director of forensics, (308)-865-8705
Five University of Nebraska at Kearney Forensics team members competed at the American Forensics Association National Individual Events Tournament (AFA-NIET) in Gainesville, Fla., March 31 – April 3.
The 2005-2006 Forensics Team is the first team at UNK after forensics was cut for lack of budget support two years ago. Since Oct. 1, the team has competed in more than 26 tournaments and earned more than 82 awards. There is no requirement of members to be a communication major in order to compete.
Competing at the national level, the UNK team finished 47th of 92 schools.
“This national tournament was huge,” said Rachelle Hafer, director of UNK Forensics. “At a regular season tournament, a competitor may have to contend with 20-25 competitors in each event. At the AFA-NIET, our competitors contended with more than 100 nationally-qualified competitors in each event. Also, there are no divisions at the tournament based on school or team size. UNK competed against the largest teams in the nation.”
“Overall, our first year was a tremendous success, and we are already looking forward to the 2006-2007 season,” Hafer said. “We are proud to represent UNK and appreciate all of the support we have received from faculty, administration and fellow students this year.”
Team members and their placements follow:
Freshman Brooke Young from Eustis finished 94th of 120 in communication analysis.
Bodi Umstead, a sophomore from Fullerton, is majoring in philosophy and business/finance. He finished 58th out of 130 competitors in informative speaking.
Kylene Hansen, a senior speech communication major from Kearney, finished 76th of 125 in persuasive speaking, 26th of 132 in dramatic interpretation and 32nd of 125 in poetry interpretation.
Freshman biology major from Kearney, Brandon Pettigrew finished 75th of 120 in communication analysis.
A senior speech communication major from North Platte, Kenny Hopkinson finished 107th of 122 competitors in after-dinner speaking.
