UK Forensics Places 2nd at Kentucky State Tournament

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 14, 2015) — The University of Kentucky Forensics Team placed second behind reigning national champions Western Kentucky University at the Kentucky Forensic Association state championship speech and debate tournament. Teams from all over the Commonwealth took part in this tournament, which was organized and hosted by the University of Kentucky team.

The Kentucky State Tournament offers competition in 13 individual events and two forms of debate this year. Team sweepstakes awards, which are determined by summing the points earned by all students from the school, are divided into three categories based on the size and type of institution. The Wildcats won the large school division of the IPDA public debate sweepstakes. UK also placed second in both the large school division of individual events sweepstakes and the large school division of parliamentary debate sweepstakes. The scores combined propelled UK to a second place finish overall at the tournament, which is a new team best.

The following successes made these achievements possible:

Quadrathlon

7^th Place – Abel Rodriguez III

Top Novice – Rachel Brase

After Dinner Speaking

6^th Place – Brynne Reilly

Communication Analysis

6^th Place – Logan Hurley

Top Novice – Léna Touchard

Drama Interpretation

6^th Place – Rachel Brase

Duo Interpretation

2^nd Place – Rachel Brase & Megan Wagner

3^rd Place – Dianté Elcock & Kaylon Kennedy

Top Novice – Rachel Brase & Megan Wagner

Editorial Impromptu Speaking

4^th Place – Abel Rodriguez III

Top Novice – Léna Touchard

Extemporaneous Speaking

5^th Place – Abel Rodriguez III

6^th Place – Logan Hurley

Impromptu Speaking

Top Novice – Megan Wagner

Informative Speaking

3^rd Place – Logan Hurley

Top Novice – Megan Wagner

Parliamentary Debate

Semifinalists – Brynne Reilly and Ryan Winstead

Top Novice Team – Rachel Brase and Kaylon Kennedy

4^th Place Speaker (Open Division) – Ryan Winstead

9^th Place Speaker (Open Division) – Brynne Reilly

1^st Place Speaker (Novice Division) – Rachel Brase

3^rd Place Speaker (Novice Division) – Kaylon Kennedy

5^th Place Speaker (Novice Division) – Megan Wagner

Persuasive Speaking

5^th Place – Abel Rodriguez III

Poetry Interpretation

3^rd Place – Abel Rodriguez III

6^th Place – Logan Hurley

Program Oral Interpretation

1^st Place – Dianté Elcock

5^th Place – Kaylon Kennedy

7^th Place – Rachel Brase

Prose Interpretation

4^th Place – Rachel Brase

Top Novice – Kaylon Kennedy

Public Debate

2^nd Place – Abel Rodriguez III

Semifinalist – Ryan Winstead

Quarterfinalist – Logan Hurley

1^st Place Speaker (Open Division) – Abel Rodriguez III

3^rd Place Speaker (Open Division) – Ryan Winstead

5^th Place Speaker (Open Division) – Logan Hurley

Radio Broadcasting

5^th Place – Brynne Reilly

Together, these placings added another five national qualifications to the team's record. This brings the season total to 20 qualifications, a new record for the team. In addition to the honors listed above, junior Abel Rodriguez III was re-elected the student president of the Kentucky Forensic Association. Director of Forensics Timothy Bill, who served as the overall organization president for the past year, finished his term and moved into the office of past president.

The KFA State Tournament was originally scheduled for Feb. 20 and 21 at the University of Kentucky but was forced to postpone until March due to the severe winter weather. Instead, the event was hosted by UK on Transylvania University’s campus. The team’s final tournament of the year will be the National Forensic Association national tournament hosted by Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, April 16-20. UK Forensics is a student organization within the College of Communication and Information. The team competes in 12 different public speaking events and three forms of debate. For more information, please contact Timothy Bill at timothy.bill@uky.edu.

MEDIA CONTACT: Blair Hoover, blair.hoover@uky.edu, 859-323-2395