LCC debate team earns honors

The Lower Columbia College Fighting Smelt Speech & Debate Team won 2nd place in Division III Sweepstakes at the 89th Annual Mahaffey Memorial tournament hosted by Linfield College. This was the second Northwest Forensics Conference (NFC) Designated Tournament of the season. With this result, LCC is in a very strong position to win a prestigious season long sweepstakes award from the conference, which represents schools in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Alaska.

Julia Mitchell of Kelso was named the second runner up for the Marshall Award, which is presented to the individual novice or junior speaker earning the highest number of sweepstakes points. Mitchell earned this honor by placing 3rd in novice Extemporaneous Speaking, 3rd in novice Informative Speaking, and 4th in novice Impromptu Speaking. Mitchell also competed in IPDA public debate.

Molly Mahoney of Kelso placed 2nd in novice Persuasive Speaking for her speech interrogating medical and societal bias against people who are fat. In the debate portion of the tournament, Mahoney advanced to quarterfinals and was named 9th speaker in novice IPDA debate. She also competed in Extemporaneous and Impromptu Speaking

Eli Tovar of Castle Rock showed his versatility by placing in a variety of different events. Tovar advanced to semifinals and was named 2nd speaker in novice IPDA debate, placed 3rd in novice Persuasive Speaking for his speech critiquing professional dress codes, and also finished 8th in novice Impromptu Speaking.

Elizabeth Brown of Kalama finished 4th in novice Prose Interpretation for her performance of the essay A Disturbance of Birds by Terry Tempest Williams. Brown also advanced to the octofinal round of novice IPDA debate and finished 7th in novice Extemporaneous Speaking.

Also representing Lower Columbia College at the Mahaffey tournament were Ilinca Slabu of Kelso and Ayesha Ahmed of Longview.

LCC Speech and Debate will host the 47th Annual Smelt Classic speech and debate tournament on campus in Longview the weekend of December 7-8. Teams will be travelling from colleges and universities across the region to participate in this final tournament for the 2019 calendar year. Spectators are welcome.