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.