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The Lafayette Forensics Society continued its remarkable ascent with a second-place finish at the Collegiate Forensics Association Tournament March 2-3 in Ocean City, Md. Lafayette competitors qualified to participate in seven more events in the National Forensics Association Championship Tournament next month.
Jennifer Rusak ’04, a neuroscience major from Ashley, Pa., paced the team with a win in the top speaker category of Lincoln Douglas debate, another first-place finish in rhetorical criticism, and a second-place showing in informative speaking.
Pavlos Lykos ’05 of Easton, Pa., secured the team’s third individual victory by prevailing in after-dinner speaking. He also competed in parliamentary debate.
Erik Heins ’05 of Center Moriches, N.Y., took second place in rhetorical criticism, fourth place in extemporaneous speaking, and fifth place in impromptu speaking, and competed in parliamentary debate.
Paul Kritzler ’05 of Monkton, Md., took second place in Lincoln Douglas debate.
Amy Carson ’02, a double major in English and psychology from Pennington, N.J., earned fourth place in persuasive speaking and was a semifinalist in parliamentary debate. She also competed in dramatic duo with English major David Gross ’02 (Willow Grove, Pa.). Gross also participated in prose.
Government and law major Alex Sarris ’04 (Northford, Conn.) was a semifinalist in parliamentary debate and government and law major Kenya Flash ’03 (Coopersburg, Pa.) finished sixth in informative speech and competed in poetry reading.
“Our team placement is just astounding,” says Lycos. “I am very impressed with my teammates. I was not expecting to be awarded first place for after-dinner speaking. I couldn’t have accomplished this without my team members’ support or without the dedicated assistance of my coach, Scott Placke.”
Debate coach Jon Honiball says, “While I am very proud of the whole team, I am especially excited for Paul. He started competing in the middle of the year, with very little debate experience. He catches on fast, though, and is an extremely hard worker. He deserved his victory.”
“It was a huge relief to finally ‘break’ in debate and I am glad we did so well as a team,” adds Kritzler. “It was a fun tournament!”
Placke, the individual events coach, says, “I always enjoy the travel associated with these tournaments. This tournament was a little different from most, because it was held at a hotel on the ocean. It was fun to compete somewhere other than a college campus.”
Bruce Allen Murphy, Fred Morgan Kirby Professor of Civil Rights, is director of forensics.
The Forensics Society’s next competition will be the Pi Kappa Delta Northeast Provincial Tournament March 22-23 at Bloomsburg University. Pi Kappa Delta is the national honorary society for forensics.