December 2004 Newsletter Posted

From the Archives,

The 2004 December Newsletter

is now available for viewing.

Click on the icon to the left to go to the page.

November 2004 Newsletter

Click on the above Masthead to see the Picture Archive

A Word from the Czar
Apologies for the late posting of the November Newsletter. This break was taken up with writing college letters until four in the morning and making sure that my mentees were up to date on their college acceptances. So far, we have had early notification that Alexandra Xereas-Gonzales has been accepted to Randolph-Macon Women’s College with a $60,000 scholarship. Congratulations on our first acceptance! We’ve had a great season, so far. The best we’ve had. We just got back from Princeton (more on that in the next newsletter) and took our first National Sweepstakes. It’s been a great year.

NoVaFL 2 (DC)
On November 10, 2004 the Randolph-Macon Speech and Debate team traveled to Springfield Virginia to compete in the Northern Virginia Forensics League (NoVaFL). Of the 18 schools with their 218 competitors, the R-MA team took away 22 awards.
Impromptu: 2nd Thom Cox, 3rd S.R. Hilliard
Domestic ExtempL 2nd S.R. Hilliard, 3rd Sean Dunaway, 5th Chris Cole, 6th Alyssa King
Foreign Extemp: 1st James Taafel, 2nd Thom Cox, 3rd Tabitha Allen, 4th Rachel Jackson
Original Oratory: 2nd James Taafel
Declamation: 1st Rachel Jackson, 6th Adam Wilson
Prose: 5th Sean Dunaway
Poetry: 1st Chris Olsen (tie), 1st David Tuck (tie)
Humorous Interpretation: 1st David Tuck
Dramatic Interpretation: 1st Justin Shipp, 4th Yuliya Orlova
LD Novice: 1st Christo Keshishian
LD Junior Varsity: 1st Harry Hixon
Student Congress: 1st Robert E. Snitchler
When first arrived on site, as always, the team found a room all to themselves. It was in here that the team started their vocal warm-ups. Interp captain David Tuck commented on the importance of these warm-ups saying, "Yeah, their a pain to do, but its an important part of the forensics experience." Vocal warm-ups do more then prepare a competitors voice, but also energizes the team. These exercise are a cornerstone in team unity building."


On the return trip to campus the debate-mobile made a dinner stop at a local McDonalds. Being so close to the GMU campus this particular fast food restaurant was sports themed. In addition to Yuliya Orlova realizing she had lost her script book for the first of many times, this restaurant had memories all on its own. Louie Armstrong commented that this McDonalds had in it vending machines that actually dispersed out DVD’s saying, "Finally a place to eat double cheeseburgers and watch Shrek 2 as the same time!"


At the close of this tournament, Thomas Cox advances to Triple Ruby.


Tournament Trouper Award: Yuliya Orlova
Tournament MVP: Rachel Jackson


Blacksburg Championship
On Friday, November 11th, 2004, the Randolph-Macon Speech and Debate team traveled to Blacksburg, Virginia for the 15th Annual Blacksburg State Invitatational. But it wasn’t till the next morning starting at eight o’clock that the Blacksburg Forensic Invitational Tournament began. In this tournament there were 18 schools and over 200 competitors. Out of these the R-MA team took home 16 trophies, including the number one prize: Grand Sweeps for the third year in a row.


Dramatic Interpretation: Yuliya Orlova, 2nd
Extemporaneous: James Taafel, 1st; Tabi Allen, 2nd; SR Hilliard, 3rd; Thom Cox, 4th; Chris Cole, 5th
Humorous Interpretation: David Tuck, 1st; Justin Shipp, 2nd
Impromptu: James Taafel, 1st; Thom Cox, 4th
Original Oratory: SR Hilliard, 1st; Sean Dunaway, 2nd
Poetry: David Tuck, 1st; Yuliya Orlova, 2nd; Chris Olsen, 5th
Prose: Justin Shipp, 2nd

Lincoln-Douglas Debate: Harry Hixon, 1st; Robert Snitchler, 3rd; Richard March, 4th; Alexandra Kysar, 5th


The story for this tournament began the day before any competition had even started. Because Blacksburg is over three hours away from Front Royal, the team had left early on Friday and were able to spend the night at the always accommodating and very (despite its name) roomy MicroHotel. The next day with the van loaded, pieces prepped, and hours of news programs watched it was time to set out for the tournament. Going into this tournament the team had known that this was not going to be just some walk thought the park, but in the end the practiced paid off with numerous wins and a very large point-spread for grand sweeps.


Unfortunately, the award ceremony began later than expected by over two hours. Resultantly, dinner at the Waffle House was pushed back until around nine o’clock that night. Plenty of time to rest, read ballots, and reflect on the tournament was given to the team. In one case, even allowing one LDer the chance to mathematically prove the Waffle House menu correct in it’s "Waffle House Facts." In which it stated that there are "3,538,944 ways to enjoy our hash browns" and "70,778,880 ways to enjoy our hamburgers."


After dinner, because of the changed schedule, the team was expected not to return to campus until after two o’clock a.m. Therefore to make sure everyone received the proper amount of sleep and a safe return, the decision was made to stay another night in a hotel. In record time seven rooms were reserved at the near by Holiday Inn Express. With only one the casualty of one broken vase (done by the Debate Czar in the team photo), a new amazing looking team picture was taken in the lobby featuring the team and all their new trophies. The next morning, after feasting on what is reported by the hotel’s brochure as "the worlds best cinnamon buns," it was time to return to campus, put away new trophies, and enjoys a free day. At the close of this tournament, Chris Cole advances to Double Ruby


Tournament Trouper Award: Sean Dunaway
Tournament MVPs: James Taafel and David Tuck


NoVaFL (Fredericksburg) Report
On November 17, 2004 the Randolph-Macon Speech and Debate team traveled to Falmouth to compete in the the Northern Virginia Forensics League (NoVaFL). Of the only 5 with their 36 competitors, the R-MA team took away numerous awards and, yet again, Sweepstakes.
Impromptu: 1st Tabitha Allen, 2nd S.R. Hilliard, 3rd Sean Dunaway
Declamation: 1st Tabitha Allen, 2nd Stephine Kharrs, 3rd Louie Armstrong, 4th Ryan Harris
Original Oratory: 1st Sean Dunaway, 2nd S.R. Hilliard
Prose: 1st David Tuck, 2nd Chris Olsen
Poetry: 1st David Tuck, 2nd Chris Olsen
LD Novice: 1st, Kevin Frei (tie) Spencer Dorsey
Additional Qualifier, Christo Keshishian
Additional Qualifier, Ben Cogswell
LD Varsity: 1st, Richard Marsh (tie) Harry Hixon
Additional Qualifier, Robert E. Snitchler


In sure to be what the smallest tournament of the year the R-MA team seemed to be competing against itself more then other schools. In a strange turn of events only 4 rooms were used, combining numerous events into one room. The most extreme case was when the completely unrelated events of duo interpretation, original oratory, and story telling were all put together.
Because this NoVaFL didn’t follow the rules of a normal NoVaFl the burn rule was applied. As a result of this, the team was able to use it heavy hitters with their largest pieces. It was because of this that the team not only was able to easily receive grand sweeps, but also gained more on tournament experience and practice with the base pieces that will carry the debate bus all the way to nationals.


At the close of this tournament, Alexandra Kysar and Chris Olsen advanced to Sapphire and Varsity.


Tournament MVP: Richard Marsh, Harry Hixon
Tournament Trouper Award: Yuliya Orlova


WACFL 2 (IE/LD) Tournament Report

On November 20, 2004 the Randolph-Macon Speech and Debate team traveled to Fairfax Virginia to compete in the Washington-Arlington Catholic Forensic Individual Event Tournament I (WACFL IE I). The R-MA team took away 13 awards.
Oral Interpretation: 1st, David Tuck ; 2nd, Yuliya Orlova
Original Oratory: 1st, SR Hilliard ; 2nd, OO Sean Dunaway
Declamation: 1st, Tabi Allen; 3rd, Louis Armstrong; 4th, Ryan Harris
Extemporaneous: 3rd, Tabi Allen; 4th, SR Hilliard
Lincoln Douglas Debate 2nd, Spencer Dorsey; 5th, Harry Hixon
1st Speaker: Harry Hixon
Additional Qualifier: Richard Marsh


Sometime it is for the best of the team that a student must give of him or herself. Even if this should mean take a day off from the much-looked-for-and-anticipated vacation. This tournament was just one of those cases. The turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing had to wait for this WACFL was on the first day of Thanksgiving break. "Sometimes it’s about more then just worrying about your grade and stepping up to help out not just the team, but the school." Said Kevin Frei, who had to stay on the R-MA campus an extra day.


Again these personal sacrifices pay off, because again the R-MA team did not only take home another grand sweeps title, but had for the first time many of its newest novices medal. One of these team mates was Ryan Harris who when asked about winning for the first time looked straight forward trying to think of a response while snapping his fingers said, "It feels really great. I know that I did my part and if feels good to get rewarded for it."


Trouper Award: Chris Olsen, Tabitha Allen, Thom Cox, Richard Marsh, Spencer Dorsey
MVP in Debate: Spencer Dorsey
MVP in Speech: David Tuck


Christmas Hopes and Desires

Well, as another tax year draws to a close and as we look for creative ways to contribute, we’d like you to think of the RMA Speech and Debate Team. And, in reality, our biggest need and our most heart-felt desire is for a new debate bus. A minibus that can seat 25 students and holds a luggage bay would be about the right idea. Our 1984 Debate bus has about 167,000 miles on it and, though has gotten us to tournaments, is getting somewhat difficult to start and forces us to find as many flat-land routes as possible. A used minibus runs between $14,000-$20,000. Any leads that any of our parents has on a company that would like a large tax deduction through a donation would be greatly appreciated. But, if you don’t have any leads, any contribution toward the bus – in terms of new paint and any reformatting of seating – would be great. When I was a pastor, I always was told that contributions came through button-holing people and arm-twisting. I never believed in that and still don’t. I prefer to lay out our needs to our parents and allow them to make their own decisions. The debate webpage, http://debate.rma.edu/ has the link to the Boosters Page for more information.


November Magnificent Seven
The NFL point totals for the second season are in and here’s the NFL Magnificent Seven Point Leaders for RMA Speech and Debate:
1st Place... SR Hilliard, 135 points in the Second Season... 970 overall
2nd Place... Tabi Allen, 126 points in the Second Season... 1003 overall
3rd Place... Sean Dunaway, 124 points in the Second Season... 1217 overall
4th Place... Richard Marsh, 117 points in the Second Season... 681 overall
5th Place... David Tuck, 110 points in the Second Season... 901 overall
6th Place... David Tuck, 110 points in the Second Season... 901 overall
7th Place... David Tuck, 97 points in the Second Season... 1261 overall

October 2004 Newsletter

Click here to go to the Picture Archive

A Message from the Czar
Every year, every month, coaching gets better. This month, we have begun developing the self-governance of the Franklin-Grady Literary and Debating Society. These officers, unlike in other honor societies, have responsibilities and work to decentralize the grunt work of coaching to allow me to do what I do best: coach. Each Monday meeting, chaired by the President of the FGLDS proceeds through the agenda and deals with all business before the body. Students are learning, through this process, parliamentary procedure and how to deal with others in a business meeting. I have been very pleased with the results. More, I have been very pleased with the results of our season. Blanking out our competition at numerous tournaments, RMA Speech and Debate is having its best year yet. One note of importance: a very important WACFL Tournament will be on Saturday, November 20th – one day after break lets the students out. I ask that parents delay travel plans for students until Sunday, November 21st. We will ensure that students will get to the airport or the train station. This tournament will be a very important one to ensure our continued dominance of the WACFL League.

NoVaFL 1 (DC)
On Wednesday October 13, the Randolph-Macon Academy Speech and Debate Team traveled to Fredericksburg to take part in the first tournament of Northern Virginia Forensic League. Competing out of the 20 school’s and 192 competitors, taking home an astonishing 18 medals.
virtual laundry list of awards, medals, and honorable mention seemed to weigh down the Debate-Mobile Bus on the victorious ride back to campus. Randolph-Macon swept this local tournament taking:
1st in Impromptu: James Taafel
1st in Humorous Interpretation: David Tuck
1st in Domestic Extemp: Alyssa King
Tied for 2nd in Domestic Extemp: S.R. Hilliard and Chris Cole
1st in Foreign Extemp: Thomas Cox
2nd in Foreign Extemp: James Taafel
3rd in Foreign Extemp: Tabi Allen
Tied for 1st in Dramatic Interpretation: Jason W hetzel
1st in Duo Interpretation: Nemecek/Trimm and Tuck/O rlova
1st in Original Oratory: Sean Dunaway
2nd in Original Oratory: S.R. Hilliard
2nd in Declamation: Tabi Allen
Tied for 2nd in Declamation: Tea Flores-Kestner
Tied for 1st in Prose: Chris Olsen
1st in Poetry: Yuliya Orlova
2nd in Poetry: Sean Dunaway
Tied for 5th in Poetry: Chris Olsen
2nd in Story Telling: Justin Shipp
Special congratulation must be given to those who through an incredible amount of hard work and practice over a very short amount of time, many from the Randolph-Macon team have for the first time taken a first place (or championship) medal. Kicking off what is sure to be another triumphant season for the R-MA speech and debate team with a terrific start. One of these first place medals went to 11th grader Chris Olson, who when asked about what it felt like to receive his first first place medal said, "Umm… (rubs chin while thinking), I was very shocked to have won, but I felt very good about it afterwards." Another was that of Courtney Nemecek a 10th grader who took first in Duo after sharpening her skills at the Metropolis Forensics Institute. When asked the same question she responded, "It felt like I had accomplished something, but I know if I keep working I can still do better."

In the end, when all points are tallied up from every member of a school, it is a team effort to achieve the greatest award of the night: Grand Sweepstakes. Lincoln-Douglas Debate team Caption Richard Marsh joked, "Though I didn’t compete in this NoVaFL, other tournaments have truly exemplified Mr. Gregg’s coaching skills. This one probably also showcased his true character."

Thanks to Christine Kestner and Deborah Best for judging.
Special recognition must be given to:
MVP: Yuliya Orlova and David Tuck
Trouper: Tabi Allen

Degrees Added:
Tabi Allen, advancing to Triple Ruby
David Tuck, advancing to Triple Ruby
Courtney Nemecek, advancing to Ruby
Louis Armstrong, advancing to Key Membership
David Cogswell, advancing to Key Membership

JMU
Friday and Saturday October 15th and 16th the Randolph-Macon Speech and Debate team, this time consisting of only debate, traveled to the campus of James Madison University to compete in the JMU Lincoln-Douglas Debate High School Tournament. Out of the (number of schools) school and (number of competitors) competitors also taking part, RMA came out with numerous awards, making it to finals in novice, junior varsity, and varsity level debate. Overall taking (number of awards) plaques back to further decorate the honored walls of first floor Crow Hall.
The RMA team dominated this national tournament, ending up with multitudes of awards.
Novice Speaker Awards:
1st Place: Spencer Dorsey
2nd Place: Tabitha Allen
3rd Place: S.R. Hilliard
5th Place: Rachel Jackson
Junior Varsity Speaker Awards:
1st Place: Harry Hixon
2nd Place: Sean Dunaway
Varsity Speaker Awards:
2nd Place: Richard Marsh
Novice Placement:
Tied for 1st Place: Tabitha Allen and Spencer Dorsey
Semi Finalist: S.R. Hilliard
Junior Varsity Placement:
Tied for 1st Place: Harry Hixon and Sean Dunaway
Varsity Placement:
2nd Place: Richard Marsh
Breaking to semi final rounds where that of Tabitha Allen, S.R. Hilliard, and Spencer Dorsey in novice. In junior varsity were Sean Dunaway and Harry Hixon. And in varsity was Richard Marsh. In an unprecedented turn of events RMA was paired with their own teammates for final rounds in both novice and junior varsity, both of these rounds ending in tie. The novice final round between Spencer Dorsey and Tabitha Allen, junior varsity was Harry Hixon and Sean Dunaway. When asked what it felt like to go up against a member of his own team only to have it end in a tie Hixon said, "It was nice to share a victory that we both earned." Dunaway, when asked that same question, was heard mumbling as he grabbed his head while looking down to think, "It was okay… I guess." Certainly it was this intense level of incredible excitement that was shared by the whole RMA team as they celebrated their victory over breakfast foods in the P.M. and old fashioned milkshakes at the International House of Pancakes that night.
Thanks to Tim Lundy, Tanya Mulvey, and Rebecca Jackson for judging.

Special recognition for this tournament goes to:
MVP: Tabi Allen, Spencer Dorsey, Sean Dunaway, Harry Hixon
Trouper: Christo Keshishian

Degrees Added:
Sean Dunaway, advancing to Quad Ruby
SR Hilliard, advancing to Triple Ruby
Harry Hixon, advancing to Double Ruby
Kevin Frei, advancing to Emerald
Alexandra Kysar, advancing to Emerald

WACFL LD 1
On Saturday October 23, 2004 the Randolph-Macon Speech and Debate team, again this time made only of the debating half, made it’s way up to the Massaponax High School for Washington-Arlington Catholic Forensic League I Lincoln-Douglas (WACFL I LD) datable tournament. It was here that the R-MA team face (number or schools) schools with their (number of competitors) competitors, but still taking home 9 awards, placing among the top winners for each division.
Junior Varsity Speaker Awards:
1st Place: Yuliya Orlova
3rd Place: Harry Hixon
Junior Varsity Placements:
1st Place: Yuliya Orlova (4-0)
2nd Place: Harry Hixon (4-0)
3rd Place: Spencer Dorsey (4-0)
4th Place: S.R. Hilliard (4-0)
5th Place: Sean Dunaway (4-0)
6th Place: Tabitha Allen (3-1)
Varsity Placements:
2nd Place: Bo Snitchler (4-0)
Setting a school and league record, the Randolph-Macon Academy team completely swept Junior Varsity. Making this achievement all the more remarkable is that less then a week earlier, at the JMU LD tournament, over half these R-MA finalist had been in the novice division. In only the second exclusive debate tournament of the year, these newcomers are learning the Lincoln-Douglas debating style diligently. Bo Snitchler, LD underboss, says, "The rate at which these guys, who traditionally are IEer’s, are learning debate is incredible." It is this type of cross training, moving from script reading to making original coherent arguments, that is a staple for the R-MA team.

S.R. Hilliard discusses the hardship of this kind of cross training, saying, "The difference between these events are a world apart. Only after having done both can you truly appreciate the work put into it… It’s like spending your whole life learning to play Magic the Gathering, then trading in your whole deck for a handful of Yu-Gi-Oh cards." At which time S.R. promptly proceeded to note that the "hotness level" of the room had substantially increased immediately following his arrival, a fact that was firmly agreed upon by his surrounding admirers and teammates after a prompt and conclusive discussion of this topic.

Thanks to Alumni Rebecca Jackson and Alex Airhart and retired coaches Adelle and Wade Gunn for judging.

WACFL 1 - Speech
On October 30, 2004 the Randolph-Macon Speech and Debate team, this time mirroring the last two tournaments and inviting the IEer’s only, traveled to Bethesda, Maryland at Walt Whitman High School to compete in the Washington-Arlington Catholic Forensic Individual Event Tournament I (WACFL IE I). Of the 19 with their 94 competitors, the R-MA team took away 9 awards.
Declamation:
1st Place: Tabitha Allen
Oral Interp.
1st Place: David Tuck
Extemp
1st Place: James Taafel
3rd Place: S.R. Hilliard
4th Place: Tabitha Allen
Dramatic Performance
1st Place: Yuliya Orlova
2nd Place: David Tuck
4th Place: Justin Shipp
Impromptu
1st Place: James Taafel
Original Oratory
4th Place: S.R. Hilliard

Unlike the last two tournaments this was speech events only, giving the straight IEer’s a much needed work out after having not competed in weeks. David Tuck, IE captain, said, "Even without tournaments we always keep sharp with continuos practice, and I think it really showed." This was obviously true being that R-MA took home five first places medals out of the six events they had participated in.

Similar to the Bizzaro world, this tournament seemed to be the exact opposite of the previous week being that being that debaters were being cross trained in speech events. Harry Hixon, your average speed talking LDer, competed with his first declamation ever. When asked about how it felt after coming out of his declamation room Hixon said, "If ‘declamation’ is rooted in the Latin word for ‘yelling for ten minutes,’ then I did great!"

September 2004 Newsletter

Click Masthead (above) for Pictures of the month

Message from the Czar:

This has been an exciting and triumphant time of year for the RMA Speech and Debate Team. We have competed in four different states and have logged nearly 1,500 miles already. We have selected ten top students to join our successful team and are currently polishing their first events and cross-training them in their secondary events. As we close out September and rush, headlong, into November, we start to hone the competitive edge of our team and start building the depth of our team in preparation for regular season competition and national competitions. For new students, we ask that they get a dark suit, preferrably black, and muted shirts or blouses. Conservative ties are also needed. We also ask that debaters get leather portfolios for competition, available in the school store. We also welcome our new assistant coach, Tanya Mulvey. A biography will be coming next month.

Vassar National LD Debate Round Robin

On September 10th, traveling to Poughkeepsie, New York, for the 2nd Annual Vassar College LD Debate Round Robin, the Debate Czar and LD Captain, Richard Marsh, competed against 13 other top debaters in the nation. Though we did not fare as well as we wanted, the debate allowed Richard experience with the resolution that soon translated into his stellar performance at Wake Forest the next week. The high-point of the competition, however, seemed breaking the hotel-routine and checking into a KOA campground and sharing a campsite with Martha Carr and Caitlin Halpern from Woodson High School.

Wake Forest Victories

On September 17th, traveling to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for the 27th Annual Wake Forest National Earlybird, RMA competed against 90 schools and over 500 competitors to rank 11th at the tournament and gain two finalists, two semifinalists, one quarterfinalist, and one octofinalist. Above and beyond, the best turn-out ever. Tropher Winners:
Richard Marsh, LD Debate Champion
James Taafel, Impromptu Finalist
David Tuck, Humorous Interp Semifinalist
Yuliya Orlova, Dramatic Interp Semifinalist
Harry Hixon, LD Debate Quarterfinalist
Spencer Dorsey, LD Debate Octofinalist
Not only did Wake Forest give us our first national tournament debate champion, but we also gained more breakers at this tournament than we ever have at Wake Forest. Competing for the first time at this tournament were not only Spencer Dorsey (amazing going to out-rounds at your first tournament), but Xander Fell and Christo Keshishian in Public Forum Debate, Alexanda Kysar in Dramatic Performance, David Cogswell and Louis Armstrong in Duo Interpretation, and Timothy Serrano in Impromptu Speaking.
Tournament MVP: Richard Marsh
Tournament Trouper: Sean Dunaway
A great tournament and a wonderful start for a new season.

NoVaFL PreSeason

On Wednesday, September 29th, RMA competed in the 1st Annual Northern Virginia Forensics League PreSeason Tournament. At this tournament, RMA competed against 10 other schools in the Northern Virginia Forensics League to take home the Sweepstakes Trophy with 65 sweepstakes points, compared to our nearest competitor, St. Stephen/ St. Agnes, with 26 points. Medalists:
1st: James Taafel, Foreign Extemp and Original Oratory
1st: SR Hilliard, Domestic Extemp
1st: Harry Hixon, JV LD Debate
1st: Tabi Allen, Declamation
2nd: Tabi Allen, Domestic Extemp
2nd: Robert E. Snitchler, Varsity LD Debate
2nd: Tea Flores-Kestner, Declamation
2nd: The Team of Kysar and Keshishian, PF Debate
2nd: Sean Dunaway, Foreign Extemp
3rd: Thom Cox, Foreign Extemp
4th: Sean Dunaway, Original Oratory
3rd: Christina Harper and Stephanie Kharrs, Declamation
4th: Justin Shipp, Student Congress
5th: SR Hilliard, Original Oratory
5th: Thom Cox, Impromptu
5th: D. Scot Kerns, Student Congress
Places 1-3 have gained a bid to the Virginia Tournament of Champions in May. Places 1-6 have gained a bid to the Northern Virginia Forensics League Tor Johnson Championship Tournament in January. A great victory and a great tournament.
Tournament MVP: James Taafel
Tournament Troupers: Kysar and Keshishian
Competing for the first time: David Frei, Christina Harper, and Stephanie Kharrs.

Yale Victories

On September 29th, traveling the eight hours to New Haven, Connecticut, for our fifth year at the Yale University National Forensics Classic, RMA followed-up our tremendous victories with even more victories at Yale. Of the 1,700 competitors and 100 schools, RMA advanced two to finals, one to semifinals, one to quarter finals, and two to double-octofinals. Trophy Winners:
Sean Dunaway, Finalist in Original Oratory
David Z. Tuck, Finalist in Humorous Interpretation
James Taafel, Semifinalist in Extemporaneous Speaking
Yuliya Orlova, Quarterfinalist in Dramatic Interpretation
Richard Marsh and Harry Hixon, Double-Octofinalists in LD Debate
Richard Marsh was the 14th Speaker at Yale in the JV Division of LD Debate.
In the past, RMA has made one or two breakers each year. This year, we did over-and-above that mark. A great tournament for which I am very proud.
Tournament MVP: Sean Dunaway
Tournament Trouper: Rachel Jacksonwho debated 10 rounds of PF and LD Debate -over seven and a half hours in the space of 28 hours.
How many times can I really say how proud and excited I am about this season?

Virginia Earlybird

On October 9th, at the 5th Annual Virginia Earlybird Tournament at Courtland High School in Spotsylvania, Virginia, RMA competed against 17 other schools to take home 2nd Place Sweepstakes in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, 1st Place Sweepstakes in Speech, and the Overall (5 foot tall) Sweepstakes Trophy. Though our most all of our seniors were taking the SAT, our underclassmen acquitted themselves very, very well at this first Virginia Invitational Tournament. Taking Championships:
Harry Hixon (4-0), Junior Varsity LD Debate
Thom Cox, Extemporaneous Speaking
Rachel Jackson, Declamation
SR Hilliard, Original Oratory
Yuliya Orlova, Dramatic Performance
Yuliya Orlova, Dramatic Performance
Also taking home trophies from this competition:
2nd : SR Hilliard (Extemp)
2nd : Tabi Allen (Declamation)
2nd : Justin Shipp (Prose, Storytelling)
3rd : Tabi Allen (Extemp)
3rd : Courtney Nemecek
3rd : The Team of Lance Trimm and Courtney Nemecek (Duo)
3rd : Kevin Frei (LD Debate Novice)
4th : The Team of David Cogswell and Louis Armstrong (Duo)
4th : Stephanie Kharrs (Declamation)
4th: Thom Cox (Impromptu)
MVP: Yuliya Orlova
Trouper: Courtney Nemecek
Competing for the first time: Ryan HarrisAll in all, a very successful tournament and something for our underclassmen to be very proud of for themselves.

Team Captaincies Announced

As is our practice, after three major tournaments, we select the captains of the Speech and Debate Team for the upcoming season. Unlike other team captaincies, these positions are not honorary, but are quite functional and put the students in the same responsibilities held by assistant coaches on other forensics teams.
Extemp Captain: Tabi Allen
Extemp UnderBoss: SR Hilliard
Expository Captain: James Taafel
Interpretation Captain: David Z. Tuck
Interpretation UnderBoss: Yuliya Orlova
LD Debate Captain: Richard Marsh
LD UnderBoss: Robert E. Snitchler
PF Debate Captain: Yuliya Orlova
Captain of Operations: Sean Dunaway
Operations UnderBoss: Justin Shipp
Male Road Captain: Chris Cole
Female Road Captain: Rachel Jackson
These captains have responsibilities each practice, each time we load or unload, every time we check into hotels, and on the tournament site, itself. Congratulations to these captains and we look forward to an excellent year.

Franklin-Grady Literary and Debating Society Officers Announced

Randolph-Macon Academy’s Franklin-Grady Literary and Debating Society of 1901, Virginia’s oldest high school debate society, acts as the support- and logistical-arm of Randolph-Macon Academy’s Speech and Debate Team. Membership is based on active competition in RMA Speech and Debate. Full membership is based on based on gaining at least National Forensics League (NFL) membership of 25 NFL points. On Monday, October 11th, the membership of the Franklin-Grady voted for officers for the 2004-05 school year. Unlike other honor societies, each office has a specific team-related task in order to keep RMA’s winning speech and debate still winning. Also unlike other honor societies, the Franklin-Grady Literary and Debating Society weighs each person’s vote, based on their NFL points. Like electoral points in the upcoming Presidential Election, each student has so many NFL points accrued. For example, our point-leader James Taafel holds 1,392 points, while our newest full member, Alexandra Kysar, holds 57 NFL Points. As the Coach, I hold 2,675 NFL Coaching Points (one-tenth of the 26,750 NFL points gleaned in the last eight years of coaching). After the vote count and the audit, these are the results and the docket of officers for the 103rd year of the Franklin-Grady Literary and Debating Society:

Tabi Allen, President. The President is appointed by the Czar based on the previous year’s winner of the Captain Award. The President sets the agenda for the Monday afternoon meetings and chairs those meetings.

Justin Shipp, Vice President. The Vice President is voted on by the active members of the Franklin-Grady Literary and Debating Society based on each member’s NFL points. The Vice President is responsible for ballot sorting and synthesis, as well as maintaining all ballot files on each competitor. When the President is unable to chair meetings, the Vice President will chair meetings.

SR Hilliard, Secretary. The Secretary is voted on by the active members of the Franklin-Grady Literary and Debating Society based on each member’s NFL points. The Secretary is responsible for preparing full reports for the newsletter following each tournament.

Sean Dunaway, Treasurer. The Treasurer is voted on by the active members of the Franklin-Grady Literary and Debating Society based on each member’s NFL points. The Treasurer is responsible for maintaining current NFL points for each member at each tournament. The Treasurer is also responsible for maintaining the roll for each practice.

The Magnificent Seven

(Top Point Leaders in the 2004-05 Season)

1st: Richard Marsh, 127 pts.

2nd: Harry Hixon, 123 pts.

3rd (tie): SR Hilliard and Yuliya Orlova, 112 pts.

5th: Tabi Allen, 108 pts.

6th: Rachel Jackson, 104 pts.

7th: Thom Cox, 86 pts.

Students Gaining New NFL Degrees in September:

The following students have accrued enough NFL Speaking Points in September to gain a new degree in the National Forensics League. Each debate victory is worth 6 points, each loss 3 points. Each speech interpretation 1st rank in a round is worth 5 points, each 2nd place rank is worth 4 points and so on. Each original speech (oratory and extemporaneous) is worth 6 points for a 1st and so on.

Richard Marsh, advancing to Double Ruby, 502 pts.
Spencer Dorsey, advancing past Key to Emerald, 75 pts.
Xander Fell, gaining Key Membership, 60 pts.
Alexandra Kysar, gaining Key Membership, 57 pts.
Kevin Frei, gaining Key Membership, 48 pts.
Christo Keshishian, gaining Junior NFL Membership.

This means that 6 new degrees have been added to our total of 124 points. Our goal is to gain 200 degrees by the end of the year.