PCC Speech And Debate Team Beats Out 4-Year Universities For Top Placements

This past weekend, Pasadena City College brought a motley crew of 18 students to a local speech and debate tournament to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Azusa Pacific University, Arizona State University, UC Berkeley, and several California State University schools.

Despite facing more than 200 entries at the competition, PCC's Speech and Debate Team took home multiple, high-placement awards, beating out top-seated competitors from four-year universities.

There were actually two different competitions that the speech and debate community affectionately call a “swing” tournament weekend. One full tournament was held Friday and Saturday, and the second was held on Sunday. PCC managed to win accolades at both contests. 

This is PCC’s fourth tournament this semester. The team continues its run with one more tournament in December, the 2015 Fall Championship Tournament. 

Below is a list of their results from this past weekend:

Tournament 1 (Fri-Sat, Nov. 8-7)

Dante Chambers – 6^th place Overall Debater

Danny Math – 6^th place in Prose Interpretation Performance

Shannon Yong – 5^th place in Informative Speaking

Diamond Or – 2^nd place in Novice Persuasive Speaking

Gabby Carreiro & Mineli Arakelian – 2^nd place in Duo Interpretation Performance

Marcos Santos – 1^st place in Novice Informative Speaking

AJ Krawford-Kuhrts & Dante Chambers – Semi-finalists in Parliamentary Debate

Tournament 2 (Sunday, Nov. 9)

Shannon Yong – 6^th place in Informative Speaking

Marcos Santos – 4^th Place in Novice Informative Speaking

Elijah Trinidad – 3^rd place in Novice Poetry Interpretation Performance

Gabby Carreiro &  Mineli Arakelian – 2^nd place in Duo Interpretation Performance

Diamond Or – 1^st place in Novice Persuasive Speaking

Also in attendance representing PCC and receiving special recognition were: Sara Berzoza, Eryn Bollin, Christian Cruz, Geneva Fowler, Daniela Jarquin, Melvyn Marroquin, Elizabeth Mercado, David Nguyen, and Eddie Soto.

We’re a welcoming community and are always in search of more talent and enthusiastic participants. If you are interested in joining the team, please check out our Facebook page by searching “Pasadena City College Speech & Debate” or contact PCC's Director of Forensics, Cindy Phu at cnphu@pasadena.edu or (626) 585-7476.