MavForensics Earns No. 6 National Ranking

OMAHA - The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) competitive speech team, MavForensics, was once again named as one of the top 10 programs in the country at the annual American Forensics Association's National Individual Events Tournament (AFA-NIET).

Following a three-peat as Nebraska's top competitive speech team, MavForensics was judged to be the No. 6 team in the country.

The AFA-NIET competition took place at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois from Saturday, April 1, through Monday, April 3.

The 13-member team, made up of mostly underclassmen, also received several individual successes.

Sophomore Abbie Perry finished second in the Informative Speaking category; Junior Dominic Hernandez and Sophomore Ameres Groves finshed fourth in Duo Interpretation; and Senior Abbie Herbert finished third in Program of Oral Interpretation.

"The amount of work that goes into preparing for this tournament is extraordinary and each years the students on this team continue to exceed my expectations with the amount of effort and commitment they put in," Head Coach Abbie Syrek said. "We continue to be the small-but-mighty team that you just can't count out."

This year's team consisted of:

Abbie Herbert, Senior
Alissa Duong, Junior
Raul Herrera, Junior
Dominic Hernandez, Junior
Gordon Ip, Junior
Ameres Groves, Sophomore
Cesar Magaña-Linares, Sophomore
Sarah Maul, Sophomore
Abbie Perry, Sophomore
Katiana Fischer, Freshman
Moriah Hood, Freshman
Seth Nelson, Freshman
Megan Ojeda, Freshman