The Hastings College Forensics team placed third overall at the Nebraska Intercollegiate Forensics Association State Tournament, or NIFA, on Saturday, Feb. 11, beating Doane University, University of Nebraska at Kearney and Concordia University, among others.
During the competition, the Hastings College team broke the school record for number of individual state championships in one year, with four members of the squad taking home five individual state championship trophies. The previous record was held by the 2000 team with four individual state championships.
NIFA draws schools from all over Nebraska in attempt to win the coveted state championship. NIFA is notoriously known for being a tough competition, as Nebraska harbors a breadth of talent that is spread across the state with eight schools traveling to compete. Additionally, the state continuously is represented in the list of Top 20 schools at the American Forensics Association National Tournament, with four teams being in the Top 16 last year .
At this year’s NIFA, the Hastings College Broncos had the following results:
Allison Kennon, a first year student from Lakeville, Minnesota, placed 1st in Communication Analysis, 4th in Duo Interpretation with Caleb Merritt, a junior from Brookings, South Dakota, 5th in Prose Interpretation and 4th in Informative Speaking.
Karina El-Refai, a first year student from Ottertail, Minnesota, placed 4th in Dramatic Interpretation.
Nathan Navratil, a first year student from Lino Lakes, Minnesota, placed 5th in Duo Interpretation with Caleb Merritt.
Carly Spotts-Falzone, a sophomore from Wayzata, Minnesota, placed 1st in Program Oral Interpretation, 1st in Duo Interpretation with Eunice Adounkpe, a senior from Omaha, Nebraska, and 5th in Dramatic Interpretation.
Caleb Merritt, a junior from Brookings, South Dakota, placed 1st in Dramatic Interpretation, 3rd in Informative Speaking, 4th in Duo Interpretation with Allison Kennon, and 5th in Duo Interpretation with Nathan Navratil, a freshman from Lino Lakes, Minnesota.
Andrew Boge, a junior from Johnston, Iowa, placed 3rd in Extemporaneous Speaking.
Eunice Adounkpe, a senior from Omaha, Nebraska, placed 1st in Poetry Interpretation, 3rd in Program Oral Interpretation, 1st in Duo Interpretation with Carly Spotts-Falzone, and 2nd in Pentathlon.
Hastings College is a private, four-year institution located in Hastings, Nebraska, that focuses on student academic and extracurricular achievement. With 64 majors and 15 pre-professional programs, Hastings College has been named among “Great Schools, Great Prices” by U.S. News & World Report and a “Best in the Midwest” by The Princeton Review. For more, go to hastings.edu.
