The Gustavus Adolphus College forensics team continued its strong start to the 2009-10 season with a first place finish at the Larry Schnoor Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 17 at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Gustavus finished atop the team standings ahead of second place Illinois State University and third place University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. The Larry Schnoor Invitational is named in honor of Dr. Larry Schnoor, professor emeritus at Minnesota State University, Mankato and current tournament director of the American Forensics Association National Individual Events Tournament.
Gustavus sophomore Chloe Radcliffe took first place in the individual sweepstakes competition with impressive performances in several different events.
Radcliffe took first place in both the Communication Analysis and Prose events and added a second place finish in the Drama category.
Senior Mary Cunningham also performed well with a first place finish in Extemporaneous Speaking, a third place finish in Persuasion, and a sixth place finish in Communication Analysis.
Senior C.J. Hunt teamed with sophomore Sam Hemmerich is take second place in the Dramatic Duo event. Hunt also recorded a third place finish in Program Oral Interpretation and a sixth place finish in Poetry. Hemmerich added a fifth place showing in the Informative Speaking event.
Junior Claire Sagstuen placed third in Extemporaneus Speaking and fourth in Impromptu Speaking. Fellow junior Phil Helt recorded a fourth place finish in Communication Analysis and a sixth place finish in Prose.
Other strong performances included sophomore Lucas Youngvorst’s fourth place finish in Informative Speaking, first-year student Christopher Moua’s fifth place finish in Persuasion, sophomore Allegra Birdseye’s sixth place finish in Extemporaneous Speaking, and senior Emma Moreau’s sixth place finish in Drama.
The team hosted the Bill Robertz Invitational on Sunday, Oct. 18. The event is named in honor of Dr. Bill Robertz, who taught in the Gustavus department of speech communication from 1957 to 1995.
As is tradition, the upperclassmen did not participate in the tournament, but instead were responsible for the various hosting duties.
Several first-year students participated in the tournament and turned in strong performances.
Vanessa Condon took fifth place in Program Oral Interpretation, Eric Halvorson placed sixth in Impromptu Speaking, and Kate Bissen took eighth place in Impromptu Speaking.
The Gustavus forensics team will continue its schedule this weekend when it participates in two Mid-American Forensics League tournaments on Oct. 24-25 at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
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