On April 6th, Loyola Blakefield Forensics won its third consecutive Chesapeake District Championship, placing first in speech sweepstakes, first in debate and first overall. With this win, eight students – Kurt Imhoff ‘13, Jack Scaletta ‘14, Ryan Miller ‘13, Zach Phillips ‘15, Aleks Jaunzemis ‘14, Tyler Good-Cohn ‘13, Kurt Manion ‘15, and Matthew Demetrides ’15 – qualified for the National Forensics League’s (NFL) National Speech & Debate Tournament held in Birmingham, Ala. from June 16-21.
“Given the amount of work that these guys put into the team, it’s very rewarding to see them succeed, but we also never take it for granted because we know there are other teams working just as hard,” said Forensics coach Charles Donovan.
The team also won its 10th consecutive state championship at Mount St. Joseph in March with 5 of 6 entrants in the final round in two events (duo interpretation and dramatic performance).
“The great thing about a streak is that everyone wants it to continue, so the guys work extremely hard to try to keep the streak alive,” said Donovan.
During the state championship, the team set two school records: first to take the top 5 places in a single event (duo interpretation) and highest speech sweepstakes score (77 points) topping the 2008 team’s speech score.
“The easiest way to describe the scoring is to compare it to a swim or track meet,” said Donovan. “There are many different events that the students can compete in and win individual awards and how they perform will go towards the team total.”
Based on their performance at states, 18 students qualified to compete in the National Catholic Forensics League’s (NCFL) Grand National Tournament taking place in Philadelphia over Memorial Day weekend.
The team is headed by seven seniors this year who act as role models by helping other teammates select what to perform, listening and offering critiques and mentoring the younger students.
Leading that group of seven seniors is Forensics president Kurt Imhoff. Imhoff has been a part of the team since he first arrived at Loyola, joining in 6th grade and attending competitions as a middle school student. He will attend Northwestern University in the fall and has been invited to join their prestigious speech team.
“It’s been amazing to see Kurt’s progress throughout his years on the team. He’s done an outstanding job of becoming the face of the team to the community and leading the team from the inside,” said Donovan.
“Leadership through Speech” is the NCFL’s motto which truly embodies everything that Loyola Forensics wants to accomplish. Communication, ability to argue a point and effectively sharing ideas with others are all skills that these students will take away from this experience.
“Ultimately, the purpose of this program is that when these students graduate, they can use the skills they have learned here in leadership roles wherever they are in society,” said Donovan.
The team will compete in some smaller tournaments over the next few weeks to keep the students fresh before attending the Grand National Tournament in May. We congratulate the team on their amazing accomplishments so far this season and wish them the best of luck at nationals.