UW-Eau Claire forensics outscored eight teams to claim their 22nd straight Wisconsin State Forensics Tournament crown, Feb. 14-15 at Ripon College.

Sophomore political science major Elijah Freeman said he is privileged to have contributed to the team’s continued success, which dates back to before he was born.

“It’s an honor to have upheld that legacy,” Freeman said. “We take forensics pretty seriously here at Eau Claire, and to see that rewarded once again by another state championship secures your place in that legacy, and we are honored to have kept that going and hope to keep it going next year and the year after that.”

Freeman, who specializes in public address speeches, said he believes the team’s win resulted from a combination of various talents of his teammates and the experience and knowledge of his coaches.

“We have tremendous coaching from Karen Morris and Kelly Jo Wright, who have been in the business, so to speak, for a very long time,” Freeman said. “So that combination of the talent that we have, and the development of those coaches in helping us to reach our full potential was instrumental in helping us win again.”

Karen Morris has been the forensics director for 18 years. In that time, she said the pressure to continue their winning tradition varies because the competition changes each year.

“It’s a huge tournament for us in that, to call ourselves state champions and to have been doing that forever,” Morris said. “Because when you think about it, every state has a state tournament. So to be the best in our state is pretty significant.”

Freeman said although they are a talented and successful team, they still have minor struggles.

“The core of our team is sophomores and freshmen, so we are comparatively a young team,” Freeman said. “A lot of us are still trying to find our way a little bit.”

However, Morris said the average age and experience of this year’s team is what makes them distinctive.

“I think what is most unique about this group of students is that we are bottom heavy, in that we have more sophomores than anything on this team,” Morris said. “So our sophomores are our crux of the team. They are really dedicated and that’s not to say that the junior and senior classes and these new freshmen are not, too.”

Morris said securing their win in this tournament also qualifies them to represent Eau Claire at the national level.

“For us, this tournament is significant because of the Interstate Oratory Contest, which is the oldest forensic competition. Every state gets to send two people to represent. This year we won oratory, so Elijah Freeman gets to go to this national competition.”

In preparation, Freeman said he will revisit critiques of his past performances, modify his delivery and continue to work closely with Morris and Wright.

“With the coaches I will look at some of the ballots some of the judges have given me in the past and see what they think went wrong with the speech or if they didn’t like it or what I did well and try to emphasize those points,” Freeman said.

The Interstate Oratory Contest will be hosted by James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. at the end of April.