Forensics Showcase proves beneficial to regional team

Andrew Bitautas and Christi Carras, Editor|February 17, 2015

Central’s 2015 Regional Forensics Team poses with their Regional Championship plaque. Back Row (from left): Libby Morris (’15), Shaan Keswani (’16), Steven Chun (’15), Nick Giammanco (’15), Jackson Dockery (’15), Shubhankur Deo (’17), and Jake Youngman (’17). Front Row (from left): Toni Adeyemi (’15), Divya Surabhi (’15), Nicole Labun (’15), Christen Massouras (’15), Erika Mertz (’16), Presleigh Renner (’16), Ramya Surabhi (’17), and Anastasia Kasimos (’16).

Senior Libby Morris discusses her events and time on the Forensics team.

Central’s Forensic Regional Team showcased their talents on Friday, Feb. 13, to both publicize the team and to also prepare for the sectional tournament, which was held Feb. 14.

The Regional team is comprised of the best members of Forensics in each event at the end of the season to compete in regionals, sectionals, and state.

English classes watched the regional team prepare for their event throughout the entire day.

“It was a great way for us all to practice before sectionals because we have one of the hardest sectionals in the state,” said Toni Adeyemi, senior and Forensics competitor. “Getting to practice our piece a bunch of times a day is really great for us to work out any last minute changes.”

Some members who did not make the regional team were needed to fill in spots on Friday as many team members fell victim to fevers and food poisoning.

Mitchell Moller, junior, was able to step in and recite a speech he hadn’t performed in more than a month about the “powers of smiling.”

“I was picked to go due to the lack of performers and actually didn’t do so bad after not doing it for a month,” Moller said. “Paul Woods, our main coach, called up one member at a time to perform.”

Moller went on to emphasize how crucial the showcase was to the team’s success in the sectional the following day.

“It definitely helped us at Sectionals, considering we placed second as a team,” Moller said. “Everyone was doing their events non-stop the day before sectionals at this showcase, so it was great practice, which really helped us at the tournament.”

Not only was it a great way for the team to prepare, but also to show students what the team is all about.

“We got to show a lot of people what forensics is about because a lot of people mistake it for CSI stuff,” Adeyemi said.

Forensics team has high expectations going into the state tournament, as they won their regional with the highest amount of points in the tournament to date, and came second to Downers Grove South, home to one of the most elite teams in the state.