Just a week after finishing eighth in the state tournament, the Lake Orion High School Forensics team is already thinking about next year.
That’s because the team will head to Mackinaw Island this weekend for a competition that is seen as the start of the next season, as students are not allowed to perform routines from this year.
Last week, however, some of the eight members that qualified for the May 4-5 state tournament in Mt. Pleasant, reflected on their success.
In the public address category, Dana Spear took 8th and Mallory Malloy took 11th in Informative, Lindsay Slavick took 9th in Oratory and Christine Anger took 15th in Broadcasting.
In the dramatic categories, Stephanie Alspach placed 5th in Poetry, Julie Sabo took 7th in Prose, Cody Stauber placed 9th in Storytelling and Mindy Stubbs took 12th in Dramatic Interpretation.
‘It was the first time I got up there and was completely shaking,? said Alspach, the team’s lone finals qualifier.
Slavick, Spear and Sabo were among the four qualifiers on last year’s team.
‘It was definitely more exciting having more qualifiers,? Slavick said.
The 36-member team (a team record) included nine seniors.
‘A lot of schools had a lot more competitors than we did, so being able to place was a real achievement,? explained Stauber.
The team members agreed that they’d like to continue their growth as a competitive force and outgoing coaches Rob and Melissa Middleton said the feeder programs at the middle school level are having a positive effect.
Waldon has had a team for the past seven years, while Oakview has been competing for the past five.
No matter how long a student has been competing, Alspach noted ‘You can never feel too prepared for a forensics tournament.?
Making matters even more difficult are the limited number of spaces for the state competition.
‘From districts, the top-three in each category go to regionals, and from regionals, the top-five go to states,? Slavick explained.
There are a few at large selections at the district level based on the entire season’s work, one of which was given to Stauber this year. He then qualified at the regional event.
Once at the state competition, the students were in for some long days.
‘The first day, we started at noon, had three rounds and competed until about nine at night,? Malloy noted.
After another preliminary round on Saturday morning, the competition headed to the semis (LO had seven qualifiers there) and then the finals.
Malloy (who plans to go into broadcasting), Alspach (biological sciences) and Slavick (business) are three of the team’s seniors ? and all say they will use the lessons learned in forensics competitions in their fields of study at the college level and beyond.
?(Slavick) was terrified of public speaking as a freshman,? Melissa Middleton said. ‘She is the best example of what forensics can do.?
Though the students put in a lot of effort, they all agreed that having great guidance was a huge factor in their recent successes.
‘Our coaches contributed so much to our success,? Alspach said. ‘They put a lot of time into it.?