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CORVALLIS - Oregon State University's forensics team captured its first team championship at the National Forensics Association championships at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

The victory in the National Individual Events Championships comes on the heels of a top-25 finish at the National Parliamentary Debate Association Championships earlier this year.

The championship is based on preliminary performances of individual students in nine different categories. Senior Renee Rider, a fisheries and wildlife major from Phoenix, Ariz., led the team by making it to the quarterfinal round of after-dinner speaking. Junior Kathy LaVeine, of Tigard, and freshman Mike Kingsella, of Clackamas, both speech communication majors, rounded out OSU's team at the competition.

The team won the Division III National Championship by beating Tennessee State by two-and-one-half points and defeating teams such as American University, Columbia, Howard, Colorado State and 38 other schools.

Both LaVeine and Rider are forensics veterans who traveled with the OSU team last year to the International Forensics Association Championships in Rome, Italy. In Rome, LaVeine captured the world title for top individual "persuasive speaker" and then teamed with Rider to take second place in parliamentary debate.