Eastern Michigan University's Forensics team entered the den of lions with primarily a host of cubs this year at the Forensics National Championships.
Still, EMU kept its streak alive as the only team to place in the top 10 nationally for 38 consecutive years and have at least one student participate in the championship final round.
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IMPROMPTU: Richard
Brophy, a senior on
Eastern Michigan
University's Forensics
team, makes a point
during his impromptu
speech at the recent
Forensics National
Championships in
Nashville. Brophy placed
sixth individually in
impromptu speaking and
12th in rhetorical
criticism. Photo by Wendy Kivi |
Senior Richard Brophy led the team's ninth-place finish in Nashville, Tenn. He finished sixth in the nation in impromptu speaking and 12th in rhetorical criticism. Senior Marissa Dluge was a quarterfinalist in informative speaking and placed 25th in prose interpretation.
As a team, EMU scored 188 points. National champion Western Kentucky scored a whopping 642 points while runner-up Bradley University ganered 511 points.
"One of the reasons we were second in the nation last year was that we had 13 seniors on the team," said Ray Quiel, the Forensics team coach and a professor of communication and theatre arts. This year, we only had four and most of our team was composed of freshmen and sophomores. So, to finish ninth, was quite an accomplishment."
"I was shocked to do so well. I wasn't expecting to be a finalist in any event, let alone impromptu speaking," Brophy said. "It was such an honor to be in the final round, and to have so many of my teammates and coaches watching me. The performance of the team was indicative of the future success this program will have."
For the first time ever, the University of Texas, Kansas State University and the University of Alabama finished ahead of EMU.
"Others are investing in their programs. EMU Forensics received budget cuts and, more decisively, staff and coaching reductions just when we needed more coaching because so many of our team (members) are young competitors," Quiel said.
