Mount St. Mary Academy’s talented Forensics Team earned a handful of first place finishes – the most ever by the student organization – at the 2025 Arkansas Forensics and Debate Championship held May 2-3 at Fayetteville High School, resulting in a successful end to a competition season chock-full of accomplishments. The team was named the Arkansas State Champion in Words and Music for the second consecutive year. Additionally, Annabelle Owen ’25 and Sydney Kersey ’26 were named State Champions in Solo Acting and Impromptu Speaking, respectively, and Maya Johnson ’25 and Isabella Nguyen ’25 were named State Champions in Duet Musical Acting.
This is only the second time in recent history that Mount St. Mary Academy has won an individual state championship, the last being in 2022. The team won its first two group state championships last year.
Eleven of the Forensics Team’s 14 members competed in one or both of the championship’s two group events this year, and a total of eight members were eligible to compete in individual events based on their performance at qualifying events throughout the season. In addition to the achievements already recognized, the team celebrated other outstanding results in many of the 31 separate events at the statewide competition:
- MSM Forensics Team – 2nd place in Reader’s Theatre
- Maya Johnson – 2nd place in Program of Oral Interpretation, 3rd place in Poetry Interpretation, and 3rd place in Duo Interpretation
- Isabella Nguyen – 2nd place in Solo Musical Acting, 3rd place in Duo Interpretation, and finalist in Program of Oral Interpretation
- C. Cash ’25 – Finalist in Prose Interpretation and Finalist in Solo Acting
- Jordyn Lane ’26 – Finalist in Solo Musical Acting
- Emma Laughlin ’28 – Finalist in Song Lyrics Interpretation
- Annabelle Owen – Finalist in Original Oratory
- Mady Reyes ’25 – Finalist in Dramatic Interpretation
Mia Canizares ’28, Luciana McLendon ’28 and Abigail Newman '28 also participated in the weekend’s competition. Additional members of the 2024-2025 Forensics Team include: Emilie Apana ’28, Aida Hernandez ’27 and Addison Ray ’27. The team is coached by Jenny Moses, MSM theatre and forensics instructor and Arts Department chair.
Organized by the Arkansas Communication & Theatre Arts Association (ACTAA), the state championship represents the culmination of the forensics and debate season where hundreds of competitors enter weekend tournaments to compete in the art of oral presentation. Described by some as competitive acting, forensics competitions, in particular, include events such as storytelling, poetry, prose, dramatic or humorous interpretation, and improvisation.
In addition to their wins at this year’s Arkansas Forensics and Debate Championship, the following students were also named to the ACTAA All-State Speech and Debate team for the 2024-2025 competition year for finishing at the top of their field in Arkansas’ 25+ speech and debate events: C. Cash (3 events), Maya Johnson (7 events), Sydney Kersey (1 event), Jordyn Lane (1 event), Emma Laughlin (3 events), Isabella Nguyen (6 events) and Annabelle Owen (5 events). Maya and Isabella were two of the top six students in the state who were recognized for qualifying for six or more events in this year’s state tournament.
We congratulate our Forensics Team on a very successful season!
