By Erin Roberts, roberte1@ohio.edu
Published Thursday, February 05, 2009

Ohio University team dominates swing tournament on home campus

ATHENS, Ohio (Feb. 5, 2009)—The first-year competitors of the Ohio University Forensics Team dominated the Ohio Forensic Association Novice State Tournament conducted Jan. 30 and 31 on the Ohio University Athens campus. Six novice competitors on the team earned six individual state championships and a total of 450 points to win the state title over 2nd place Miami University (206 points) and 3rd place Cedarville University (200 points) and four other schools.

John A. Cassese Director of Forensics Dan West said he went into the competition a bit nervous because one of his top novice competitors, Jeremy Frazer, was away for the weekend and couldn’t compete.

“We were actually only leading by about ten points in an earlier round, but the students earned a lot of points in the final round and made a huge win,” West said. “We more than doubled the next school and we were down one of our top students. It was like we were in a different league.”
 
Ohio University competitors also won the top three places in "Trithon," or Individual Sweepstakes, for students competing in public address, oral interpretation and limited preparation events. State Trithon champion Austin Temple earned 70 points and was followed by Nick Prephan, earning 68 points, and Kori Zanin, earning 58 points. Nadine Ajaka, Annie Farinella and Brittany Osterwise rounded out the first-year team.

This success was followed by the entire Ohio University Speech Debate and Forensics Team winning the Ohio Alumni Forensics Tournament on Sunday, Feb. 1. However, because of the tournament taking place at Ohio University, the team was not eligible to receive a sweepstakes trophy.

“It’s always nice to perform on campus so friends can come see the team members perform,” West said. “Also, our graduate students judge rounds, and they get to see how much work our students and students from other universities put into preparing for competition. It’s always nice to win on your home turf.”

Nine schools from throughout the region participated in the second annual event. Forensics alumnus Dr. Todd Holm, Ph.D. ’01, now the forensics coach at Miami University, directed the alumni tournament while alumni Erin Barnhart, BA ’02, MA ’02; Rob Barnhart, BA ’03; and Katie (Imbody) Eppley, BSED ’03, helped to judge competition. All but one trophy was sponsored by alumni, thanks to Nathaniel Grow, BSC ’02; John Gibbons, BSC ’85; Holly Sisk, MA ’01; and Elizabeth Smathers, BSED ’03, BA ’03. West and his wife, Vicki, also sponsored a trophy.

The team heads to Malone University for a tournament this weekend. So far the team has garnered 55 qualifications for the NFA tournament April 16-20 in Springfield, Mo.

Complete results are as follows:

Ohio Forensics Association
Novice State Championship
January 30-31, 2009

OPEN DIVISION TEAM SWEEPSTAKES
STATE CHAMPIONS - OHIO UNIVERSITY

OPEN DIVISION QUALITY AWARD
STATE CHAMPIONS - OHIO UNIVERSITY

NOVICE AFTER DINNER SPEAKING
STATE CHAMPION - Austin Temple
2nd Place - Annie Farinella

NOVICE DRAMATIC DUO
STATE CHAMPIONS - Nadine Ajaka & Annie Farinella 3rd Place - Austin Temple & Nadine Ajaka 5th Place - Kori Zanin & Austin Temple

NOVICE INFORMATIVE SPEAKING
2nd Place - Nick Prephan
4th Place - Annie Farinella

NOVICE PROGRAM ORAL INTERPRETATION
STATE CHAMPION - Nadine Ajaka
2nd Place - Kori Zanin
4th Place - Brittany Osterwise

NOVICE RHETORICAL CRITICISM
STATE CHAMPION - Nick Prephan
2nd Place - Kori Zanin

NOVICE SPORTS EXTEMP
STATE CHAMPION - Nick Prephan
3rd Place - Kori Zanin
6th Place - Brittany Osterwise

NOVICE POETRY INTERPRETATION
2nd Place - Annie Farinella
3rd Place - Austin Temple
6th Place - Nick Prephan

NOVICE EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING
2nd Place - Nick Prephan

NOVICE IMPROMPTU SPEAKING
4th Place - Nick Prephan
5th Place - Austin Temple

NOVICE PROSE INTERPRETATION
STATE CHAMPION - Nadine Ajaka
2nd Place - Kori Zanin
3rd Place - Annie Farinella
4th Place - Austin Temple


Ohio University Alumni Tournament
Ohio University
Athens, OH
February 1, 2009

INDIVIDUAL SWEEPSTAKES
2nd Place – Ted Dacey

JV AFTER DINNER SPEAKING
5th Place – Mike Catlos

AFTER DINNER SPEAKING
4th Place – Ted Dacey
5th Place – Annie Farinella
7th Place – Dan Glaser

DRAMATIC DUO INTERPRETATION
4th Place – Kori Zanin & Mike Catlos

DRAMATIC INTERPRETATION
1st Place – Tony Sylvester
2nd Place – Kori Zanin
3rd Place – Ronnie Talbot

EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING
1st Place – Dan Glaser
3rd Place – Ted Dacey
4th Place – Spark Tabor
5th Place – Daniel Leister

IMPROMPTU SPEAKING
1st Place – Dan Glaser
3rd Place – Daniel Leister

JV INFORMATIVE SPEAKING
1st Place – Daniel Leister

INFORMATIVE SPEAKING
1st Place – Mike Catlos
3rd Place – Tony Sylvester
4th Place – Ted Dacey
6th Place – Nick Prephan

PERSUASIVE SPEAKING
1st Place – Ted Dacey

JV POETRY INTERPRETATION
3rd Place – Nick Prephan

POETRY INTERPRETATION
1st Place – Annie Farinella
3rd Place – Ronnie Talbot
Program Oral Interpretation
4th Place – Ronnie Talbot

PROSE INTERPRETATION
2nd Place – Dan Glaser
5th Place – Nadine Ajaka

JV RHETORICAL CRITICISM
1st Place – Nick Prephan
3rd Place – Ted Dacey
4th Place – Kori Zanin

RHETORICAL CRITICISM
4th Place – Mike Catlos

SPORTS EXTEMP
1st Place – Daniel Leister
2nd Place – Ted Dacey
4th Place – Nick Prephan
5th Place – Spark Tabor