Photo provided by MV Speech Team
Press Release courtesy of Krista Applequist
The Moraine Valley Speech Team hosted a forensics tournament in Building A Friday and Saturday October 25th-26th. There were 19 schools in attendance including: College of DuPage, College of Lake County, Elgin Community College, Harper College, Highland Community College, John A Logan College, McHenry County College, Morton College, North Central College, Oakton Community College, Northern Illinois University, Prairie State College, Southeastern Illinois College, Southwest Baptist College, University of Missouri at Columbia, University of Notre Dame, University of Wisconsin at Whitewater and Webster University.
The term “forensics” refers to competitive speech, debate and drama. The Moraine Valley Community College Team has consistently won regional, state and national tournaments for almost two decades. The program is led by Communication Professors John Nash, Krista Appequist and alumni coaches Damian Samsonowicz and Natalie Jurcik. There are several different types of speaking events offered at tournaments; interpretation of literature is similar to actors performing a short play or monologue, public speaking can be informative, persuasive or humorous, we offer debate and some events that allow little to no advanced preparation but require students to think on their feet.
Given the timing, the tournament was Halloween themed; there was candy, treats and the coaches dressed up as the gang from Scooby Doo and ran around solving tournament mysteries. Coach John Nash, dressed as Fred from Scooby Doo, said “Running a tournament of this size is quite an undertaking, so let’s split up, gang!” Team Captain Aaron Lopez notes, “Zoinks! It was such a fun time seeing so many teams from the Midwest come together. It’s no mystery, Moraine’s success is a foreshadow of what is to come.
Coach Krista Appelquist (Daphne) said, “Jeepers, there were over 126 competitors at this tournament!”
Old man Withers dressed as a ghost and tried to steal all the trophies. Once unmasked, he lamented, “And I would have gotten away with it too if it weren’t for those meddling kids!”
Looking forward, November 15th the team heads out to Freeport Illinois to compete at a tournament hosted by Highland Community College, and then again in December for Elgin Community College invitational tournament.
Team Photo Bottom From Left to Right: Mustafa Hammo, Aaron Lopez, Juno Granados, Julian Zubrzycki, Kandyce Swain, Stephanie Zaragoza, Marel Doon Middle Row left to right: Omar Uwainit, Javier Ramirez, Melanie Cabrera, Mariam Chuli Top Row Left to right coaches: John Nash, Krista Appelquist, Damian Samsonowicz, Natalie Jurcik.
Moraine Valley won the tournament.
2nd place was University of Missouri
3rd – Southeastern Illinois College
4th – North Central College
5th – Northern Illinois University
6th – Southwest Baptist
Student placings:
Aaron Lopez, Bridgeview: 1st in Open Speech to Entertain, 3rd Novice Persuasion, 2nd in Improv Acting
Juno Granados, Hometown: 2nd in Novice Persuasion, 2nd in Open Poetry
Javier Ramirez, Alsip, 3rd in Open Persuasion, 5th in Open Poetry
Julian Zubrzycki, 2nd in Novice Informative Speaking
Melanie Cabrera, Bridgeview, 2nd in Open Prose
Mariam Chuli, Chicago Ridge, 1st in Open Program of Oral Interpretation, 6th in Open Prose
Mustafa Hammo, Justice, 1st in Novice Dramatic Interpretation, 1st in Novice Poetry
Kandyce Swain, Blue Island, 2nd in Open Informative Speaking, 6th in Open Persuasion
Omar Uwainat, Burbank, Semi Finalist in Impromptu
Stephanie Zaragoza, Blue Island, 6th place in Improv Acting, 6th in Novice Prose
