The Florida State University forensics team, under the direction of School of Communication Doctoral Student Michael Chouinard, opened its season with two impressive victories.  The team spent the last weekend of September at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida and the first weekend of October at Tallahassee Community College.  At both tournaments, the Seminole speech team placed first out of nine schools, decisively beating perennial rivals the University of Florida and Tallahassee Community College for top honors.

In Lakeland, the team advanced 16 of 23 events to finals, beating a larger UF squad.  Final results were as follows:

Rachel Fernandez (Senior) placed 3^rd in Poetry Interpretation, and 6^th in Program of Oral Interpretation.

Alan French (Senior) finished 3^rd in Informative Speaking, 4^th in Extemporaneous Speaking, and 5^th in Poetry Interpretation.

Benny Beutjer (Junior) placed 1^st in After Dinner Speaking, 2^nd in Program of Oral Interpretation, 2^nd in Impromptu Speaking, and 5^th in Dramatic Interpretation.

Ivan Cassuto (Junior) placed 1^st in Poetry Interpretation.

James Stage (Sophomore) was 2^nd in Extemporaneous Speaking.

Joe Hernandez (Sophomore) placed 1^st in Prose Interpretation and 1^st in Dramatic Interpretation.

Michael Fuentes (Freshman) placed 5^th in Extemporaneous Speaking and 4^th in Impromptu Speaking.

Tatiana Becker (Freshman) finished 6^th in Prose Interpretation.

At TCC, the Seminoles advanced an impressive 23 of 28 events to the final round of competition:

Rachel Fernandez (Senior) finished with a 1^st place victory in Prose Interpretation, 2^nd in Poetry Interpretation, 5^th in Program of Oral Interpretation, and 6^th in Persuasion.  Fernandez also placed 4^th in Individual Sweepstakes for the tournament.

Alan French (Senior) placed 4^th in Extemporaneous Speaking, 4^th in Informative Speaking, 4^th in Poetry Interpretation, 6^th in Communication Analysis, and 6^th in Impromptu Speaking.

Benny Beutjer (Junior) advanced all six of his events to finals, once again placing 1^st in After Dinner Speaking, as well as 1^st in Program of Oral Interpretation, 2^nd in Prose Interpretation, 2^nd in Impromptu Speaking, 3^rd in Dramatic Interpretation, and 4^th in Persuasive Speaking.  Beutjer was the Individual Sweepstakes champion, earning more points than any other competitor at the tournament.

Ivan Cassuto (Junior) again finished with a 1^st place victory in Poetry Interpretation.

Taylor Edmonds (Junior) was 5^th in Dramatic Interpretation and 5^th in Prose Interpretation.

James Stage (Sophomore) won all three of his events, placing 1^st in Extemporaneous Speaking, 1^st in Informative Speaking, and 1^st in Impromptu Speaking.

Michael Fuentes (Freshman) placed 6^th in Extemporaneous Speaking.

Tatiana Becker (Freshman) finished 6^th in Dramatic Interpretation.

The forensics team travels to the University of Alabama in October, where they will face an incredibly difficult pool of competition, including teams from Bradley University and Western Kentucky University, the top two programs in the country.  While the caliber of competition will be extremely high, the team is excited to build on what has already been its most impressive start in years!