The 4th SNAFU (South and North Atlantic Forensics Union) tournament of the year was hosted by Cedar Crest College in Allentown over the weekend.  The Lafayette Forensics team placed 4th on both days of the tournament.  On the first day, Teevrat Garg finished 1st in Extemporaneous Speaking, 2nd in Informative Speaking,  and 3rd in Impromptu Speaking.  Those finishes were enough for Teevrat to finish 2nd in Individual Sweepstakes.  Samantha Sangenito finished 4th in Prose Interpretation while Nicholas Ufier finished 4th in Extemporaneous Speaking.

On the second day, Angela Wnek finished 2nd in Duo Interpretation (with Sangenit0), 3rd in Poetry Interpretation, 4th in Impromptu Speaking, 4th in Dramatic Interpretation.  Those finishes were enough for Angela to finish 1st in Individual Sweepstakes.  The finish is Angela’s first Individual Sweepstakes award and she is the first Lafayette freshman to win Individual Sweepstakes at a tournament.  In other results, Kyle deCant finished 1st in Extemporaneous Speaking and 4th in Persuasive Speaking.  Katie Starkweather finished 3rd in Exteporaneous Speaking and 3rd in Informative Speaking.  Nicholas Ufier also finished 5th in Extemporaneous Speaking.

The tournament was well attended by schools like the University of Pennsylvania, George Mason University, West Chester University, Emerson College, James Madison University, Seton Hall University and Ithaca College.  The forensics team will travel to The Ohio State University and Otterbein College on the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Happy Holidays!

Seniors Ryan Benjamin and Sam Derrick along with Junior James Hilbert traveled to Bowling Green, Ohio to compete in the Falcon Classic held at Bowling Green State University.  It was a successful trip for the debate team.  Sam Derrick finished with a perfect 4-0 record in the preliminary rounds.  James Hilbert and Ryan Benjamin both finished with 3-1 records.  Derrick and Hilbert advanced to the elimination rounds and Benjamin just missed qualifying for elimination rounds on tiebreakers.

In the semifinal round, Sam Derrick faced off against Jake Morgan from Hillsdale College.  Sam won a close round on a 2-1 decision in a debate about a proposition to build a pipeline to carry sequestered carbon from power plants.  In the other semifinal, James Hilbert was debating against Josiah Hersey from Hillsdale who also proposed the same pipeline.  James prevailed on a 3-0 decision setting up an all-Lafayette final round!  As the higher seed, Sam Derrick was named tournament champion and James Hilbert finished in 2nd place.

This was the second time this year that Hilbert and Derrick were able to close out the final round of a tournament.  Back in October they closed out finals of the Ocho at Lafayette College.  Lafayette defeated debate teams from The Ohio State University, Wayne State University, Hillsdale College and Central Michigan University on the weekend.

With no tournament this weekend due to Thanksgiving, the team will travel next to The Ohio State University and Otterbein College on the first weekend in December.

The Lafayette Forensics Society traveled to Manchester, NH on Saturday, November 7th for the Jack Lynch Invitational at St. Anselm College.  The team took 14 students to the tournament in both individual events and debate.  Joining the team on the trip were Lafayette alums Paul and Jenny Kritzler, as well as volunteer Deb Boyer.

The team won 1st place in debate and individual events sweepstakes and five different events.  The team bested 8 other schools at the tournament, including reigning national champions Western Kentucky University, Emerson College, Suffolk University, University of Maine, Ithaca College and Old Dominion University.  Strong finishes like this only come from strong individual performances:

Kyle deCant (Senior) – 1st place Impromptu Speaking, 2nd place Extemporaneous Speaking, 4th place Persuasive Speaking
Christina Hunt (Junior) – 1st place After Dinner Speaking, 2nd place Rhetorical Criticism, 3rd place Poetry Interpretation
Katie Starkweather (Junior) – 1st place Informative Speaking, 2nd place Prose Interpretation
Nan Li (Sophomore) – 1st place Rhetorical Criticism
Angela Wnek (Freshman) – 1st place Dramatic Interpretation, 3rd place Prose Interpretation, 4th place Poetry Interpretation

Sam Derrick (Senior) – 2nd place LD Debate, 3rd place LD Speaker
Ryan Benjamin (Senior) – Quarterfinalist LD Debate
James Hilbert (Junior) – Quarterfinalist LD Debate
Samantha Sangenito (Sophomore) – Semifinalist LD Debate
Justin Bortnick (Freshman) – 2nd place Novice LD Debate
Joshua Geesey (Freshman) – 3rd place Novice LD Speaker

The tournament was our most successful of the young season and is a sign of strong performances yet to come.  The team is off next weekend and is traveling to Cedar Crest College and Bowling Green State University on the weekend of November 21st and 22nd.