Between Feb. 24 and 25, Concordia's talented forensics team competed in the PSCFA Spring Championships at Mt. San Antonio College, marking their last tournament before nationals. 

With over two dozen events and a large variety of competitors from other schools, the Concordia's forensics team had their fair share of competition, including teams from Cal State Long Beach, College of the Canyons, UC San Diego and Cal State Fullerton.

While Concordia’s forensics team consists of fifteen members, less than half were available to compete, but in spite of this they persevered and placed third overall of the tournament. 

Konrad Hack, Director of Forensics at Concordia, stated “For our size, we did very well! Because the tournament took place on the first weekend of spring break, many of our top competitors were either engaged with music/ministry trips, attended the NCFA Championship tournament the week before, or had family commitments.”

This tournament was key as it was the final chance to get some solid feedback and competitive practice before they head to nationals. NPDA nationals take place in Stockton from March 24 through 27. Currently Concordia's forensics program is in the top 15 in the nation, placing third in last year's national speech sweepstakes overall. 

Senior and team captain Rebekah Mehrley said, “I feel like I've really gotten to see returning members bond and get closer. Since we are back in the swing of in person tournaments there is a sense of energy and community which was hard during COVID.” 

Previously, COVID caused some tournaments to be held online which dampened the spirits of the team members but with the recent year of tournaments all being in person Mehrley seems confident in her team's renewed vigor. 

Mehrley personally competes in five categories: Impromptu, extemporaneous, poetry, POI  (program oral interpretation) and ADS (after dinner speaking). In impromptu speaking, Mehrley is given the prompt and has limited time to come up with a speech on the spot. At this tournament, she placed first in the event.

Extemporaneous speeches are based on current events and require well prepared research. For poetry, she covered a topic close to her heart in how OCD is misrepresented. 

Mehrley said that POI is similar to poetry but involves her incorporating snippets from all over to give a speech. She brought together pieces from books, poems, and surprisingly Amazon reviews. POI is her favorite event as it is a perfect blend of humor and emotion for her. 

Last, ADS is where she had to take a serious topic and form a funny speech for the argument. She covered class discrimination in forensics and how it negatively impacts the event during which she comically pulls out a bag of yarn and begins to knit.

Concordia’s team was also represented in the dramatic interpretation, persuasive speaking, DUO, where junior Axel Aguilar and sophomore Tabi Johnson placed second, and informative speaking events. 

If you’re interested in participating in speech for the 2023-2024 school year, feel free to reach out to Hack at konrad.hack@cui.edu, or speech coach Blake Longfellow at blake.longfellow@cui.edu. 

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