NFA....First!
The NFA national tournament is the largest tournament ISU attends all year. Students qualify for nationals by breaking each event at one tournament or more. NFA lasts for five days, and a student may wind up performing their event as much as seven times at this tournament. Some events contain more than 100 competitors, though students face no more than six or seven in each round.
Derek and Amy before finals at NFA.
La'Mont Vaughn cheers ISU
on to Nationals.
Derek and Jude after Derek's Impromptu final
.
.
Suz, Ken, and Tiffany at NFA.
Mellissa and Will Koch accept their trophies.
Warm ups at NFA.
Nelson and Romel accept their first place Duo trophies.
Joel at McDonald's- for better or worse one
of ISU"s most frequent food stops.
On the bus to NFA.
AFA...Third!
At the AFA nationals, students compete for four days.
In order to take an event to this tournament, students must break it at
least three times at the varsity level. The ranks from these finals must
add up to eight or less (ie. 2nd +3rd+ 1st =AFA qual, 5th+ 3rd + 4th doesn't).
Additionally, earning one of the top three places in an event at the district
qualifier also entitles a student to compete. Sometimes, events at the
qualifier enable more students to go, but the top three slots are guaranteed
entry.
The team at AFA.
The obligatory
AFA Extemp shot.
Melissa is recruiting
people for the team right now.
Suz and Scott at AFA.
Romel, Beth, Suz and Rob are walking back to check postings.
Nelson, Ken, Dana, Melissa, and Derek found
a pen of cattle at one of the rest areas.
Joyce, Andrew,
and Scott at AFA
.
Jude, Melissa, Derek, Ken and University of Illinois'
Genevieve Webster and Laura Walker.
Dana and Melissa at AFA.