HARRISBURG (SIC) – Southeastern Illinois College’s Forensic Falcons earned top honors this weekend at the Region IV-Affiliated Forensic League (RAFL) Tournament, bringing home gold medals in team sweepstakes and individual events. The tournament was hosted by Prairie State College, although students competed virtually using a video conferencing platform. 

Saturday’s event included nine colleges from as far away as California and Washington. Competition featured entries in public address, interpretation, and limited preparation events. By the conclusion of the day, SIC had earned seven individual gold medals, four individual silver medals, and ten individual bronze medals.

Marion student Emily Ross is among the students who advanced to final rounds, which feature top performers in each event. Reflecting on the tournament, Ross notes, “It was a lot of fun, and everyone did epic!”

Each competition builds to April’s national tournament in Reno, Nevada. The team is coached by Jenny Billman, Paul Cummins, and Rachel Parish.

Individual results from the tournament are as follows.

Carter Wiseman (Galatia) – Gold in impromptu, gold in extemporaneous speaking, silver in individual sweepstakes, bronze in persuasive speaking.

Rachel Russell (Norris City) – Gold in dramatic interpretation, silver in informative speaking, bronze in prose interpretation, bronze in individual sweepstakes.

Connor Fauset (Benton) – Gold in communication analysis, Silver in prose interpretation, bronze in dramatic interpretation, bronze in individual sweepstakes.

Ethan Bordoy (Harrisburg) – Gold in speech to entertain, gold in communication analysis.

Braxtyn Baugher (Harrisburg) – Gold in speech to entertain, silver in prose interpretation.

Grant Dooley (Harrisburg) – Bronze in communication analysis, bronze in impromptu speaking.

Emily Ross (Marion)– Bronze in extemporaneous speaking.

Erica Johnson (Equality) – Bronze in poetry.

Abby Zirkelbach (Marion) – Bronze in speech to entertain.

Also competing: Bryce Harris (Mount Vernon).