Driven and focused, the forensics students competed against universities and community colleges at Phi Rho Pi Nationals last week in Chicago, where they were rewarded for their efforts.

Vivian Amezcua, ASO president, and Lillian Cavalieri, political science major, won awards in this competition.

Cavalieri’s biggest achievement was ranking No. 4 in the nation for overall speaker. She competed with more than 700 competitors and beat last year’s overall speaker of the nation.

“I also won three other awards. I got gold for both impromptu speech and Lincoln-Douglas Debate. I also won silver in extemporaneous speech and a bronze with Joseph Evans in parliamentary debate,” Cavalieri said.

Amezcua won bronze, or third place, in the National Forensic Association Lincoln-Douglas Debate.

“Going to open division parliamentary debates helped me in the competition,” Amezcua said. “I wanted to experience what it would be like competing in universities.”

Juan Victorio and Jose Crespo, senior debaters, won silvers in debate.

“Phi Rho Pi Nationals was a tough competition because we went up against the best,” Victorio said. “It was a great experience and we did the best we could.”

Michael Barryte won speech to entertain and Evans won bronze in extemporaneous speech.

Debate topics included immigration, the 2008 Chinese Olympics, federal aviation and Barack Obama vs. Hillary Clinton.

The team is still ranked No.1 in the National Parliamentary Debate Association for community colleges.

“Amezcua has received a scholarship to attend Northern Arizona University,” Victorio said.

In overall sweepstakes, EC received a silver medal, or second place, in debate.

“I’m proud and grateful for the experience,” Cavalieri said. “The coaches were amazing because they made sure we are at our best.”

Many debaters agreed that hotel accommodations played a role in the competition.

“Where you stay affects your well-being in the competition and overall performance,” Cavalieri said. “The competition is also difficult because the final decision is up to the judges.”

“The food in the hotels was phenomenal,” Francesca Bishop, director of Forensics department said.

EC competed against Central Texas College , College of DuPage , Harper College , Prairie State College, Mt. San Antonio College and others.

Exact dates of the next competition are not certain, but the Forensics team prepares for other plans.

“We need to find ways to fund the team for fall semester,” Cavalieri said. “But, in the meantime, we’ll recruit people.”

Senior debaters Amezcua, Crespo, Victorio, and Elysia Galindo-Ramirez will transfer to four year universities this fall.

Crespo will transfer to University of California , Santa Barbara , and Victorio will transfer to California State University, Los Angeles. Galindo-Ramirez has three top choices: University of California Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz , or Loyola Marymount University .

“Overall, this team has been really positive,” Amezcua said.