Placing first among community colleges and fifth among 250 universities, the forensics team finished its season with a victory at the California Community College Forensics Association tournament in Fresno which took place March 17-21.
Not only did the team finish third in all events, but finished in first place in debate, taking home four gold medals and one bronze medal in Parliamentary Debate along with one gold medal and two silver medals in the Lincoln Douglas Debate, Mark Crossman said.
“No other school had close to five teams advancing to the Parliamentary Debate finals,” Crossman said.
The team’s assistant coach Mark Urista had a lot to say about the success from the tournament.
“It was our best finish in more than seven years,” Urista said.
“This semester holds by far one of the best debate teams EC has ever had.”
Although the awards ceremony at the end of the tournament is always pleasing, waiting to see the results can be stressful, Ashley Graham, 22, communication and architecture major, said.
“Playing the waiting game is the worst part about the tournament, especially when you’re cooped up in a hotel for five days straight,” Graham said.
This year’s topic for the Lincoln Douglas Debate, was a fact-based argument debate on transportation and infrastructure, Saulet said.
Robert Maxwell, 21, political science major, not only won a gold medal in the Extemporaneous debate but also won No. 1 in California.
“I’m was excited to hear how well i did as I took home two gold medals and two silver medals,” Maxwell said.
“I’m hoping to walk away with five or six gold in the Nationals Tournament,” he said.
The Jim Wyman Award, which goes to the top speaker in debate, went to EC student Stirling McKenzie, 21, undecided major.
“All the success of the team comes from hard work and strenuous practice, but “mainly comes from coaches” who have been doing their job for years, McKenzie said.
The next event that some of the forensic team members will be attending is the National Tournament, which will include community colleges from across the nation and will take place in New Orleans from April 5-11, Urista said.