Photo by Julia Eisen

County finalists line up to hear the results from the “Drama Interpretation”. Seniors (from left) Sam Stashower, Maiya Trombley and Sophie Schulman all placed in the top six in the county.

WJ’s Forensics Team has once again won county championships. On February 27, WJ’s award winning Forensics Team has come back with multiple new awards to add under its belt.

The team has worked for hours and hours to get to this point. The final tournament was held on February 9 and 10 at Blake High School. All students who have placed in the qualifying rounds which were held in October, December and January, competed in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and eventually finals.

Sophomore Isabelle Carlisle worked especially hard this year to get to the finals. It was her first year on the team and she won second place in “Persuasive Speaking” and sixth place in “Informative Speaking.” Carlisle is currently the youngest member of the WJ Forensics Team to make it to the finals.

“My first year was an enjoyable and successful start. After this year, my public speaking and writing skills have improved. Also, when presenting, it is a relatively low-stress environment, which made the competition more enjoyable and encouraged me to try different categories,” Carlisle said.

Along with Carlisle, another standout first year Forensics Team member, senior Maiya Trombley, won the Peg Fess Novice Award. Trombley had the most points out of all first year members in order to win this award.

“I wish I had joined forensics sooner, it was such a great experience and I’m sad I can’t do it another year,” Trombley said.

The WJ Forensics Team is also saying goodbye to many outstanding performers this year. Senior captains Sophie Schulman and Mary Rose Yockel both won multiple awards to wrap up their final season.

Schulman and Yockel were both given the prestigious honor of being in the Montgomery County Forensics League Hall of Fame. Only 23 people had achieved this award in the past 36 years in the league.

“Being inducted into the hall of fame is a great honor. To have my name next to those who have left such great legacies and contributed so much to the forensics program in Montgomery County is an achievement I will always treasure,” Yockel said.  

The two captains will be very missed next year by their underclassmen teammates, but the students who are continuing their journey are very excited.

The team won’t start up again until the next fall, but any questions about joining should be directed to [email protected].