Falcon Forensics and Debate Team continues to dominate the competition

BOWLING GREEN, O.-The Bowling Green State University Forensics and Debate Team continued its winning ways with a first place team finish at Suffolk University Oct. 25-26. The Falcons topped teams from Harvard University, Emerson College, the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University, among others.

The BGSU team is comprised of 15 students who competed in 62 events and were finalists in 27 of them, making it their highest success rate of the season.

Top placements included first place finishes from freshman Evan Kelly in Impromptu Speaking; junior Alexis Martinez in Persuasive Speaking; sophomore Gilbert Bauman-Flores in Poetry Interpretation; senior Arrielle Hudgies in Dramatic Interpretation; freshman Tricia Kushen in Prose Interpretation; Bauman-Flores and Hudgies in Duo Interpretation, and junior Rebecca Barth in Programmed Oral Interpretation.

In forensics competition, the top six speakers in each event receive awards. In both Prose Interpretation and Dramatic Interpretation, five of the top six speakers were from BGSU. In addition, the top six speakers qualify for nationals in April. At the Suffolk competition, the Falcons qualified for nationals in 37 events, bringing the total number of events qualified to 63. This puts BGSU among the top 10 teams in the country.

"It is always an exceptional educational experience to challenge BGSU students up against some of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the nation, and to emerge victorious. I am very proud of each team member for stepping up to this challenge," said Paul Wesley Alday, communication instructor and director of the team.

According to Alday, 10 of the students on the team are in their first year.

Forensics and Debate is a co-curricular, competitive program offered through the School of Media and Communication and Department of Communication, offering BGSU undergraduate students the opportunity to hone their communication and performance skills in competition with other colleges and universities. For more information about forensics, speech or debate, contact 419-372-8856 orBGSU4N6@yahoo.com.