欧文康考迪亚大学 取证 Hits High Standards

欧文康考迪亚大学's speech and debate squad continues to gather team and individual achievements as one of the nation’s top programs.

在2018年全国循环赛上, held in March at Rice University in Houston, Judith Teruya ’18 won the title of top speaker. 晚些时候, at the National Parliamentary Debate Association (NPDA) Championship Tournament, she and debate partner Meghan Gleeson, 大二学生, placed in the top eight teams in the nation.

“Judith’s top speaker award is very big deal, and she and Meghan performed very well this season,” says 欧文康考迪亚大学's director of debate, 阿曼达Ozaki-Laughon.

The squad’s success at the Aztec Invitational tournament at San Diego State University demonstrated its strength early on in 2018. Junior Denise Sprimont won top speaker, and senior team Ryan Corso-Gonzales and Benjamin Lange made the finals. 欧文康考迪亚大学 racked up more points than any other university by a high margin, 在抽奖中获得第一名.

“It was a really strong showing,” says Amanda.

欧文康考迪亚大学 also excelled in a new form of debate introduced this year called Lincoln-Douglas, which is one-on-one individual debate. 在SDSU锦标赛上, all four debaters with winning records were from 欧文康考迪亚大学, led by junior Natasha Calilung who also took the top speaker award for Lincoln-Douglas at the Mills Invitational at Palomar College.

随着季节的进展, sister team Meghan Gleeson (junior) and Kaitlyn Gleeson (sophomore) made it to octo-finals in three tournaments, an impressive display of consistency. And juniors Sprimont and David Vasquez advanced to semi-finals at The Georgia Bowman Invitational tournament at William Jewell College in Missouri. The squad won third place sweepstakes there, an overall award.

The strong 2018 start followed an equally impressive finish to the 2017-18 season, when Corso-Gonzales and Lange placed in the top sixteen teams in the nation, and 欧文康考迪亚大学 placed seventh in the nation in the NPDA and fifth at the National Round Robin Debate Tournament. 为伟大的一年画上句号, Amanda was recognized as the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence Assistant Coach of the Year.

In the past, we had to explain where Concordia Irvine was. We are a small school but have a really big name on the debate circuit.

“在过去, we had to explain where Concordia Irvine was,” says Amanda of the program’s recent progress. “现在它是一个家喻户晓的名字. Everyone expects us to advance to final rounds and have a winning record. We are a small school but have a really big name on the debate circuit.”

在演讲方面, senior Caleb Speakman won the coveted All-American Award for academic and speech excellence, and Eva Reyes received her first National Speaker award, placing seventeenth in the nation at the American 取证 Association National Individual Events National Tournament. Reyes and Evette Jahangiri advanced multiple events to quarterfinals and semifinals at the National Speech Championships.

“Eva came in as naturally a good speaker, and once she learned the skills and techniques of speech, 她是不可阻挡的,” says 欧文康考迪亚大学's director of forensics 偏航Kyeremateng, who was recognized as the 2018 Outstanding Coach of the year at the American 取证 Association National Individual Events Tournament.

Yaw is also pleased by 欧文康考迪亚大学's reputation for collegiality: “Other teams tell us how impressed they are with how our students relate to other students at tournaments,他说. “Being a champion is not necessarily about getting a trophy but working hard toward the event you are passionate about, having a good work ethic and helping students from other schools.”

Amanda says 欧文康考迪亚大学 debaters enjoy being together and look forward to practices.

They have cultivated an environment that is more than just a trophy.

“What I see on the debate team is a culture of teamwork where we’re not just going to tournaments, 但我们都是一家人,她说。. “The students are roommates with each other and in the same classes. They are making friendships that last a lifetime. 辩论为他们做到了这一点. They have cultivated an environment that is more than just a trophy. 但我们也喜欢奖杯!”