On April 1st through April 5th, George Mason University Forensics competed in the American Forensics Association National Speech Tournament. The online format meant that this year’s competition was one of the ten largest in the organization’s history, with over 70 schools in attendance. GMU placed 5th, the highest placing team on the East Coast. We ended the year with two national champions and a multitude of personal bests. Individual results are as follows, where semifinalists indicates top 12 in the country and quarterfinalist would be top 24:
- Jacob Thompson, Senior Government major from Iowa, is a National Champion in Extemporaneous Speaking and is a quarterfinalist in Communication Analysis. He is also one of our team co-captain.
- Cheriaca Huntley, Junior Communication major from Illinois, is a National Champion in Program Oral Interpretation, and places 6th in Prose Interpretation, 5th in Dramatic Interpretation, and is a quarterfinalist in Poetry Interpretation.
- Jose Quinones, Sophomore Criminology major from Florida, places 5th in Extemporaneous Speaking and is a quarterfinalist in After Dinner Speaking.
- Tom Murabito, Senior Government major from Pennsylvania, is a national quarterfinalist in Dramatic Interpretation and is a team co-captain.
- Emily Williams, Sophomore Government Major from Florida, and Cordelia Tran, Sophomore Government major from California, are national semifinalists in Duo Interpretation. Williams is also a semifinalist in Persuasion.
- Atta Gould, Sophomore History major from New York, is a national semifinalist in Informative Speaking and is a quarterfinalist in Persuasive Speaking.
- Peter Figueroa, Senior Communication major from New York, is a national quarterfinalist in Program Oral Interpretation and Communication Analysis.
- Sydney Hardy, senior Economic major from Virginia, is a semifinalist in Communication Analysis.
- Gustavo Lanz, First Year Government major, is a semifinalist in Impromptu Speaking.
- Juliette Reyes, First Year Government major, is a semifinalist in Extemporaneous Speaking.
- Eleni Mercer, First Year Government major from Florida, is a quarterfinalist in Poetry Interpretation.
- Natalie Cumming, Junior Musical Theatre major Minnesota, is a quarterfinalist in Prose Interpretation.
Also contributing to the team’s success is Nick Steinmetz, Senior Public Administration major from Florida; Haleigh McGirt, Senior Psychology major, Steven Franklin, Sophomore Criminology major; and Mollie Weitzman, Junior Environmental Science.
The team is coached by Dawn Lowry, Tyler Watkins, Brenna Fuhr, Melvin Richardson, Lucas Muratore, Stan and Kate Polit, Mernine Ameris, and John Henry.
April 07, 2021
