Coming away from the Concordia Invitational last weekend with gold medals, confidence and anticipation for its next tournament, EC forensics team set the bar high for the rest of its semester.
“It was a great competition for all of us and we were excited because we did even better than last year,” Joseph Evans, team vice president, said.
Novice debaters wiped the floor with their competition, breaking into final rounds and capturing first, second and third place in the novice division extemporaneous speaking competitions.
Courtnee Draper, 23, psychology major, placed first in novice division extemporaneous speaking. Robert Maxwell placed second and Linehan placed third.
Lilian Cavalieri, the team president, was a finalist in the open division extemporaneous speaking competition and Evans placed third.
“This (was) our first competition. Going into it we were nervous, but once we got there we just figured, ‘You have to head it on or just try and delay it,'” Stirling McKensie, 19, novice debater, undecided major, said.
In overall novice division speaker awards, Maxwell placed ninth and Draper placed second.
Cavalieri placed tenth in the senior division speaker awards.
Novice debaters also excelled in parliamentary debate, a competition involving two, two-person teams who argue for or against a given topic.
“I can’t say who is good and who is not because it’s too early, but from what it seems like, everybody seems like they have potential in every event that they can participate in,” Evans said.
Ethan Gil, Maxwell, Draper and McKenzie earned gold medals. Wesley Eller and Ryan Evans, earned silver medals and Ashley Graham and Linehan earned a bronze medal in parliamentary debate for the novice division.
“I was here (in) 2002-03 when we won five gold medals at state (championships),” Mark Urista, forensics coach said. “This team has the potential to reach that level or possibly surpass it.”
Draper also placed first in novice division impromptu speaking, while Graham, McKenzie, Maxwell and Eller were all finalists.
“I thought I could never do it, I just felt like I’d never be able to cover everything, and then I was intimidated,” Draper said. “Then I decided I really wanted to step up and at least try, because what did I have to lose? If I looked dumb, oh well, but I did really well and I feel really connected to the (college) now.”
Having done so well overall, the team won first place in the overall points sweepstakes.
“Everybody did a great job and the team itself is all one; if one of us wins, all of us win,” McKenzie said. “We all have eachother’s back; it’s like a little family and I really like that about it, we do a lot of bonding.”
Looking ahead to the California Double-up, which will be held Sunday, Oct. 19 and 20 at Biola University, the team looks forward to the competition.
“It’s really exciting and I feel it’s very addictive,” Draper said. “A couple of us from this last competition placed, so we’re moving up to the open division, which is the next step up. So we’ll be pretty much going against people who have been doing this for a year.”
Open division is the highest level one may compete in and it allows for individuals to compete against, at times, more experienced debaters as well as university-level debaters, during state championships.
“I think they did fantastic. It was a really good way to start the year and this team has a really strong camaraderie,” Urista said. “It’s just luck. You bring different personalities together it’s really luck of the draw. Everything is just meshed well. It’s like a fine stew.”
While they wait for their next chance to show off their skills, the students will have practice debates among themselves, research global and domestic issues and maintain high hopes for themselves.
“It’s definitely going to be pushing us along,” Draper said. “Hopefully, we’ll be growing a lot and excelling.”
