The Manhattan High forensics season kicked off over the weekend with several students placing at the Catholic Classic tournament hosted by Saint Thomas Aquinas High School.

“I haven’t been to any tournament in a while so it was fun to also just spend time with everybody,” sophomore Anvesha Sharda said.

Sharda and sophomores Helinna Bontrager and Allina Dougherty have never attended an in-person forensics tournament before due to everything being online last year.

“None of us have really gone to… a tournament in person before and so it’s extremely different,” Bontrager said.

The in-person competitions provide a different, more interactive tournament.

“Being able to like interact with all of our competitors and meet new people like actually [and] not [through] Zoom was super fun,” Dougherty said.

Bontrager competed in Congressional Debate, placing sixth. Dougherty placed third in Congressional Debate.

Sophomore Allie Cloyd earned third in poetry. Senior Sam DeLong placed first in Impromptu Speaking, fourth in Congressional Debate and fourth in International Extemporaneous Speaking. DeLong qualified for State.

“There’s a different, … completely different aura to congratulating a competitor in-person versus over Zoom, … so that was something that I really enjoyed,” Sharda said. 

Forensics will meet next at Emporia.