Top three Oratorical finalists named
Photo by Clay Lomneth

Top three Oratorical finalists named

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Out of 53 contestants, only three are advancing to the finals of The American Legion's Oratorical Scholarship Program: "A Constitutional Speech Contest" Sunday in Indianapolis.

Cheyenne Mathews of Ketchikan, Alaska; Solomon Brown of Greenwood, Miss.; and Benjamin Crosby of Burlington, Wash., will compete at 10 a.m. EDT tomorrow, which will be live-streamed on www.legiontv.org. The three finalists will compete for top prize of an $18,000 scholarship; second and third-place winners will receive $16,000 and $14,000 scholarships, respectively.

The Legion's 79th Oratorical Contest marks Brown's third consecutive appearance at the national level, and the 2015 American Legion Boys Nation president pro-tempore is a believer that "third time is a charm," he said. "I feel extremely blessed to everybody who helped me out... Post 200, my family, my church family and anybody who has ever helped me along the way I have extreme gratitude toward them. I really appreciate The American Legion for everything."

The contest got underway Saturday with quarterfinals where 53 American Legion department youth champions were separated into nine groups to present their prepared oration and an assigned topic discourse – a phase of the U.S. Constitution selected from Articles and Sections – in front of judges, Legionnaires and family.

First-time Oratorical contestant Annabelle Malinowski, an American Legion Auxiliary Girls State alum from Mansfield, Texas, said that the contest was a "good thing" for her to "invest her time into because I was able to learn more about the Constitution and the scholarship awards are very helpful."

For Melissa Woodford of New City, N.Y., the Oratorical Contest was an opportunity for her to "perfect" her speaking skills and "give respect to the veterans who served our country." She spoke on the 26th Amendment with her assigned topic discourse and how it gave veterans a right to vote at 18 years old. "I found that such a privilege and joy to be able to talk about; it's an honor to be here to be able to speak about that."

Only nine contestants advanced from the quarterfinals to the semifinals where they again presented their prepared oration and were given an assigned topic discourse. Mathews, Brown and Crosby survived the two intense rounds of competition to earn a spot in Sunday's Oratorical Contest finals.

Mathews, a 2015 Girls State alum, was surprised to make it as a finalist as her "goal was to just get past quarterfinals; I had no more expectations," she said. "The fact that I made it to the finals feels so unreal."

Crosby is familiar with the contest since his sister is a two-time national participant, and as a first-time contestant he thought it was "awesome, ran really well and everybody was helpful. I'm just really grateful for the opportunity," he said.

During tomorrow's National Oratorical Contest finals, each competitor will present their prepared oration, as well as an oration on an assigned topic discourse, in front of a panel of six judges, Legionnaires, family and friends.

Since 1938, The American Legion's Oratorical Contest has helped participants understand the history of America's laws and develop a better understanding of the duties, responsibilities, rights and privileges of American citizenship. More than 6,000 high school students compete in the contest annually at The American Legion post level for an opportunity to advance to the state level, where a winner is chosen to represent the department at the national competition.

The program has awarded more than $3 million in scholarships since its inception. Contestants participating in the National Oratorical Contest quarterfinals receive a $1,500 scholarship; an additional $1,500 is awarded to the nine contestants that advance to semifinals.