The OCU forensics team was crowned tournament champions in a recent competition where three students won individual awards.
The Halloween Swing Forensics Tournament was hosted by Carl Albert State College on Nov. 2-4. Blayne Childers, acting junior, won third place in Impromptu Speaking and first place in Dramatic Interpretation, Prose and Poetry. Due to his successes, Childers was invited to attend the American Forensics Association National Individual Event Tournament. So far this year, Childers is the first OCU student to earn an invitation to the national tournament.
Megan Poole, acting sophomore, won third in Prose and Poetry. Poole said the tournament was challenging but relatively small.
“This competition, while stiff, was smaller than previous competitions like the one at Texas Christian University which happened the week prior,” Poole said.
Olivia Allen, theater and performance freshman, won third in Dramatic Interpretation and second in Poetry. Allen said she had to change her methods of preparation for this tournament.
“This was my first college tournament,” Allen said. “I’ve never had to choose my own pieces. In high school, it was a very collaborative effort with my coach, so I loved getting to have artistic authority over my pieces and to say exactly what I want to say.”
Allen said she hopes the rest of the season will be as successful as the Halloween Swing Tournament.
“I’ve only been to one tournament so far this season, but I’ve loved getting plugged into the speech and debate world here at OCU,” Allen said. “I hope it continues to be as rewarding as it is now.”
Poole said the team is currently focused on getting others qualified for the national tournament.
“Going forward, the team is going to more tournaments and trying to get as many of us as possible qualified for nationals in the spring,” Poole said.
OCU will host a tournament, The Christmas Classic, from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2.
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