Seminole State students win 7 awards at Florida speech/debate championship

The Seminole State College of Florida Forensics Team (speech/debate) took home seven awards in the Florida College Systems Activities Association (FCSAA) Forensics Championship at Florida State College of Jacksonville on Feb. 2-4.

The team, which included students Rodrigo Alcala, Eliza Benedick, Sebastian Hernandez, Shemuwel Russ, Yithrow Russ and Meredith Slack, placed third in both Individual Events Sweepstakes and in Overall Team Sweepstakes. The team’s other awards in individual categories ranged from second to fifth place.

Intercollegiate forensics (speech/debate) consists of two classes of competition: debate and individual events, according to the FCSAA Forensics website. The debate events include Lincoln Douglas, Policy and Parliamentary. Individual events include poetry, screen plays, movie/radio scripts and platform speeches. There are also two categories of “limited preparation,” a situation where the student prepares the speech as part of the competition and is unaware of the topic until the event.

“The college’s team did an outstanding job representing our institution at the FCSAA Forensics Championship,” says Seminole State Director of Forensics Dr. Camesha Manzueta. “Each of the four students who competed in individual events won an award.”

Seminole State received additional recognition at the competition when Manzueta was named Coach of the Year for the state of Florida.

“The students and I consider it an honor and a privilege to represent our great institution, particularly within the Florida College System,” says Manzueta. “I am thankful for the great leadership of this College and the continuous support it offers to the well-rounded development of our students.”

Seminole State was one of seven FCS institutions that participated in the tournament.

For more information about the FCSAA Forensics Championship, including a list of this year’s winners, please visit the FCSAA Forensics website.