The “Speaking Wildcats” brought home 19 awards from one of the oldest forensics tournaments in the country, hosted each year by Linfield. The 80th annual Mahaffey Memorial Forensics Tournament, which draws college and university students from around the country, showcases Linfield’s long history of strength in forensics; college students on campus began debate activities as early as the 1860s.
The Speaking Wildcats, coached by Communication Arts Professor Jackson Miller, won third place in the Division I team sweepstakes.
(Photo: Darren Valenta ’11, president of Linfield Forensics Team)
Winners included:
INDIVIDUAL SWEEPSTAKES (Mahaffey Outstanding Speaker Award)
2nd Place – Darren Valenta
5th Place – Chris Forrer
AFTER DINNER SPEAKING
4th Place – Darren Valenta
DRAMATIC DUO
2nd Place – Darren Valenta and Kate Wyckoff
3rd Place – Katie Pitchford and Darren Valenta
4th Place – Chris Forrer and Katie Pitchford
6th Place – Emily VanDoozer and Nick Zimmers
DRAMATIC INTERPRETATION
1st Place – Chris Forrer
JUNIOR EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING
3rd Place – Linh Tang
JUNIOR IMPROMPTU SPEAKING
6th Place – Chris Forrer
POETRY INTERPRETATION
1st Place – Darren Valenta
JUNIOR POETRY INTERPRETATION
3rd Place – Katie Pitchford
4th Place – Kate Wyckoff
JUNIOR PROSE INTERPRETATION
2nd Place – Katie Pitchford
JUNIOR PROGRAM OF ORAL INTERPRETATION
2nd Place – Kate Wyckoff
COMMUNICATION ANALYSIS
4th Place – Rachel Mills
MAD LIBS INTERPRETATION
2nd Place – Darren Valenta
3rd Place – Kate Wyckoff
4th Place – Chris Forrer
The tournament was sponsored by the Linfield College Forensics Team, the Department of Theatre and Communication Arts, and Pi Kappa Delta.
Theatre and communication arts at Linfield