette Forensics team was well represented in individual events. Seniors Sharon Chen (’15) and Joe Arrieta (’15), previously mentioned Vanessa Milan, and sophomore Kaitlin Kinsella (’17) competed in IEs. This was the first time Chen and Kinsella competed this year. In addition to LD Debate, the Forensics Team competed in Prose Interpretation, Persuasive Speaking, Rhetorical Criticism, and Informative Speaking. While none of the competitors advanced to finals, this was a great start to what is sure to be a successful year.

Despite not being in the final rounds, senior Joe Arrieta won the Top Novice Award for Prose. In a difficult tournament field, Joe’s strong grasp and performance of his piece allowed him to outshine the other novices. Joe’s talent has dazzled and impressed his fellow teammates, making him a great addition to the team. We can’t wait to see what Joe and the rest of the Speech members will do for the remainder of the year.

The next time Lafayette Forensics team will be competing will be at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire on November 8. We can’t wait to see what will happen.