WKU News

Senior Derek Collins wins top overall speaker

From left: WKU Forensics Team members Samantha Sallee, Kellin Robinson, Derek Collins and Paige Allbright.

The WKU Forensics Team opened its spring semester with a strong individual performance by senior Derek Collins, who won top overall speaker at the “Hell Froze Over XXII Swing,” a virtual tournament hosted by Bradley University and the University of Texas at Austin.

Long considered a bellwether of the upcoming national events, HFO is one of the largest tournaments of the invitational season.

To win top overall speaker at the tournament, Collins was a finalist in all his events and placed in the top three in all finals, including three championships. As a team, WKU finished third at the first half of the swing and fifth at the second half. 

The team will compete this weekend at the fourth and fifth iteration of the Mid-America Forensics League set of invitational tournaments hosted virtually by Northern Illinois University.

Results from HFO #1 are as follows:

• Communication Analysis: Derek Collins of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, first; Kellin Robinson of Roseville, Minnesota, semifinalist.
• Dramatic Interpretation: Paige Allbright of Lafayette, Louisiana, fourth.
• Informative Speaking: Derek Collins, third. 
• Persuasive Speaking: Paige Allbright, next-out.
• Poetry Interpretation: Derek Collins, second.
• Program Oral Interpretation: Kellin Robinson, third.
• Prose Interpretation: Paige Allbright, semifinalist; Samantha Sallee of Danville, semifinalist.
• Individual Sweepstakes: Derek Collins, second.

Results from HFO #2 are as follows:

• Communication Analysis: Derek Collins, second; Kellin Robinson, semifinalist.
• Dramatic Interpretation: Samantha Sallee, semifinalist.
• Informative Speaking: Derek Collins, first; Samantha Sallee, semifinalist.
• Poetry Interpretation: Derek Collins, first.
• Program Oral Interpretation: Kelli Robinson, first.
• Individual Sweepstakes: Derek Collins, first.

More: Check out the WKU Forensics Facebook page or follow @wkuforensics  and @DebateWku on Twitter.

Contact: Ganer Newman, (270) 745-6340