by Elaine Huang

MANCHESTER, NH – The Lafayette Forensics team brought an incredible force of debaters and IE-ers to St. Anselm’s this past weekend.

Aaron Walker (’18) was 1st place in Trithon, an award for individuals who competed in three events or more. He finished 2nd place in Extemporaneous speaking, 1st place in Impromptu, and 1st place in Duo with Lauren Wisniewski (’19), a stellar accomplishment for their first time competing in the event together. He is now qualified for nationals in all three events.

Cassidy Reller (’16) was 3rd place in Trithon. His wins consisted of 1st place in Extemporaneous speaking, 2nd place in Rhetorical Criticism, and 2nd place in Impromptu. He qualified for nationals in Impromptu and Rhetorical Criticism.

In addition to Lauren, other first year IE-ers had an impressive run as well. Michael Wellnitz (’19) placed 3rd in Persuasion. Fayola Fair (’19) received 4th place in Impromptu. All three qualified for nationals in their respective events. The efforts of the Lafayette IE-ers earned them 3rd place in IE Team Sweepstakes.

Debate-land was full of thrills as well. In Novice NFA-LD Debate, Sarah Pungitore (’19) was 3rd place speaker and semifinalist, while Lauren Wisniewski was 1st place speaker and the Novice LD Champion. She defeated her opponent from St. Anselm College in the final on a 2-1 decision. In Open LD, Vanessa Milan (’16) was 2nd place speaker and placed 2nd in the event, while Elaine Huang (’19) was 3rd place speaker. The combined finishes were enough to propel Lafayette towards 1st place Sweepstakes in debate!

Overall, it was an amazing weekend, topped off with a delicious lunch at Stew Leonard’s on the drive home.