On the weekend of February 20th and 21st the Forensics Society traveled to the Pennsylvania State Tournament at the California University of Pennsylvania and Northeast Regionals at St. Anselm College in Manchester, NH.  Both groups returned with championships!

Four students traveled to the State Tournament with Director of Forensics Scott Placke and competed in both individual events and debate.  Senior, Kyle deCant finished in second place at the tournament as an individual.  He was named state champion in Extemporaneous Speaking!  He also finished second in Persuasive Speaking, second in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, third in Impromptu Speaking, and fifth in Dramatic Interpretation.  Kyle’s second place in Persuasion was good enough to qualify him to the Interstate Oratorical Association’s National Tournament.  Only two students from each state are chosen to compete at IOA, which is the longest running speech competition in the nation.  His speech is about the increasing suicide rates in the United States’ military and potential changes to how the military deals with mental health issues.

Senior, Teevrat Garg was named state champion in Impromptu Speaking and LD Debate.  He also finished 2nd in Extemporaneous Speaking.  Sophomore, Samantha Sangenito claimed Lafayette’s fourth state championship by winning Informative Speaking with her speech about the role of women in the United States military.  Sangenito also finished 3rd in Prose Interpretation and 3rd in LD Debate.  Senior, Sam Derrick just missed the finals in Impromptu Speaking, finishing 7th.  He also finished 4th in LD Debate.

Despite the small group of students attending the State Tournament the team finished in 3rd place, just 2 points behind 2nd place.

While some members were at the State Tournament, three debaters traveled with coach John Boyer to the Northeast Regional tournament in Manchester, NH.  Junior, James Hilbert finished with a 3-1 record in the preliminary rounds and was seeded 2nd going into the single-elimination quarterfinals.  Freshman, Justin Bortnick also managed a 3-1 record and was seeded 8th in the quarterfinals.  In quarterfinals, Bortnick lost to the tournament’s top seed while Hilbert defeated the 7th seeded competitor from Emerson College.  Hilbert advanced to semifinals where he again emerged victorious. That set up a final round against Tim Vaughan from St. Anselm College, the tournament’s top seed and the only person to defeat James in the preliminary rounds.  In finals, the debate centered around expanding the use of a traffic flow and congestion management tool called roundabouts.  Lafayette’s James Hilbert was arguing in favor of their expanded use, while his opponent from St. Anselm was forced to argue against roundabouts.  After a spirited debate in front of a panel of three judges, Hilbert was named regional champion!

Congratulations are deserved for all of the Lafayette students who captured these prestigious awards!