The two second-place conference achievements come after a winter term of major wins, both at home and at tournaments throughout the West Coast.

“This past March and February, our Forensics students were busy participating in tournaments in California and Oregon,” said Shannon Valdivia, MHCC’s director of forensics. “I’m proud of our success this season and we’re looking forward to the next one.”

In early February, students Eugene Tyschevsky and Jo Cunningham traveled to Livermore, California, to compete in the Las Positas Talk Hawk Invitational. Cunningham made it into the quarterfinals of the Open International Public Debate Association (IPDA) Debate competition and Tyschevsky made it to the quarterfinals of the Novice IPDA Debate event.

The entire team competed in the Earl Wells Invitational Tournament, held at Oregon State University. There, they took second place among community colleges. In individual events, Cunningham took third in Novice Persuasion and fourth in Open Programmed Oral Communication, Tyschevsky won fifth in Novice Persuasion and sixth in Novice Extemporaneous Speaking, and Mia Borcherdt took six in Novice Persuasion.

At the end of February, MHCC’s National Parliamentary Debate Association (NPDA) team competed at the University of Oregon’s David Frank Tournament of Champions. The team of Austin Schubert and Hunter Boelow advanced to the top eight in the tournament, winning a 5-in-3 record.

On April 6 – 9, Tyshevsky and Cunningham head to Colorado Springs, Colorado, for the American Forensic Association National Individual Events Tournament (AFA-NIET). Tyshevsky will compete in the Open Extemporaneous event and Cunningham will compete in the Open Programmed Oral Interpretation event. This marks MHCC’s second appearance at the AFA-NIET.

Interested in joining the MHCC Forensics team? Visit mhcc.edu/Forensics to learn more.