University forensics team has strong showing at Berea competition

(Oct. 19, 2017) – Carson-Newman University’s forensics team took six students to Berea, Kentucky, to compete in Berea College’s John G. Fee Memorial speech and debate tournament Oct. 13-14. The team began their season on a high note, winning small school individual events sweepstakes over schools including Berry College, Berea College, and Transylvania University.

Junior David McConnell led the way winning the pentathlon award given to the top overall speaker at the tournament. He was the champion in Impromptu Speaking and Impromptu Counseling. McConnell and senior Bethany Lemons were also quarter-finalists in Parliamentary Debate.

Senior Abby Strickland, who serves as team president, won in Dramatic Interpretation. “The astonishing thing about this win is that this small group was comprised of many new people,” said Strickland, “and we still managed to show a level of competitiveness that rivals what we’ve done in years past.”

Senior Alexis Buford earned a third place finish in Impromptu Speaking. Freshman Gracie Keel was the top novice in Communication Analysis and sophomore Kellie Henderson scored preliminary points adding to the winning team’s sweepstakes total. In all, the team scored 197 points and won 18 awards.

“I am thrilled to see everyone contributing,” said Chip Hall, director of Forensics. “We only had about half our team here this weekend. I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish when we are full squad.”