West Chester University Forensics Team Wins Tournament and Title  Overwhelming the competition, West Chester University captured First Place at the Collegiate Forensic A association (CFA) Spring Tournament in Ocean City, Maryland, on March 3-4.  CFA is a regional forensic organization that draws membership from colleges and universities from New Hampshire to Florida and as far west as Louisiana.  West Chester’s First Place finish earned them the Welch-Strine Cup, CFA’s Year-Long Championship Trophy, based on a second place finish at the CFA Fall Tournament, a third place finish at the CFA Winter Tournament and this first place finish at the CFA Spring Tournament.

West Chester went into the final tournament two points behind the perennial champions, Shepherd University, in cumulative points; but WCU outdistanced Shepherd by over 150 points in this final tournament of the series.  West Chester took first place in eight of the eleven events contested at the tournament, including first place in all four prepared speech categories—After Dinner Speaking, Communication Analysis, Informative Speaking, and Persuasive Speaking—just as they did the previous weekend at the State championship tournament.  The team added first place finishes in both limited preparation speaking events—Extemporaneous and Impromptu Speaking—first place in Prose Interpretation and first place in Parliamentary Debate.  West Chester also had the top two overall speakers at the tournament—Dan Blomquist and Russ Moll, while teammate Meghan Groff was fourth overall.

Individual honors went to:

• Susan Berberich, first year Honors English education major from Coatesville, won Second Place in Dramatic Duo Interpretation with Claudia Hess, first year Honors communication studies major from Lancaster; and Third Place in Informative Speaking with a speech on yoga.

• Shaundi Billet, second year psychology major from Hummelstown, took Third Place in Dramatic Duo Interpretation with Dan Blomquist, second year Honors criminal justice major from Monroeville, New Jersey; Fifth Place in Dramatic Duo Interpretation with Laura Mikowychok, junior English literature major from Downingtown; and Fifth Place in After Dinner Speaking with a speech on EBay.

• Dan Blomquist captured First Place in Extemporaneous Speaking; First Place (undefeated through the tournament) in Parliamentary Debate with partner Russ Moll, second year Honors music education and political science major from Downingtown; Second Place in After Dinner Speaking with a speech on nature deficit disorder; Third Place in Dramatic Duo Interpretation with Billet; Fifth Place in Persuasive Speaking with a speech on the US trade deficit; and First Place in Pentathlon (an overall versatility award).

• Hershel Cohen, second year communicative disorders major from Torrance, California, took Fourth Place in Parliamentary Debate with his partner Brendon Johnson, second year Honors music education major from Lyndell; and Fifth Place Speaker in Parliamentary Debate.

• Megan Groff, junior Honors political science major from Lititz, earned First Place in After Dinner Speaking with a speech on the gay marriage debate; Second Place in Extemporaneous Speaking; Third Place in Single Dramatic Interpretation; Third Place in Parliamentary Debate with her partner Eric Smith, junior Honors mathematics education major from Shamokin;  and Fourth Place in Pentathlon.

• Brendon Johnson, in addition to his Fourth Place finish in Parliamentary Debate with Cohen, won First Place in Informative Speaking with a speech on crying.

• Andy McLaughlin, first year Honors music education major from Canton, took Fourth Place in Informative Speaking with a speech on hypnosis.

• Laura Mikowychok, in addition to her Fifth Place in Dramatic Duo with Billet, captured First Place in Communication Analysis with her critique of Katherine DeBrecht’s new “children’s book” Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed!  She also won Second Place in Prose Interpretation and Third Place in Poetry Interpretation.

• Russ Moll, in addition to his First Place in Parliamentary Debate with Blomquist, earned First Place honors in Prose Interpretation; First Place in Persuasive Speaking with a speech on cremation; Third Place in Communication Analysis with a speech on ICG’s response to the Sago mine disaster; Fifth Place in Poetry Interpretation; and Second Place in Pentathlon.

• Eric Smith, in addition to his Third Place in Parliamentary Debate with Groff, captured First Place in Impromptu Speaking; Second Place in Communication Analysis with a speech on Camp Cosby; and Third Place in After Dinner Speaking.

• Amanda Yeager, first year Honors communicative disorders major from Newark, Delaware, won Fifth Place in Informative Speaking with a speech on Meglev.

The WCU forensics team will next vie for national awards at the National Forensics Association Championships on April 13-17 at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.  The team has qualified 42 entries for that national championship, which represents West Chester’s best performance in a decade.  For more information, please contact Mark Hickman, Director of Forensics at mhickman@wcupa.edu or 610-436-6942.  (top)