ISU Forensics Union among top teams in the nation

  • Author By University Staff
  • May 8, 2023
Group of students posed behind a table of trophies and awards
Illinois State University's Forensics team poses with all its awards from the two 2023 spring national tournaments. Pictured are, front row, from left, Terrence Mayfield, Jedge Slothower, Sarah Sanders, Raechel Zoellick, and Sarah Keller, and back row, from left, Brayden Bobowski, Connor Rada, Michelle Ryan, Henry Davenport, Braden Wall, Doniven Hill-Bush, and Faith Hincapie.

Illinois State University’s Forensics Union is the first and, therefore, oldest registered student organization in the institution. Over its 166-year history, its team members have performed well and been among the very best in the nation multiple times.

This year the Forensics Union participated, as it always does, in national tournaments—one for the American Forensics Association (AFA) and one for the National Forensics Association (NFA). Both national tournaments are prestigious, and they are a bit like having two Super Bowls that are just two weeks apart—and the Forensics team again performed very well.

The Illinois State University Forensics Union won awards at both national tournaments this spring.

AFA National Tournament Results

The Forensics team participated March 31-April 3 in the American Forensic Association’s National Speech Tournament at Santa Ana College in California. The 10 students advanced in at least one event to “outrounds,” which are competitive rounds after the compulsory rounds for all participants.

“I think this is the first time we had everyone break at nationals!” said Megan Koch, director of the Forensics Union.

The specific breakdown of the team’s performance is as follows:

  • Team members were entered in 49 slots (cap is 66)
  • Team members in 21 compulsory slots advanced to quarterfinals (top 24 teams in the tournament)
  • Team members in 11 quarterfinal slots advanced to semifinals (top 12 teams in the tournament)
  • Team members in seven semifinal slots advanced to finals (top six teams in the tournament)

Here are the results for Illinois State’s Forensics Union at the AFA national tournament:

  • Michelle Ryan—Quarterfinal in Prose
  • Henry Davenport—Quarterfinal in Extemporaneous and fourth place in Impromptu
  • Sarah Sanders—Quarterfinal in Persuasion
  • Sarah Keller—Quarterfinal in Dramatic Interpretation, Semifinal in Prose, fifth place in Persuasion
  • Faith Hincapie—Quarterfinal in Persuasion, second place in After Dinner Speaking
  • Jedge Slothower—Quarterfinal in Impromptu Speaking
  • Braden Wall—Quarterfinal in Extemporaneous Speaking
  • Raechel Zoellick—Semifinal in After Dinner Speaking and fifth place in Duo Interpretation (with Terrence Mayfield)
  • Doniven Hill-Bush—Quarterfinal in Program Oral Interpretation, Semifinal in Poetry Interpretation, sixth place in After Dinner Speaking, National Champion in Duo Interpretation (with Terrence Mayfield) and sixth place in Individual Overall Sweepstakes.
  • Terrence Mayfield—Quarterfinals in Prose and Informative, Semifinal in Dramatic Interpretation and sixth place in Duo (with Zoellick) National Champion in Duo (with Hill-Bush), Poetry Interpretation and in Individual Overall Sweepstakes. This is the first time Illinois State has won Individual Overall at AFA.

Additionally, Terrence Mayfield (senior, acting) earned National Championships in Duo (with Hill-Bush), Poetry Interpretation and in Individual Overall Sweepstakes. This result is the first time Illinois State has won Individual Overall at AFA.

Overall, Illinois State placed third out of the 60 teams entered (see the tournament’s full results online). The top five teams were:

  1. University of Texas
  2. George Mason University (coached by Illinois State alum, Dawn Lowry)
  3. Illinois State
  4. Eastern Michigan
  5. Bradley

“We couldn’t have done it without the support of the School of Communication, so thank you so much to everyone who has cheered us on this year!” said Koch. “Ryan Tinlin, Nick Steinmetz, and I truly appreciate everything the School of Communication and Illinois State has done for us as colleagues and mentors.”

NFA National Tournament Results

Ten days after the conclusion of the AFA national tournament, the Forensics team participated in the next national tournament. The National Forensics Association’s national tournament was held April 13-17 at Bradley University. Doniven Hill-Bush had a terrific week at the National Forensic Association National Tournament. He was:

  • Semifinalist in Program Oral Interpretation and Informative Speaking
  • Earned third place in Poetry
  • Took second place in Duo with Terrence Mayfield
  • Is tournament champion in After Dinner Speaking
  • Is tournament champion in Individual Pentathlon Sweepstakes (i.e., earning highest places in any five events in the tournament)

“Doniven has worked so hard this semester to craft his messages and make his performances exactly what he wanted them to be. I am so happy for him,” said Koch. “ISU hasn’t had a Pentathlon champion since Grant Ward in 1998.”

Individual events qualified 10 students in 53 events, and Debate qualified two students in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. The results for ISU’s Forensics team at the NFA national tournament are as follows:

  • Doniven Hill-Bush—Semifinal in Program Oral Interpretation and Informative Speaking, third place in Poetry, second place in Duo (with Mayfield), National Champion in After Dinner Speaking and National Champion in Individual Pentathlon Sweepstakes
  • Terrence Mayfield—Quarterfinal in Informative and Prose, sixth place in Dramatic Interpretation, fifth place in Duo (with Zoellick) and second place in Duo (with Hill-Bush), second place in Poetry, second place in Individual Pentathlon
  • Raechel Zoellick—Octafinal in After Dinner Speaking, Semifinal in Rhetorical Criticism and Duo Interpretation with Faith Hincapie, fifth place in Duo Interpretation with Terrence Mayfield, fourth place in Informative Speaking, and thirteenth place in Pentathlon
  • Jedge Slothower—Quarterfinal in Informative Speaking
  • Faith Hincapie—Quarterfinal in After Dinner, Semifinalist in Duo Interpretation (with Zoellick) and Persuasion
  • Henry Davenport—Octafinal in Persuasion, Extemporaneous Speaking, and Impromptu Speaking; Semifinal in Rhetorical Criticism
  • Sarah Sanders—Octafinal in Dramatic Interpretation, Quarterfinal in Extemporaneous Speaking, and Persuasion
  • Michelle Ryan—Octafinal in After Dinner and Persuasion
  • Sarah Keller—Octafinal in Rhetorical Criticism, Persuasion, and Prose

The team earned first place and second place in Pentathlon, second place in the President’s I Division (limited entry size), and sixth place in Overall Team Sweepstakes. This is the first time in team history that Illinois State nabbed the top two placings in Pentathlon. (Full tournament results are online.)

The top teams at NFA’s national tournament are:

  1. Western Kentucky
  2. Eastern Michigan
  3. Texas
  4. George Mason
  5. University of Illinois Chicago
  6. Illinois State
  7. Bradley
  8. Lewis & Clark
  9. Ball State
  10. Minnesota

“Special thanks go to Ryan Tinlin and Nick Steinmetz,” said Koch. “Our tiny coaching staff and tiny team had a big year, and we couldn’t have done it without our coaches. I also thank alumni coaches Robi Mahan, Tom Forrest, and Kristen Bridgemen.”

Units

College of Arts and Sciences, Communication