Forensics and Debate

Overview

The RRCA High School Forensics team was formed in 2008-2009 to provide a venue for students to compete in forensics competitions.  The forensics tournament events that students compete in include speaking, reading, acting, and debate.  RRCA competes in public and private school invitational tournaments from September onward in preparation for district and state competition for TAPPS and the NFL.  RRCA has active membership in the National Forensic League, the speech and debate honor society for public and private schools.  In the fall of 2010, our school was designated with Chapter status by the organization, the highest of four rankings a school can obtain.

2011-12 Season

RRCA Middle School Forensics students took second place out of 13 schools at the Celtic Invitational, a speech and debate tournament for grades 4th-9th.   The middle school students are coached by Cathleen Ferose and high school speech and debate captain Trent Sutton.

  • 1st Place Impromptu Speaking:  Christian Orred, 3rd place Cole Sutton
  • 2nd Place Storytelling Alex Osbourne, 3rd Place Cole Sutton
  • 1st Place Prose Cole Sutton
  • 1st Place Poetry Cole Sutton
  • 4th Place Lincoln Douglas Debate:  Avish Patel
  • Cole Sutton was named Best All Around Performer of the tournament. 

Jade Richey, Zoe Zapatero, Ethan Weinberger, Kristopher Lloyd, Dominic Bradfute, and Anne Marie Berg also competed at the tournament.

The High School Forensics team competed at El Campo High school on January 22, 2012 and won the Runners-Up Sweepstakes, placing 2nd out of 21 schools in a meet that included large public schools as well as private schools.

Team Captain Trent Sutton was named Best All Around Performer and teammate Elizabeth Birkman was Top Speaker of the Tournament.

  • Soapbox Speaking:  1st Place Elizabeth Birkman
  • Duet Acting:  1st Place Trent Sutton/Jenna Grosser
  • Reader's Theater- 1st Place Trent Sutton, Allison Denman, Jenna Grosser, and Ben Roark
  • 3rd Place Elizabeth Birkman, Mason Sheppard, Marissa Flournoy, Chad Brooker, Jeffrey Leistico
  • Novice Lincoln Douglas debate:  1st Place James Eldred
  • Auditioning:  1st Place Trent Sutton
  • Bible Reading:  2nd Place Trent Sutton, 4th Place Jenna Grosser , 5th Place Amanda Olmstead
  • Impromptu Speaking:  2nd Place James Eldred
  • Senior Poetry:  2nd Place Trent Sutton
  • Original Oratory:  2nd Place Elizabeth Birkman
  • Lincoln Douglas:  Varsity debate quarter finalists Elizabeth Birkman, Jeffrey Leistico
  • Lincoln Douglas:  Novice debate quarterfinalist:  Katelyn Leistico
  • Humorous Interpretation: 3rd Place Amanda Olmstead, 4th Place Trent Sutton
  • Dramatic Interpretation:  5th Place Jeffrey Leistico
  • Storytelling:  5th place Marissa Flournoy

For the first major competition of the season, the Forensics team travelled to Bay City High School  on December 2-3, 2011.  A total of 27 schools, more than 500 competitors and over 1200 entries made the competition tough over the two day tournament.   Here are the team results:

  • 1st Place Storytelling Trent Sutton
  • 2nd Place Lincoln Douglas Debate Elizabeth Birkman
  • 2nd Place Readers Theater team of Trent Sutton, Allison Denman, Josh Jacks, Jenna Grosser, and Ben Roark
  • 3rd Place Duet Acting Jenna Grosser/Trent Sutton
  • 3rd Place Lincoln Douglas Debate Jeffrey Leistico
  • 4th Place Group Improv Chad Brooker, Jeffrey Leistico, Amanda Olmstead, James Eldred
  • 5th Place Readers Theater team of Elizabeth Birkman, Chad Brooker, Marissa Flournoy, Jeffrey Leistico, and Mason Sheppard
  • 5th Place Oratory Trent Sutton
  • 5th Place Duo Interpretation Josh Jacks/Allison Denman
  • 5th Place Poetry Trent Sutton
  • 5th Place Duet Improvisation Allison Denman/Trent Sutton

2010-11 Season Highlights 

Season highlights from 2010-2011 include winning the small school sweepstakes at the Bay City tournament and the El Campo tournament.  RRCA was the top speech team at the TAPPS District meet, and the top debate team at the TAPPS state tournament in Lincoln Douglas debate. 

Individual highlights include team Captain Trent Sutton being named best all-around performer at the El Campo tournament and an NFL Academic All American.  Elizabeth Birkman was runner-up in state debate and qualified for the NFL National tournament in Oratory.  Elizabeth was the first student at our school to compete at a national tournament.

The Crusaders are getting ready for the 2011-2012 season, looking to continue their track record of excellence in competition.  Coach Cathleen Ferose says, “I have a team of extremely talented and motivated students who are going to make an impact this year at public and private school tournaments.  They have continually showed me that they can hold their own against bigger schools, better funded programs, and students who go to more competitions.  I’m very proud to be their coach.”