Brookfield East Forensics Team Places Second in State Tourney

The Brookfield East High School forensics team won second place in the 2011 state tournament, nabbing the Division I silver for the third consecutive year.

James Madison Memorial took first place with 334 points, followed by Brookfield East with 291 points and Appleton East with 285. Sun Prairie placed fourth with 267 points and Muskego and Sheboygan South tied for fifth place with 206 points.

The formidable Brookfield East team had six state champions in individual categories at the tourney held Saturday in Ripon: Zack Vrana, Hannah Giese and Katie Klann (second year in a row), Jeremy Carrasco and William Seabrook and Archit Baskaran.

Mary Wacker, who has coached East's team for 21 years, said in an email to supporters that students "represented our team, their families, our school and community with the class and competitive excellence that has become the trademark of BEHS Forensics."

She said this year's tournament was "extremely competitive" with nearly 1,000 students and 69 teams statewide. 

Nineteen of Brookfield East's 25 entries advance to the outrounds. Six others competed in the Impromptu with four advancing to the semifinals.

Michael Meidl and Scott Memmel each received $1,000 senior scholarships from the Wisconsin Forensics Coaches Association (WFCA). 

This year's state awards are the latest in a long history of competitive forensics teams from Brookfield East. at the Greater Metro Conference Forensics Tournament.

Team members now will work on qualifying for national tournaments. Wacker thanked the other members of her coaching team: Michelle Bedwell, James Hoggatt, Jill Varick and Heidi Wacker. 

Individual statewide awards are listed below.

Student Congress Results:
Zach Vrana, State champion
Aditya Trivedi, 4th Place
Chih-wei Wu, Best Presiding Officer House 2

Demonstration Speaking: 
Zack Vrana, 5th Place 

Duo Interpretation:
Hannah Giese and Katie Klann, State champions (2nd year in a row) 

Extemporaneous Speaking:
Chih-wei Wu, 2nd Place
Aditya Trivedi, 3rd Place 

Group Discussion:
Advik Shreekumar, 2nd Place 

Group Interpretation:
Jeremy Carrasco and William Seabrook, State champions

Impromptu Speaking:
Gabrielle Termuehlen, 7th Place
Brittany Allen, Semifinalist
Elaine Andersen, Semifinalist
Steve Browne, Semifinalist 

Oral Interpretation:
Jennifer Vosters, 2nd Place 

Original Oratory:
Archit Baskaran, State champion

Prose:
Kelly Kanavas, Semifinalist 

Public Address:
Ankita Verma, 2nd Place
Kathleen Browne, 6th Place
Mihir Trivedi, Semifinalist 

Radio Announcing:
Scott Memmel, Semifinalist 

Solo Acting Humorous:
Michael Meidl, 5th Place 

Solo Acting Serious:
Christian Kreznar, 4th Place
Kyle Wessel, 6th Place 

Storytelling:
Erica Bridge, 2nd Place
Emily Peot, 3rd Place
Gabriella Smurawa, Finalist