Five for Five: Speech and Debate Wins Again

Tallahassee Community College's Speech and Debate team continued its winning ways during last weekend's trip to Peoria, Ill., for the annual L.E. Norton Memorial, hosted by Bradley University.

Team TCC ran away with the JUCO Division Championship, winning the title for the fourth straight time. TCC captured the championship in 2004, 2005 and 2006 but did not compete in the 2007 tournament. The victory allowed TCC to maintain its perfect record during the 2008-09 season, winning all five tournaments in which it has entered.

En route to the championship, TCC's point total surpassed the combined total of all other two-year schools at the tournament. TCC was followed by Glendale (Calif.) Community College and Harper (Ill.) College, who finished second and third, respectively.

The tournament annually attracts the top forensics programs nationwide, both at the two-year and university level. Forty-six teams competed in this year's tournament, including national powers Western Kentucky University and George Mason University. TCC finished 11^th overall at the tournament.

Individually, TCC advanced seven different team members to the finals of eight events. Meanwhile, all other two-year schools managed but a total of three berths in the finals.

“To have seven (out of nine) students advance to the finals at a tournament of this magnitude speaks volumes for the level of TCC's forensics program,” said John Schultz, Director of Forensics.

Pentathlon turned into TCC's signature event at Bradley, as Alexa Kyros, Erin Stack and Will Parente finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively at the novice (two-year) level.

In addition to her Pentathlon efforts, Kyros advanced to the finals in Novice Communications Analysis and Drama Interpretation. Stack and Alex Smith advanced to the finals of Novice Poetry while Parente and Merick Lewin advanced to the finals of Novice Extemporaneous Speaking. Additionally, Meg Goertzen advanced to the finals of Novice Persuasive Speaking and Jessica Byler advanced to the semifinals of Novice Prose.

With its fall travel schedule now finished, Team TCC will turn its attention to the spring season, which begins in February with the Florida Intercollegiate Forensics Association (FIFA) State Championship. The spring slate will also include the FCCAA Tournament, which TCC was won eight of the last nine years.