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PCC’s Speech and Debate program finished its competition season off strong at the Phi Rho Pi National Championship on April 4-11 in New Orleans. Seven competitors won individual gold medals and three won bronze against 64 schools and over 100 competitors. The team consisted of nine competitors and four coaches including Corey Taft, Cindy Phu, Co-Director Josh Fleming, and Director Stephanie Fleming. They spent seven days competing at the Downtown Marriott in New Orleans and also spent time between competitions experiencing the city.

“We ate a lot of gumbo and beignets,” said team member Jasmine White.

The beignets were a high point of the team’s experience with many members remarking on the sheer volume of beignets they consumed over the course of the tournament.

Many of the team’s tournaments within the state take place over a shorter amount of time with most members rushing from events and not getting to spend a lot of time together. The week in New Orleans brought a change in atmosphere to the team during the competition, which allowed them to bond.

“I think it brings another aspect to the team,” said White. “If I was upset or nervous I could go to a team member and talk.”

The competitors were chosen by the directors based on the commitment and hard work each member put in over the season. The students also had to perform for the coaches and the coaches made their decision.

Of the individual medals, senior member Nolan Pack won gold in Extemporaneous Speaking and Lincoln-Douglas Debate. Pack also won bronze in Parliamentary Debate with his partner Brittney Bevelaqua. Bevelaqua also won gold in Impromptu Speaking. Tiffiny Vuong took gold in both Programmed Oral Interpretation and Dramatic Duo Interpretation with her partner Issam Khabbaz. Khabbaz also took gold in Informative Speaking.

Vuong’s success surprised her as she beat out her competitors in her first experience at the national tournament.

“I wasn’t really expecting or even hoping to win gold. I went into every round thinking this is going to be the last time I’ll be performing this,” said Vuong.

Jasmine White, who took bronze in Poetry Interpretation, was also surprised by her success. “It was pretty surreal just to know I was picked to compete at a national level,” she said. “The competition taught me a lot about myself and the people around me on the team.”

Other winners included Jedi Curva, who won gold in Prose Interpretation and silver in Dramatic Interpretation, and Wallis Locke, who won gold in Impromptu Speaking and bronze in Extemporaneous Speaking.

Some students were not fazed by their success. Andrew Silverstein, who won bronze in Lincoln-Douglas debate, was not intimidated by the competition. He had extensive experience on the debate team at San Marino High School and had faced much of his competition at previous tournaments.

“It felt pretty normal. The majority of competitors were from California since California is a main powerhouse for debate,” said Silverstein.

The team won three sweepstakes medals: bronze in Debate, gold in individual events, and took the gold overall sweepstakes within its division. The sweepstakes medals from the competition placed the team at seventh in the nation.

The team is well known for their success despite being a smaller program with a smaller budget and less coaches than their competition.

“I was incredibly satisfied. We worked so hard this year and everything fell into place,” said Josh Fleming.

“Everyone deserved to go and it really showed.

Members of the PCC Speech and Debate team show off their individual awards at the Phi Rho Pi National Tournament in New Orleans. The team won 10 individual awards and three sweepstakes medals. (Stephanie Fleming)

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