UK Forensics 14th in the Nation at Pi Kappa Delta Nationals
LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 31, 2014) — The University of Kentucky forensics team placed 14th in the nation at the Pi Kappa Delta National Comprehensive Tournament held March 20-23 at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus.
Eighty teams from across the United States took part in this three day event. Over 2,000 individual events and debate teams were entered in this tournament, making it the largest comprehensive tournament in the history of Pi Kappa Delta. In addition to the overall success of the team, every student who took part in the competition advanced to an elimination round in at least one of their events.
“Each student really gave it their all this weekend” said Timothy Bill, director of forensics. “In less than two years, we’ve gone from being a brand new team to 14th in the nation. This really speaks volumes about the team’s skill and dedication to this activity.”
The following successes contributed to the team’s strong finish at the tournament:
After Dinner Speaking
Semifinalist – Abel Rodriguez III
Semifinalist – Zach Shinall
Extemporaneous Speaking
Quarterfinalist – Abel Rodriguez III
Quarterfinalist – Ryan Winstead
Quarterfinalist – Sam Northrup
Quarterfinalist – Zach Shinall
Impromptu Speaking
Quarterfinalist – Abel Rodriguez III
Excellent – Zach Shinall
Novice Parliamentary Debate
Semifinalists – Sam Northrup and Brynne Reilly
11th Place Speaker – Brynne Reilly
13th Place Speaker – Sam Northrup
Open Parliamentary Debate
Octafinalists – Zach Shinall and Ryan Winstead
13th Place Speaker – Ryan Winstead
18th Place Speaker – Zach Shinall
Persuasive Speaking
Quarterfinalist – Abel Rodriguez III
Program Oral Interpretation
Quarterfinalist - Dianté Elcock
Public Debate
Octafinalist – Abel Rodriguez III
7th Place Speaker – Abel Rodriguez III
Pi Kappa Delta is the national honor society for collegiate speech and debate competition in the United States. UK formed its local chapter, the Kentucky Nu chapter of Pi Kappa Delta, in the fall of 2012.
UK Forensics is a student organization within the College of Communication and Information. For more information, please contact Timothy Bill at timothy.bill@uky.edu. The team’s final competition of the year will be the National Forensics Association’s national tournament April 17-21 at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich.