By Dylan Bradley/ne news editor
NE speech and debate team members Autumn Sprabary and Chris Alter finished among the best in the country during a Phi Rho Pi tournament held in Denver earlier this month.
Sprabary won the silver medal in the dramatic interpretation event, making her one of the top five competitors in the nation for the event.
She performed the piece “I Never Saw His Face” by Nancy Fenton and said that she was most nervous about the judges.
“Each state has a different style that they use and prefer,” Sprabary said. “If you get a judge from a state that doesn’t like or isn’t familiar with the kind of style that you have, then they can mark you down.”
Alter won the bronze in the informative speaking event, making him one of the top 12 in the nation for the event.
Alter chose to talk about fold.it, a website that allows groups of people to play video games to help conduct research. He used the example of a protein used in treating AIDS.
“The idea is using this site, regular people contributed and were able to help solve this puzzle,” he said. “That could help eventually come up with treatment or a cure for AIDS.”
This is Alter’s last semester at TCC. He hopes to transfer to Cornell University in the fall to pursue a degree in political science.
“Four students competed in the tournament,” speech instructor and team coach Justin Blacklock said. “Two were one point away from going to the final rounds.”
The competition lasted six days and included more than 100 schools nationwide. Categories included dramatic interpretation, informative speaking, poetry, prose, program of oral interpretation, duo interpretation, persuasive, communication analysis and after-dinner speaking.
Blacklock has worked with the team for two years and is recruiting new team members over the summer. The team will travel to Cleveland for next year’s national competition.
