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Paced by two victories for Mark Kokoska ’08 (Bloomsburg, Pa.) and one by psychology major Kim Moore ’05 (Longwood, Fl.), the Forensics Society took fourth place among 14 schools during both days of competition at the Presidential Love Swing, a pair of speech and debate tournaments hosted Feb. 12-13 by Suffolk University in Boston.
Kokoska won the after-dinner speaking competitions in each tournament. On the first day, he also was a Lincoln-Douglas debate octa-finalist and finished seventh in informative speech. On day two, he placed second in persuasion and fifth in informative speech, and competed in debate.
“I think that every time we step out from the smaller circuit into the larger nation of forensics, it reinforces what this event is all about,” says Kokoska, a Marquis Scholar. “This weekend’s leap into the heat of an intense debate competition not only taught me a lot, it also showed me I have much yet to learn. Education truly is at the core of the experience.”
Moore, also a Marquis Scholar, won persuasion on day one and took second place in persuasion on day two. She also placed fourth in informative speech on day one and second on day two, and competed in debate both days.
“I am very happy with how things went this weekend,” says Moore. “I have been working hard all year on my persuasion speech and it feels like it has finally come together.”
Marquis Scholar Christian Dato ’07 (Poway, Ca.), a history and government & law major, earned fourth-place finishes in both poetry and prose interpretation on the second day, also competing in impromptu speech that day and in debate the first day.
Trustee Scholar Erik Heins ’05 (Center Moriches, N.Y.), a philosophy major, and Paul Kritzler ’05 (Monkton, Md.), a government & law major, were debate octa-finalists on both days.
Doug Weltman ’08 (Little Silver, N.J.) competed in impromptu speech and debate both days, finishing sixth in impromptu on day one.
Scott Placke, director of forensics, and debate coach Jon Honiball accompanied the students.
“The competition was excellent and we definitely learned a lot,” says Honiball. “I think we will have a much better focus heading in to nationals for what we need to accomplish to be competitive.”
“Boston is a great city to visit, and I love to debate there,” adds Dato. “As far as speeches were concerned, we did amazingly well.”
Most Forensics Society members are active in other campus activities.
Moore is the secretary of College Democrats, a March After School Help tutor, a resident of the Dry Surfers floor, a tour guide for admissions, and a member of the orchestra, Psychology Club, and Biology Club.
Dato is vice president/treasurer of College Democrats, a student representative, a member of Haven, and a member of Social Gaming Network.
Kritzler is a member of Haven, Lafayette Communications Union, and Social Gaming Network, and is active in intramural sports.
Heins is vice president of Haven and a member of Social Gaming Network.
Kokoska is a member of the Table Tennis Club.
Prior tournament reports
Last season’s national tournament and links to all 2003-04 articles