LAKELAND, Fla. (Jan. 31, 2007) —Florida Southern College Forensic Team members Krista Miller and Jessica Barnes were recognized as the sixth place division champions in dramatic duo interpretation at the American Forensic Association Southern District National Individual Events Tournament (NIET) this past weekend at Florida State University.

The NIET event featured strong competition from ten universities and two colleges from the southern region. Miller, a freshman, and Barnes, a junior, are now qualified to compete in dramatic duo at the National Forensic Association (NFA) nationwide tournament April 19-23. This is the first year that either of the women has participated in forensics.

Miller also placed third in after-dinner speaking in the second leg of the tournament with her presentation on the issue of the marketing industry sexualizing pre-teen girls. Miller had previously qualified to compete in after-dinner speaking at the national level, and Barnes will also be competing nationally in informative speaking.

“I’m really excited that we will get to perform our duo at NFA this year,” said Barnes. “Krista and I had a lot of fun with the piece and I think the judges really responded to that.”

Also competing in the tournament were seniors Chris Riccio and Ronnie Hess, and freshman Tony Rivera in events including after-dinner speaking, impromptu speaking and prose interpretation. The Florida Southern Forensic Society is in its second year of intercollegiate competition and was founded in spring 2005 by FSC alumnus Anton Kivilev. The team is sponsored through a generous grant by local businessman, C.C. “Doc” Dockery.

For more information about FSC Forensics, please contact Chris Fenner at cfenner@flsouthern.edu.

About Florida Southern College
Founded in 1885, Florida Southern College is a private, comprehensive, United Methodist college with a liberal arts core. The college maintains its commitment to academic excellence through 38 undergraduate majors and distinctive graduate programs in business administration, education, and nursing. Florida Southern has a 13:1 student/faculty ratio, provides strong student/faculty mentorship programs, boasts 25 NCAA Division II national championships, and is ranked by U.S. News and World Report as one of the top ten Southern Comprehensive Colleges-Bachelor’s institutions and by the Princeton Review as a “Best Southeastern College.” Located on scenic Lake Hollingsworth, Florida Southern is the home of the world’s largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture.