March 13-14, 2009

To close out the regular season, the Gustavus Forensics team hosted the 2009 District IV (the best district in the nation!) AFA-NIET Qualifier Tournament. This tournament is the last opportunity for students to qualify events for the American Forensics Association National Individual Events Tournament which will be held in Akron, Ohio on April 4-6, 2009. This tournament attracted the best teams from the midwest, boasting teams from Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Gustavus had an excellent showing, qualifying a few more slots for nationals. This tournament is also unique in that it recognizes all students that qualified for nationals. All in all, it was an excellent day for Gustavus Forensics!

Communication Analysis

Fifth Place: Maria Siegle

Info

Fourth Place: Sam Hemmerich (Qualified)

Extemporaneous Speaking

Fourth Place: Brittani Seagren (Qualified)

Poetry

Sixth Place: Katie Asfeld

Duo

Fourth Place: Marie Bushnell/CJ Hunt (Qualified)

Third Place: Kavan Rogness/Paula Wiggam (Qualified)

Gustavus Students headed to Ohio for the AFA-NIET

Seniors

Tasha Carlson

Kavan Rogness

Brittani Seagren

Maria Siegle

Juniors

Mary Cunningham

CJ Hunt

Paula Wiggam

Sophomores

Marie Bushnell

Eric Cronin

Phil Helt

Claire Sagstuen

First-years

Katie Asfeld

Allegra Birdseye

Chloe Goldade

Sam Hemmerich

Chloe Radcliffe

Lucas Youngvorst

March 6-7, 2009

To round out the season’s regular tournaments, the Gustavus forensics team headed up to Concordia College in Moorhead, MN for the third and fourth Valley Forensics League tournaments of the year. Both days proved to be very fruitful for the Gustavus team. Over the two days, each of the fifteen Gustie competitors took at least one event to finals. It was an excellent way to round off the regular season. Coming up is the District 4 qualifier tournament which Gustavus will be hosting. This will be the last opportunity for Gusties and others in the districts to qualify events for nationals. Check back in a week or so for results on that tournament. For now, take a look at this weekends results!

VFL #3

Poetry

Third Place: Katie Asfeld

Prose

Fourth Place: Kavan Rogness

Third Place: Marie Bushnell

Extemp

Second Place: Allegra Birdseye

Communication Analysis

Fifth Place: Maria Siegle

Impromptu

Fourth Place: Mary Cooley

Second Place: Brittani Seagren

POI

Third Place: Tasha Carlson

Second Place: Sam Hemmerich

Duo

Fifth Place: Marie Bushnell/CJ Hunt

Fourth Place: Kavan Rogness/Paula Wiggam

Persuade

Fifth Place: Brittani Seagren

First Place: Maria Siegle

Drama

Sixth Place: Mary Cunningham

Third Place: Paula Wiggam

First Place: Katie Asfeld

Inform

Sixth Place: Austin Lafferty

Fifth Place: Phil Helt

Third Place: Lucas Youngvorst

Second Place: Maria Siegle

VFL #4

Prose

Third Place: Sam Hemmerich

First Place: Kavan Rogness

Extemp

Fifth Place: Brittani Seagren

Impromptu

Fourth Place: Marie Bushnell

Third Place: Brittani Seagren

POI

Sixth Place: Sam Hemmerich

Second Place: Tasha Carlson

Duo

Fourth Place: Marie Bushnell/CJ Hunt

Persuade

Fourth Place: Brittani Seagren

First Place: Maria Siegle

Drama

Third Place: Katie Asfeld

Inform

Sixth Place: Lucas Youngvorst

Fifth Place: Austin Lafferty

Third Place: Maria Siegle

February 28, 2009

The Gustavus forensics team headed west for a quick one-day tournament at the South Dakota State University Bunny Bop. The annual tournament featured competition from around the region and was a great opportunity for everyone involved to qualify more pieces for nationals. Gustavus had another outstanding tournament, securing yet another first place team trophy.

Team Sweepstakes:

First Place: Gustavus Adolphus College

Second Place: Concordia College

Third Place: South Central College

ADS

Third Place: Eric Cronin

Second Place: Phil Helt

Communication Analysis

Fourth Place: Maria Siegle

Third Place: Claire Sagstuen

Drama

Third Place: Paula Wiggam

Poetry

Fourth Place: Marie Bushnell

Third Place: Katie Asfeld

Impromptu

Sixth Place: Allie Birdseye

Second Place: Maria Siegle

First Place: Brittani Seagren

POI

Fourth Place: Sam Hemmerich

Prose

Third Place: Kavan Rogness

First Place: Katie Asfeld

Info

Fifth Place: Austin Lafferty

Fourth Place: Sam Hemmerich

Third Place: Maria Siegle

Second Place: Phil Helt

Extemp

Fourth Place: Allegra Birdseye

Third Place: Brittani Seagren

Second Place: Maria Siegle

Duo

Fourth Place: Marie Bushnell/CJ Hunt

February 21-22

The Gustavus Adolphus College Forensics team successfully defended their 2008 state championship by placing first out of ten schools at the 2009 Minnesota Collegiate Forensics Association State Championships! The Gusties placed first in six of the thirteen events. Senior Tasha Carlson will represent Minnesota at the 2009 Interstate Oratorical Association National Contest, the oldest annual speaking competition. This marks the fifth consecutive year Gustavus will have a representative at the IOA National Contest. Freshman Chloe Radcliffe earned Gustavus’ second Individual Sweepstakes Championship by winning three state championships.

Overall Team Sweepstakes, Open Division

First: Gustavus Adolphus College = 446 points

Second: MSU, Mankato = 408 points

Third: Concordia College = 213 points

Individual Sweepstakes

First: Chloe Radcliffe

Fifth: Maria Siegle

Sixth: Mary Cunningham

Seventh: Tasha Carlson

Oratory

First Place: Tasha Carlson

Fifth Place: Phil Helt

After Dinner Speaking:

First Place: Chloe Radcliffe

Second Place: Chloe Goldade

Fourth Place: CJ Hunt

Fifth Place: Phil Helt

Extemporaneous Speaking

First Place: Mary Cunningham

Second Place: Claire Sagstuen

Fifth Place: Maria Siegle

Drama

First Place: Chloe Radcliffe

Fourth Place: Tasha Carlson

Prose

First Place: Tasha Carlson

Second Place: Chloe Radcliffe

Fifth Place: Kavan Rogness

Impromptu Speaking

First Place: Maria Siegle

Third Place: Mary Cunningham

Program Oral Interpretation

First Place: Chloe Radcliffe

Communication Analysis

Third Place: Maria Siegle

Fifth Place: Phil Helt

Dramatic Duo

Third Place: Katie Asfeld/Sam Hemmerich

Sixth Place: Marie Bushnell/CJ Hunt

Informative Speaking

Sixth Place: Maria Siegle

Poetry

Fourth Place: Kavan Rogness

Sixth Place: Christopher Hunt

Minnesota Informative

Second Place: Mary Cooley

Third Place: Eric Cronin

Parliamentary Debate

Second Place: Mary Cunningham/Claire Sagstuen

Parliamentary Debate Individual Speaker Award

Fourth Place: Claire Sagstuen

February 14-15, 2009

Instead of spending time with significant others or lamenting single status, the Gustavus Forensics team spent Valentine’s Day in Eau Claire, Wisconsin for the 2009 Lovefest. Hosted jointly by the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire and by Ripon College, this year’s Lovefest boasted competition such as Bradley University, Minnesota State University Mankato, Illinois State University, University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, and more. Gusties were feeling the love with a third place finish on the first day and a first place finish the first day, taking second over all.

Overall Team Sweepstakes:

First Place: Bradley University

Second Place: Gustavus Adolphus College

Third Place: Illinois State University

Overall Individual Sweepstakes

First Place: Chloe Radcliffe

Grace Walsh Invitational (First Day)

Team Sweepstakes:

First Place: Bradley University

Second Place: Illinois State University

Third Place: Gustavus Adolphus College

Fourth Place: Northwestern University

Fifth Place: Minnesota State University – Mankato

Individual Sweepstakes

Third Place: Mary Cunningham

Impromptu 

Sixth Place: Maria Siegle

Fifth Place: Austin Lafferty

Third Place: Mary Cunningham

Prose

Fifth Place: Chloe Radcliffe

Fourth Place: Tasha Carlson

Informative

Fifth Place: Phil Helt

Third Place: Lucas Youngvorst

Second Place: Maria Siegle

Poetry

Fifth Place: Kavan Rogness

Duo

Sixth Place: Katie Asfeld/Sam Hemmerich

POI

Fifth Place: Sam Hemmerich

Third Place: Chloe Radcliffe

Persuasion

First Place: Mary Cunningham

Red Hawk Invitational (Second day)

Overall Team Sweepstakes

First Place: Gustavus Adolphus College

Second Place: Bradley University

Third Place: Illinois State University

Fourth Place: Northwestern University

Fifth Place: Minnesota State University Mankato

Individual Sweepstakes

First Place: Chloe Radcliffe

POI

Third Place: Kavan Rogness

Second Place: Chloe Radcliffe

Persuasion

Seventh Place: Phil Helt

Fifth Place: Lucas Youngvorst

Prose

Third Place: Katie Asfeld

Informative

Fourth Place: Lucas Youngvorst

Second Place: Sam Hemmerich

Duo

Seventh Place: Kavan Rogness/Paula Wiggam

Sixth Place: Chloe Goldade/Chloe Radcliffe

Impromptu

Fifth Place: Maria Siegle

Second Place: Mary Cunningham

First Place: Chloe Radcliffe

Drama

Fifth Place: Paula Wiggam

Second Place: Chloe Radcliffe

February 6-7, 2009

After taking a weekend off to rest and recuperate, Gustavus went north to our friends at St. Cloud State for the Ice Box Classic. Featuring competition from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota, the Gusties had a triumphant showing. Gustavus students placed in finals in every event, in some cases taking a majority of the positions in final rounds. Also, four of the top five individual speakers were from Gustavus. Debate was also offered at the Ice Box, and Gustavus had one team make it to semifinals and a student that took a top five individual speaker award for debate. It was an excellent indicator of where the team is at and what needs to be worked on in the weeks leading up to the state tournament.

Team Sweepstakes

First Place: Gustavus Adolphus College

Second Place: Minnesota State University Mankato

Third Place: Concordia College

Individual Sweepstakes

Fourth Place: Tasha Carlson

Third Place: Mary Cunningham

Second Place: Phil Helt

First Place: CJ Hunt

Parliamentary Debate

Semifinalists: Marie Bushnell/Maria Siegle

Parliamentary Debate Individual Speaker

Second Place: Mary Cunningham

Prose

Fifth Place: Kavan Rogness

Fourth Place: CJ Hunt

Second Place: Chloe Goldade

First Place: Tasha Carlson

Impromptu

Sixth Place: Maria Siegle

Fifth Place: Claire Sagstuen

Third Place: Austin Lafferty

Informative

Fourth Place: Austin Lafferty

Third Place: Mary Cunningham

POI

Fifth Place: Tasha Carlson

First Place: CJ Hunt

Duo

Fourth Place: Marie Bushnell/CJ Hunt

First Place: Kavan Rogness/Paula Wiggam

Persuade

Fourth Place: Maria Siegle

Third Place: Mary Cunningham

First Place: Phil Helt

ADS

Second Place: Phil Helt

First Place: CJ Hunt

Poetry

Second Place: Kavan Rogness

Drama

Sixth Place: Mary Cunningham

Fifth Place: Kavan Rogness

Fourth Place: Paula Wiggam

Third Place: Tasha Carlson

CA

Fifth Place: Claire Sagstuen

Third Place: Phil Helt

January 27, 2009

For the last tournament of J-term, the Gustavus Forensics team headed up to Normandale Community College for the fourth Twin Cities Forensics League tournament of the year. This fast-paced tournament proved to be a dominant one for Gustavus, earning another first place team trophy.

Team Sweepstakes

First Place: Gustavus Adolphus College

Second Place: Minnesota State University Mankato

Third Place: St. Cloud State University

Persuade

First Place: Tasha Carlson

Poetry

First Place: Kavan Rogness

POI

Third Place: Sam Hemmerich

First Place: Chloe Radcliffe

Prose

First Place: Phil Helt

ADS

First Place: CJ Hunt

CA

Second Place: Claire Sagstuen

Drama

Fourth Place: Paula Wiggam

Third Place: Katie Asfeld

Duo

First Place: Marie Bushnell/CJ Hunt

Extemporaneous Speaking

First Place: Allie Birdseye

Impromptu

Fifth Place: Mary Cooley

Second Place: Claire Sagstuen

First Place: Austin Lafferty

Informative

Fourth Place: Sam Hemmerich

Second Place: Lucas Youngvorst

First Place: Mary Cunningham

January 24-25, 2009

Following our successful showing at the 10th annual Hell Froze Over Swing, the Gustavus Forensics team again headed south, this time to Iowa for the Iowa swing, hosted jointly by the University of Northern Illinois and Wartburg College. Boasting competition from Bradley University, Illinois State University, the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, and more. On the first day, Gustavus took third place to Illinois State and Bradley, while on the second day, we were able to best Bradley to earn second place. Not only did we get plenty of students into finals, but when in finals, we frequently placed in the top half in many rounds. All in all, it was another very successful showing!

Overall Team Sweepstakes

First Place: Illinois State University

Second Place: Bradley University

Third Place: Gustavus Adolphus College

Day One, UNI Half

Team Sweepstakes

First Place: Illinois State University

Second Place: Bradley University

Third Place: Gustavus Adolphus College

Drama

First Place: Tasha Carlson

Informative

Sixth Place: Austin Lafferty

Fifth Place: Lucas Youngvorst

Second Place: Mary Cunningham

Impromptu

Fourth Place: Austin Lafferty

Extemporaneous Speaking

Sixth Place: Brittani Seagren

First Place: Mary Cunningham

Persuasion

Third Place: Tasha Carlson

First Place: Mary Cunningham

POI

Fifth Place: Sam Hemmerich

First Place: Chloe Radcliffe

ADS

Sixth Place: Chloe Radcliffe

Duo

Sixth Place: Marie Bushnell/CJ Hunt

Day Two, Wartburg Half

Team Sweepstakes

First Place: Illinois State University

Second Place: Gustavus Adolphus College

Third Place: Bradley University

Individual Sweepstakes

Second Place: Mary Cunningham

Persuasion

Fourth Place: Phil Helt

Duo

Sixth Place: Katie Asfeld/Sam Hemmerich

ADS

Third Place: Chloe Radcliffe

Extemporaneous Speaking

Third Place: Maria Siegle

POI

Second Place: Chloe Radcliffe

Prose

Fourth Place: Katie Asfeld

Second Place: Tasha Carlson

Informative

Third Place: Lucas Youngvorst

First Place: Mary Cunningham

Drama

Sixth Place: Mary Cunningham

Third Place: Tasha Carlson

Poetry

Fourth Place: CJ Hunt

Impromptu

Ninth Place: Lucas Youngvorst

January 17-18, 2009

Ten years ago, Bradley University and the University of Texas – Austin decided to jointly host a swing tournament, an event that would reportedly happen only when hell froze over (thus the inventive tournament title). Over the years, the tournament has expanded to become one of the years largest tournament, boasting schools from across the nation and including most of the Top 20 AFA schools. With only two preliminary rounds, competition is extremely fierce. Hosted this year by Bradley University, Gustavus had a solid showing. Over the two days, our team amassed 2, 825 total minutes of competitive speaking, or roughly 48 hours, in the span of this two-day tournament. This tournament helps us see our strengths and flaws at a critical juncture in the season and will help us prepare for state in the next few weeks.

Hell Froze Over, Day One

Impromptu

Semifinalist: Chloe Radcliffe

Communication Analysis

Semifinalist: Claire Sagstuen

Hell Froze Over, Day One

Impromptu

Semifinalist: Claire Sagstuen

Semifinalist: Maria Siegle

Prose

Semifinalist: Sam Hemmerich

December 5-6, 2008

Gustavus finished off their semester with a very successful trip to the University of Wisconsin – Stout for the Stout Holiday Tournament. The annual Christmas in Christ Chapel concert prevented all but eight students from attending the tournament. Still, with only eight students, Gustavus managed to secure second place! Their excellent showing was a great way to conclude the first half of their season and set the stage for their future success.

Team Sweepstakes

First Place: University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire

Second Place: Gustavus Adolphus College

Third Place: Minnesota State University – Mankato

Fourth Place: University of Wisconsin – Madison

Fifth Place: Wartburg College

Individual Sweepstakes

Third Place: Chloe Radcliffe

POI

Third Place: Sam Hemmerich

Prose

Second Place: Chloe Radcliffe

Extemporaneous Speaking

Sixth Place: Sean Maertens

Third Place: Phil Helt

Duo

Fourth Place: Chloe Goldade/Chloe Radcliffe

First Place: Katie Asfeld/Sam Hemmerich

Communication Analysis

Third Place: Phil Helt

ADS

Second Place: Chloe Goldade

First Place: Chloe Radcliffe

Impromptu

Sixth Place: Sean Maertens

Fourth Place: Chloe Radcliffe

Drama

Fourth Place: Chloe Radcliffe

First Place: Kavan Rogness

Poetry

Third Place: Kavan Rogness