The Gustavus Adolphus College forensics team placed third out of 40 teams at the prestigious 67th annual L.E. Norton Memorial Tournament on Nov. 1-2 at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill.
The third place finish matches the team’s previous best finish at the tournament, as the program also placed third back in 2011. The only two teams to finish ahead of Gustavus in the team sweepstakes were Western Kentucky and Illinois State University, while the Gusties finished ahead of several strong programs including George Mason University and the University of Texas at Austin.
Individually, senior Karin Nordin became the second Gustavus student in the history of the program to win the Pentathlon at the tournament. To qualify for the Pentathlon, Nordin had to compete in all three genres of forensics—oral interpretation, limited preparation, and public address—and compete in at least five events. Nordin ended up placed second in Persuasive Speaking and fifth in Dramatic Interpretation, while advancing to the semifinals in Prose Interpretation.
The tournament was broken up into Varsity and Novice divisions, but all points earned by competitors in each division counted toward the team’s total score.
Besides Nordin’s results, other Gusties with notable results in the Varsity division included seniors Brittany Knutson and Kate Spaulding, along with junior Emily Meyer. Knutson took first place in Persuasive Speaking and was a semifinalst in After Dinner Speaking. Spaulding and Meyer were both semifinalists in Informative Speaking.
In the Novice division events, Gustavus had 15 finalists and two individual champions. First-year student Alekhya Tallapaka took first place in Persuasive Speaking, third place in After Dinner Speaking, and fifth place in Impromptu Speaking. First-year student Caleb Merritt took first place in Program Oral Interpretation and also added a sixth place finish in Poetry Interpretation.
First-year student Andrew Boge took third place in both Communication Analysis and Program Oral Interpretation. First-year student Clay Sletta finished in second place in Persuasive Speaking. First-year student Gino Fraboni placed fourth in Program Oral Interpretation and seventh in Dramatic Interpretation. First-year student Aurora Vautrin took fourth place in Informative Speaking and also teamed up with first-year student Madison Klein to take fifth place in Duo Interpretation. First-year student Makenzie Shofner placed sixth in Communication Analysis and was a semifinalist in Prose Interpretation. First-year student Sarah Peterson placed fifth in Dramatic Interpretation, while first-year student Ryan Eichenauer took sixth place in After Dinner Speaking.
For more information about the Gustavus forensics program, go online to gustavus.edu/forensics or contact program director Kristofer Kracht at kkracht@gustavus.edu.
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