Pokes return to forensics competition

Hello again from the Mcneese State University Forensics Team!  Another school year is already well underway and that means a new speech season as well.  McNeese has already traveled to two competitions this semester and there will be more to come.  But first, an update on how the first two competitions went.

On the weekend of September 6-7, a small portion of the McNeese squad traveled to the 3rd Annual Rice University Classic at Rice University in Houston, TX.  The team saw junior competitor and team president Crystal Leday return to forensics competition.  McNeese also welcomed freshman competitor Ali Mason to her first rounds of collegiate speech.

The following weekend, from October 3-4, the team traveled to Fort Worth, TX to participate in the For the Sake of Argument Swing hosted on Texas Christian University's campus.  It was from this tournament that the team brought home their first pieces of hardware for the season!

On the Saturday half of the swing, senior competitor and team vice president Tryfon Boukouvidis earned 2nd place and Top Novice in Prose Interpretation, qualifying him for the NFA National Tournament at his first collegiate competition.  Also on saturday, senior competitor and team secretary Kyla Standley earned 6th place in Poetry interpretation.  The team also welcomed freshman Dimokritos Chatziaslanis to collegiate competition.

The Sunday half of the tournament saw even more success from the Pokes.  Boukouvidis placed 5th in prose Interpretation and Standley placed 3rd in Poetry Interpretation, qualifying her for the NFA National Tournament.  Chatziaslanis also had success in Impromptu Speaking earning key points for the team.  Their collective effort resulted in a 5th place finish for the team in Combined Individual Events Team Sweepstakes for the weekend.

The team will have a well-deserved weekend off this weekend, but will be back in full force from October 17-18 in Tuscaloosa, AL.  See you then!