The Lake Orion Forensics team finished their regular season amid a flurry of individual and team successes.
On March 15, the team won their division, at the Walled Lake Western tournament, the largest forensics tournament to be run in the state in over a decade. Individually, the Dragons had four members finish as finalists. Senior Claire McIntyre took 4th place in Dramatic Interpretation. Sophomore Charlie Rose placed third in Informative 9/10. Senior Shayda Soraya captured second place in Sales. Sophomore Owen Woitrya won top honors in his category of Poetry, bringing home the first place finish.
‘We were really proud of how the team competed at Walled Lake,? said co-coach Cathy Srock. ‘It was an impressive tournament with over 600 talented teens from around the state competing, so to have individuals place ? and the team win its division ? made for an exciting day all around.?
The team then traveled to Novi for the Michigan Speech Coaches? Novice State tournament and IE Open Invite, held March 22. New members to high school forensics competed in the novice tournament while returning members competed in the open invitational, and the Dragons had individuals place in both tournaments.
In the Novice State tournament, sophomore Josh Johr won second place in Storytelling.
At the IE Open Invite, the sophomore pair of Kathryn Linehan and Meagan Wander took sixth place in Duo Interpretation. Rose placed fifth in Informative 9/10 while Woityra finished’third in Poetry. Overall, the team took second place in the silver division.
‘For a relatively young team, our regular season was quite successful. We were really excited to have individuals place at every competition and to see their growth from week to week,? said co-coach Lindsay Finkbeiner.
At the regional competition, the Dragons qualified four individuals for the state tournament, which will be held in May at Western Michigan University. Headed there are Johr in Storytelling, Rose in Informative 9/10, Soraya in Sales and junior Elizabeth Boss in Oratory. The team also had four other individuals be selected as alternates for the tournament: Woityra in Poetry, the duo pair of Wander and Linehan in Duo Interpretation 9/10, and junior Maddy Rizzo in Sales.
The individuals competing in the state tournament, as well as some other top performers for the team, will be hosting a forensics showcase on’Tuesday, April 29, from?6-8 PM’in the Lake Orion High School KIVA.
Everyone is invited to this free event, and light refreshments will be served.