On March 20th and 21st, George Mason University Forensics competed in the National Speech Championships, an online tournament featuring many of top speech programs in the country. GMU placed second out of almost 40 schools, edging out teams from University of Illinois, Seton Hall, Yale, University of Texas at Austin, and Illinois State University. For the first time in our history, every Mason student advanced past preliminary rounds, culminating three national champions in their respective events. Individual results are as follows, where semifinalists indicates top 12 in the country and quarterfinalist would be top 24:
- Cheriaca Huntley, Junior Communication major from Illinois, 6th in Poetry Interpretation, and national champion in Program Oral Interpretation and Prose Interpretation.
- Emily Williams, Sophomore Government Major from Florida, and Cordelia Tran, Sophomore Government major from California, are National Champions in Duo Interpretation. Williams is also a semifinalist in Persuasion, and Tran is quarterfinalist in After Dinner Speaking
- Jacob Thompson, Senior Government major from Iowa, places 2nd in Communication Analysis, 3rd in Impromptu Speaking, and is a semi-finalist in Extemporaneous Speaking, and quarterfinalist in Informative Speaking.
- Jose Quinones, Sophomore Criminology major from Florida, places 3rd in Extemporaneous Speaking and is a quarterfinalist in After Dinner Speaking.
- Atta Gould, Sophomore History major from New York, places 3rd in Informative Speaking and is a semifinalist is Duo Interpretation with partner Steven Franklin, Sophomore major from Virginia.
- Peter Figueroa, Senior Communication major from New York, places 5th in Communication Analysis and is a semifinalist in Dramatic Interpretation.
- Tom Murabito, Senior Government major from Pennsylvania, is a national semifinalist in Dramatic Interpretation.
- Nick Steinmetz, Senior Public Administration major from Florida, is a semifinalist in Persuasion and a quarterfinalist in Impromptu Speaking.
- Eleni Mercer, First Year Government major from Florida, is a semifinalist in Program Oral Interpretation and a quarterfinalist in Poetry Interpretation.
- Natalie Cumming, Junior Musical Theatre major Minnesota, is a semifinalist in Prose Interpretation.
The team is coached by Dawn Lowry, Tyler Watkins, Brenna Fuhr, Melvin Richardson, Lucas Muratore, Stan and Kate Polit, Mernine Ameris, and John Henry.
March 23, 2021
