Chicago Heights, IL–(ENEWSPF)– The last month has been a busy one for the Prairie State College (PSC) Forensics team.
The team travelled more than 2,250 miles, competed in three tournaments, and took home nine awards, including two tournament championship wins.
"Our team represented PSC very well at the tournaments during the entire season but especially in the post season," said Dave Naze, associate professor of communication, who coaches the team with professors of communication Elighie Wilson and Ed Schwarz.
At the state tournament held at Illinois Central College on March 5 and 6, the team placed sixth among the 15 competing community colleges. Terrance Clanton, of Park Forest, was named state champion in the community college division in persuasive speaking. In addition, Jermias Roman, of Glenwood, received a fourth place in program oral interpretation; Etta Oben, of Matteson, received a fourth place in impromptu speaking; and Sharnita Redley, of Country Club Hills, received a sixth place in poetry interpretation.
"Many of the students who compete on the state level have been competing since high school and have years of experience under their belt, and we had a good showing against them," said Naze.
The team had one tournament champion and two third place awards at the regional tournament held at McHenry County College on March 19-20. Clanton, was named regional champion in persuasive speaking, while third place awards were garnered by Roman in program oral interpretation and Christina Sigers, of University Park, in poetry interpretation. Also competing at the tournament was Sydney Milligan, of Olympia Fields.
To close out the season, the team competed at the Phi Rho Phi National Tournament, held in New Orleans on April 4-11. Bronze medals were awarded in the semi-final round to Oben in impromptu speaking and Redley in poetry interpretation. Although the team did not place in the final round, Naze said the team ended the season on a high note.
"Illinois has always been one of the best, most competitive states in the country in terms of Forensics competition," said Naze. "We compete against the best all year round, not just at the national tournament. PSC’s program has quality students competing with quality performances, who overall are quality people."
