Seniors Yianni Kinnas and Laura Nelson’s hearts raced as the judges read off the forensics state finalists for humorous duet acting. One by one pairs walk off stage. Now, they are one of only two teams left.

“When it got down to the last two the kids in the other duet were friends of ours so we were going to be happy with whoever won. When they announced second place and we were the only ones left I honestly couldn’t believe it,” Kinnas said.

Kinnas and Nelson won first place in humorous duet acting. Kinnas credits their successes to their coaches and fellow forensics members. However, Kinnas and Nelson were not the only successful forensics members at last weekend state tournament. All competitors placed in the finals, and the team won third place overall.

“Everyone was so happy with the outcome. Third place is the highest the team has ever placed at state,” Kinnas said.

Furthermore, this is the first year Performance in the Round competed and the team placed fifth.

“It shows our strength as a whole. We were so proud. And our trophy is huge,” Nelson said.

The season is done for many forensics members; however, some will go on to compete in the National Forensics League, a separate set of tournaments that includes nationals.

Here are all the state results:

• Laura Nelson and Yianni Kinnas: 1^st place in humorous duet acting
• Laura Nelson and Georgie Sadler: 4^th place in dramatic duet acting
• Spencer Wawak: 4^th place in dramatic interpretation
• Shreya Rao: 5^th place in impromptu
• Vinay Basti: 5^th place in extemporaneous speaking
• Performance in the round: 5^th place
• PIR Members: Annie Cappetta, Will DeAngelis, Jackson Dockery, Evan Donaldson, Nick Giammanco, Nicole Labun, Christan Massouras, Erika Mertz, Libby Morris, Claudia Schabes, Caity Tirakian, Garrett Weaver, Matthew Yeh
• Steven Chun: 6^th place in informative
• Yianni Kinnas: 6^th place in poetry