After three weeks of preparations, the Manhattan High forensics team competed in their first tournament of the year, with many members of the team receiving high placements.

Senior Lily Colburn placed first in the International Extemporaneous Speaking category, second in Impromptu Speaking and third in Informative Speech, while sophomore Trinity Brockman placed third in Congress and the pair of junior Jacob Wineland and senior Martina Hernandez placed third in their duo event.

“My favorite part of the forensics tournament was seeing everyone being excited when we found out that so many people broke into finals,” Brockman said. “I think everyone was really proud of the team.”

The T-Bird Classic Forensics Tournament at Shawnee Heights High School set a high standard for the rest of the season, with so many students placing in their events. Team members, however, are ready to face the challenges that this season holds.

“This tournament certainly set a high bar for my performance the rest of the season, but I still hope to place better next week than I did this week,” Colburn said. “Since I barely missed out on qualifying to state in informative more of my focus will go towards that event.”

While there was a great deal of success, the anxiety surrounding public competition can always enter the hearts of competitors.

“The best part [of the competition] was probably being done with the performances,” Wineland said. “It’s like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I didn’t have to worry anymore.”

For some team members, including Wineland, this was their first forensics tournament.

“[My favorite part was] watching the novices and seeing their excitement for the competition,” Hernandez said.

The 2018 forensics team consists largely of underclassmen competitors, which means that team members had to learn a great deal of information while preparing for their events, since they may not have as much preparation as older members who had been competing for several years.

“While I’m proud I was personally successful, I’m ecstatic with how the team performed as a whole,” Colburn said. “With such a large group of underclassmen I’m really impressed by everyone’s work ethic and leadership.”

After receiving the results of their events, students were thrilled to discover that so many MHS competitors had places highly, including, in many cases, themselves.

“I was actually very proud of myself,” Brockman said. “I was not expecting myself to medal and when I was in the top six, I was very proud of myself. I learned at this tournament that I am a lot more capable than I hold myself to.”

Following the tournament, students plan on trying new methods of preparation in order to do even better at their next competition. This includes working on memorization and changing the process that they use when researching.

The MHS forensics team will be one to watch as their season progresses and students work even harder to do their best in their events.

“My favorite part of the forensics tournament was seeing everyone being excited when we found out that so many people broke into finals,” Brockman said. “I think everyone was really proud of the team.”