Rayanna McBride at the Griffin Invitational Tournament in San Diego, November 2014
The Saddleback College Speech and Debate team competed at the Fall Championship Regional Tournament at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California on December 5th – 7th.
Saddleback College placed 1st in the Novice Division and 4thoverall, narrowly missing placing 2nd by a margin of half a point.
Team co-director Heidi Ochoa stated, “Our students had a beautiful run this semester. The work that is being generated from both our novice and senior competitors is extremely strong. We are pleased and optimistic that these students will shake out some serious results in the spring. I’m particularly excited that our very own Larry Radden received the Wyman-Howe award for his service to the forensics community. He is a rare talent and an awesome colleague. Emotionally preparing for his retirement from forensics this year is proving to be a huge challenge.”
Team co-director Larry Radden stated, “What an amazing experience. The synergy that exists between the coaches, Speech Department and Fine Arts Division is critical to our success. I’m extremely proud of the students. They are talented.”
Dean Bart McHenry stated “I am proud once again of our Speech and Debate Team. They have been improving quickly over the past semesters and it is thrilling to see that they are now vying for top honors nationally. Additionally, it is wonderful that Professor Larry Radden has been honored at this time. He has worked hard as co-director to bring the team to a point where he feels comfortable handing off the team for a well-deserved break while he focuses solely on teaching speech classes.”
Here are the Results from a successful weekend:
Novice:
Gold Medalists: Emily Prideuax; Mackenzie Laveque; Bryan Fox; Alex Sherwood; Veronica Collins; Sean Byrne
Silver Medalists: – John DiAngelo ; Steven Plogger
Open:
Bronze Medalist:- Tyler Kline
Parliamentary Debate:
Novice Silver Medalists: Mackenzie Laveque and Steven Plogger
Individual Events:
Katie Rochefort -1st Place Open Informative
Kyle Torres- Novice Informative
Chelsea Wilson-Finalist Novice Persuasion and Novice Informative
Dante Johnson-3rd Place Novice Poetry and 2nd Place Novice Persuasion
Ashley Dean-Finalist Novice Prose
Marlene Khamis- Finalist Novice Prose
Rayanna McBride- Finalist Junior Drama
Ken Caradang- 1st Place Novice Communication Analysis
Maggie Shepard- Finalist Junior Poetry and 4th in Open Duo with Scott Lankford
Scott Lankford-4th Open POI and 4th in Open Duo with Maggie Shepard
Sam Recchia- Finalist in Novice Drama
Patrick Leahy- Finalist in Junior Drama
Adam Duarte-2nd Place in Novice Drama
Leyla Emrani- Finalist in Novice Persuasion
Recipient of the Wyman Award for Excellence in Coaching: Larry Radden
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 visitwww.saddleback.edu and for Fine Arts information, please visitwww.saddleback.edu/arts.
Nina Welch
Fine Arts Public Information Officer
Saddleback College
28000 Marguerite Parkway
Mission Viejo, CA 92692
