Two Students Become State Champions At PA Forensics Tournament In West Chester

From West Chester University:

February 29, 2020

There are two new state champions at WCU, but they aren’t sports champions. They are
members of West Chester University’s Speech and Debate Team.

At the annual Pennsylvania Forensics Association State Tournament held the weekend
of Feb. 15-16 at Wilkes University, Abriana Gonzalez and Anna Hewitt won the state
championship in Duo Interpretation.

Gonzalez, a fourth-year Honors College communications studies major from Elkins Park,
PA, also took the championship in Program Oral Interpretation and placed second in
Prose. Hewitt, a senior nursing major from Downingtown, PA, came in third in After
Dinner Speaking. Their wins helped boost the team into third place overall at the
tournament.

Their colleagues also finished well: Alex Moore, a junior Honors College communication
sciences and disorders major from Billings, MT, placed fourth in Pentathlon, the individual
sweepstakes category, plus third in Persuasion, third in Prose, fourth in Rhetorical
Criticism, and fifth in Impromptu. Olivia Marquardt, a first-year English major from
Lansdale, PA, placed fourth in Prose.

Alane Presswood, director of forensics, was very pleased with the results. “I am thrilled
by the team’s continued tradition of excellence, especially in the face of such strong
competition. The state tournament was considerably larger this year than it has been
in years past, which is a great sign of growing interest in public discourse in the
state of Pennsylvania. I cannot wait to see the students represent the very best of
what Golden Rams can be during the upcoming 2020 national tournament season.”

The team is now preparing for the National Speech Championship hosted by George Mason
University on March 21-22.

Connect with the WCU Forensics Team on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wcuforensics/.

This press release was produced by West Chester University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.