Ottawa University

OU Forensics Team Takes Trophies in State Speech Tournament

OTTAWA, Kansas - On Saturday, February 17, 2007, three members of the Ottawa University Forensics Team - Allison Small, Matthew Prihoda and Aaron Tank - traveled to Hutchinson, Kansas, to participate in the Kansas State Individual Events (KASIE) Championship Tournament.  The students competed in five events:  after dinner speaking, informative speaking, persuasive speaking, prose, dramatic interpretation, and oral interpretation. 

Out of 10 colleges and universities competing across the state, OU walked away with sixth place overall; two of the three OU team members took home individual trophies.  Small took first place in Informative Speaking for her 8-10 minute speech on gene therapy in the field of cancer research.  She was subsequently named the Kansas State Informative Speaking Champion.  Prihoda earned second place in After Dinner Speaking.    In addition, Small placed fifth in After Dinner Speaking and Prihoda placed fifth in Informative Speaking.

"The tournament was exciting because, even though we only had three members attend, we had four events get into finals, which is over half of our events," said Small.  "I feel that we represented Ottawa (University) well and hopefully we can represent the school just as well at the upcoming national tournament in LA," she continued.   The team will travel to California Baptist University in Riverside, California, March 1-5 for the National Christian Colleges Forensics Invitational.

Jordan Compton, the Acting Director of Forensics at Ottawa University, was pleased with the students' performance.  "The State Tournament gave our students a wonderful opportunity to compete against top competition from around the state," said Compton.  "It was worth every minute of coaching time to watch our students be rewarded for their hard work."

Founded in 1865, Ottawa University is a comprehensive, not-for-profit educational institution affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. Ottawa University's educational mission brings together a residential campus in Ottawa, Kansas, and adult campuses in Overland Park, Kansas; Kansas City, Missouri; Phoenix, Mesa and Tempe, Arizona; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Jeffersonville, Indiana; as well as multiple international instructional sites.  For more information, visit http://www.ottawa.edu/.

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