Lafayette finished one of its most successful seasons ever on a high note at the national tournament. 11 students travelled with the coaching staff to Athens, Ohio for the National Forensics Association’s annual national tournament. The tournament is only open to students who qualify over the course of the season. This year, Lafayette qualified a team record 10 debaters to the tournament.
At the tournament, both the debate and speech teams compete in separate divisions. This year, both teams finished in 2nd place! For the debaters, this was the best Lafayette has ever done at Nationals. In 2004, behind the performances of Erik Heins and Jen Rusak, the team finished in 3rd. Last year, the team finished in 5th place. Behind the strong performances of James Hilbert, Sam Derrick and Ryan Benjamin, the debate team was only bested by the reigning 7-time national champions, Western Kentucky University.
James Hilbert finished in 2nd place at the national tournament! James debated in the final round of the tournament after 82 other debaters had been eliminated. He debated against Kaleb Jessee from Western Kentucky University and lost on a 3-2 decision in the final round. It was one of the closest and most competitive final rounds in recent memory. James is the first Lafayette debater to make it to the final round of nationals and it is a VERY impressive feat. James is a junior and will be returning in the fall as one of the favorites to win the national championship.
Sam Derrick finished tied for 3rd place after losing in semifinals to the eventual champion, Kaleb Jessee. It was a very close 2-1 decision in the semi-finals. Had Sam Derrick won, Lafayette would have placed TWO debaters in the final round. It would have been the first time in NFA-LD Debate history that a single team had both of the final round participants. Sam became only the second Lafayette debater to advance to the final four (semifinals) and first since 2004 when then-senior Erik Heins accomplished the feat. Sam is part of an impressive group of seniors and will leave Lafayette as perhaps the most successful debater that Lafayette has ever had.
Ryan Benjamin is the last of the Lafayette debaters to place in the individual competition. He finished tied for 9th place. Ryan had the unlucky fate of being paired against his teammate, James Hilbert, in the round of 16. As is convention, debaters from the same school do not compete against each other, and the coaching staff is asked to advance one of the two debaters. James advanced on the virtue of being a higher seed in the tournament. In the round of 32, Ryan had pulled off a massive upset. He was the 31st seed and was paired against the 2nd seed. Ryan defeated the 2nd seed on a 2-1 decision to advance to the round of 16 and will be one of his signature wins in a great career.
As the returning Division III national champions in speech, our team was barely unable to defend the title, losing to Truman State University. It was very close and we are very proud with second place, defeating 44 other schools.
Senior, Kyle deCant placed in a tie for 13th place in Extemporaneous Speaking. Kyle deCant continued a strong Lafayette tradition in Extemporaneous Speaking. Lafayette has placed a student in 13th or better in each of the last 7 years. This was the second time that Kyle advanced to the elimination rounds at the national tournament. This past weekend, Kyle also represented the state of Pennsylvania at the Interstate Oratorical Association’s annual tournament. The tournament is the longest running speech contest in the world and only two students from each state are selected. Lafayette has had a representative at the tournament for each of the last 7 years. Kyle’s selection is a high honor and a strong finish to his forensics career.
Freshman, Angela Wnek capped off a great year for Lafayette Forensics by finishing in a tie for 13th in Dramatic Interpretation. She is the first top 24 competitor that Lafayette has ever had in any Interpretation event. There are 4 interp events which are more like acting and are performance based; prose, poetry, drama, and duo. Angela’s DI is entitled “Vivien Leigh: The Last Press Conference” and is a play about her acting career that began with her playing Scarlet O’Hara in Gone With the Wind.
The coaching staff is very proud of the team and would like to thank everyone for their support over the years. Our performance is merely a culmination of over a decade of hard work and dedication by former coaches, former students and alumni.
