Haley Lawrie of Lynchburg competes in AFA National Tournament

2015 Apr 2

Haley Lawrie of Lynchburg, Virginia is a member of the James Madison University Speech Team competing in this year's American Forensic Association - National Individual Events Tournament held at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon.

Lawrie, a sophomore majoring in modern foreign language and international affairs, has qualified for competition in Persuasive Speaking, Communication Analysis, and Extemporaneous Speaking for the national tournament.

The American Forensic Association will welcome university teams from around the nation to compete in their national tournament, April 4-6. The tournament contains 11 possible events for students to compete in, and is the culmination of performance for many of the competitors.

This year, JMU's team will be taking 12 competitors, the largest squad that JMU has qualified in its history. The team was started in 1975, and began competing on the national level in 1991. The team has been ranked in the top 20 on numerous occasions and past members have been national champions at the AFA National Tournament.

The team has qualified to compete in a total of 39 events across all 11 categories. Students range from freshmen to seniors and represent 11 different majors on campus.