The Orange Coast College Speech and Debate team had a very busy week competing at two tournaments. 

The first tournament to start the busy week was the Mt. San Antonio College October Surprise Tournament held on Oct. 24–25.  This synchronous tournament hosted 17 colleges throughout the Southern California region in a variety of individual and debate events. After the completion of the Mt. San Antonio College tournament the team headed into the Norene Hokett Asynchronous tournament hosted by California Baptist University. This tournament was held over the week of Oct. 27–Nov. 1.  

“The interesting aspect about online tournaments is that it allows our students even more flexibility to compete while still being able to participate in all their other daily activities,” explains Director of Forensics Sherana Polk. 

The virtual tournaments also were a new experience for OCC students because it required them to record and submit their performances. Afterwards, their videos were evaluated by a variety of judges throughout the country. The experience also was unique because students were able to compete against other competitors from schools in California, Illinois, Arkansas, and even Nebraska.   

“It was a beneficial experience for our students to see so many diverse performances from across the country. This experience will help our students to develop stronger pieces.  Moreover, the fact that our students are performing so well against students from across the country makes us feel very confident about what our state and national results may look like,” says the Director of Individual Events Shaw Davari.  

The results can be found below.

October Surprise Tournament

Grace Ly earned a 3rd Place in Novice Prose Interpretation.

Victoria Vinson earned a 2nd Place in Open Prose Interpretation.

 

Norene Hokett Invitational

Jon Paley earned a 2nd Place in Open Impromptu

Noella Pacheco earned a 2nd Place in Novice Prose Interpretation

Jinno Vicencio earned a 2nd Place in Poetry Interpretation

Ashley Lindsay earned a 1st Place in Open Persuasion 

 

The Orange Coast College Speech, Debate, and Theatre team’s next tournament is The DVC Thing Tournament hosted by Diablo Valley College on Nov. 20–22.