LAKELAND, Fla. (Nov. 15, 2006) — The Florida Southern College Forensic Team finished out the fall semester on a high note at the Star Invitational Tournament hosted by Florida Community College in Jacksonville on Nov. 10-11.  Their strongest showing of the year resulted in five trophies earned and high rankings across several events.

Senior Chris Riccio and freshman Krista Miller went head to head in After Dinner Speaking, taking second and third place respectively. This was Miller’s first time breaking into a final competition round. Senior Ronnie Hess also competed in After Dinner Speaking and narrowly missed breaking into the final round by two points.

“Our team is really shaping up to be strong competitors in ADS,” said assistant coach Stephanie Fenner. “Some friendly competition among the team members should push them to do even better in future events.”

Also breaking into a finals round was junior Jessica Barnes, who placed fifth in Informative Speaking. 

“Jessica was really close to finals at our first tournament this year, so this is a reflection of the hard work she’s put in,” said Chris Fenner, director of forensics.

Miller and Barnes were also recognized as the Top Non-advancing Novices in Dramatic Duo Interpretation.  The two had recently finished organizing a selection from the play “Parallel Lives” by Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy and finished in ninth place.

“We have just started doing this piece, so I was surprised at how well we did,” said Barnes. “I think the judges could tell that we were having a lot of fun with this.”

Competing in the competition for the first time was freshman Tony Rivera, performing a Prose Interpretation of “Tackling Jim Brown” by Drew Carey.  Rivera ranked in the top half in his event despite having joined the team only weeks before the competition.

“This was a great weekend for the team,” said Chris Fenner. “Now Barnes, Hess, Miller and Riccio are all qualified to compete at the NFA Nationals, and I expect Tony and new member Dave Andrikowich will qualify next semester.”

The Florida Southern Forensic Society is in its second year of intercollegiate competition and was founded in spring 2005 by FSC alumnus Anton Kivilev.  The team is sponsored through a generous grant by local businessman, C.C. “Doc” Dockery. 

For more information about FSC Forensics, please contact Chris Fenner at cfenner@flsouthern.edu.

About Florida Southern College
Founded in 1885, Florida Southern College is a private, comprehensive, United Methodist college with a liberal arts core. The college maintains its commitment to academic excellence through 38 undergraduate majors and distinctive graduate programs in business administration, education, and nursing. Florida Southern has a 13:1 student/faculty ratio, provides strong student/faculty mentorship programs, boasts 25 NCAA Division II national championships, and is ranked by U.S. News and World Report as one of the top ten Southern Comprehensive Colleges-Bachelor’s institutions and by the Princeton Review as a “Best Southeastern College.” Located on scenic Lake Hollingsworth, Florida Southern is the home of the world’s largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture.