On Friday, October 21st, the Saddleback Speech and Debate team competed at the Individual Debate Tournament held at Saddleback’s sister school, Irvine Valley College. Teams from all over the state attended the tournament. Out of the seven students competing from Saddleback, all seven won awards.
Shawn O’Rourke, the Co-Director of Forensics, stated, “I am very excited about the results. It was a great tournament and it is always nice to have the whole squad do well. A lot of the credit goes to the excellent work of the latest addition to the team's roster of coaches, Dana-Jean Smith, who we lured to Saddleback from another program to help with our growing debate team. I am also excited for this upcoming weekend where the full Saddleback squad will compete in individual events in Padadena. I think these two tournaments will show an excellent start to Saddleback's competitive season."
Tournament Results:
Sara Boivin: Gold
Haley Aufill: Silver
Brandon Currie: Silver
Westley Stone: Silver
Joel Reise: Bronze
Jack McMendmin: Bronze
Eli Drummond: Bronze
The Saddleback Forensics Team started in the 1970s and prides itself on offering students the ability to create innovative arguments for future writing and speaking engagements to strengthen their critical thinking skills and to better communicate with others. On the forensics team, students write, rehearse, and perform at 6-7 tournaments against students from Universities and Community Colleges to qualify for the national tournament. The students representing Saddleback at the national tournament have placed above several competitors representing institutions throughout the year, including: Concordia University, Point Loma, California State University, Los Angeles, California State University, Long Beach, and UCLA.
Located in Mission Viejo, Saddleback College provides quality higher education and training to the greater south Orange County community. Having served more than 500,000 students since 1968, Saddleback College offers over 300 degree and certificate programs to help students reach their personal, career, and educational goals. For more information, please visit www.saddleback.edu and for Fine Arts information, please visit www.saddleback.edu/arts.
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Nina Welch
Fine Arts Public Information Officer
Saddleback College