Ohio University's Forensics Team has plenty of successes to speak of following this past weekend's tournament.
The Speaking Bobcats placed fourth out of 84 teams at the 40th Annual National Forensic Association tournament, hosted at OU with more than 500 contestants from all over the United States.
To show how big this tournament was
(placing fourth) would be like the equivalent of placing in the Final Four said Dan West, OU's forensics director.
In addition to placing fourth in the tournament, Dan Glaser, a senior studying communication studies, took first place in Pentathlon, making him the top speaker in the nation.
I feel like I went out on a really good note Glaser said. This is the best finish we have had in 30 years ... we took out really good top ten teams that we've never beaten before.
In addition to Glaser's win in the Pentathlon, he also took home the championship in Poetry Interpretation while Ted Dacey took fifth in Extemporaneous Speaking.
Western Kentucky University took first place with Bradley University and Illinois State University closely following in second and third place. OU finished in fourth with University of Texas-Austin closing out the top five.
This is the one time of the year that we get our national ranking
West said.
The tournament was headquartered in Baker University Center, while the speaking events were scattered among the different classrooms across campus. Judges were hired for the tournament, but they also consisted of current and past coaches of the other teams.
It was very interesting because this is the 40th anniversary tournament
and we won the first one
West said. This is also the 200th anniversary of our first tournament.
According to West, he got the word two years ago that OU had the honor of hosting the competition on the 40th anniversary, and he has been working to plan it ever since in addition to his responsibilities of coaching the team.
More than 32 Forensics Team alumni came back for the tournament, including Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson on television.
West said that he looks forward to what next year's team has to offer.
We have 14 students returning and 20 new members coming in
he said. We are positioned to be one of the best (programs) in the country. We (now) can literally attract so many kids to the university.
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Olivia Arbogast
