Seven students competed in Roberson Auditorium in Lumpkin Hall Wednesday for the annual Smith-Merritt Public Speaking Contest.

Gabriel Holmes, a freshman computer information systems major, won the contest with his speech entitled “The Joys of Chocolate.”

“I just got up there and got in the zone and things start flowing,” Holmes said. “It usually ends well.”

Second place was awarded to Daniel Brown, a sophomore physics major, for his dramatic speech, “Albert Einstein.”

“Well, I knew it was going to be a tough final going in. Everybody’s a great speaker here, I knew that. I just wanted to keep my head high and just do my best and hopefully some good would come from that,” Brown said.

Beth Sellers, a freshman English major, won third place with her speech called, “Why Work Out When I Can Sleep?”

“I take some big breaths; and my best friend was here so I looked for her a couple of times,” Sellers said

Mike Bradd, associate professor of speech communication, said this year was different because the contest was previously open only to speech communication majors. Now it is open to anyone in the introductory speech class.

About 600 underclass students from about 30 sections were eligible for the contest. Each section chooses the most qualified speaker to enter the contest.

Other finalists who did not place include Julie Hendricks, a freshman undecided major; Heather Robinson, a freshman journalism major; Rick Broadhurst, a freshman business management major; and Carolyn Llaguno, a sophomore physics major.