Modesto JC Speech and Debate Team wins regional title, state honors

The Modesto Junior College Speech and Debate Team capped off its regular competitive season by earning the regional title at the Northern California Forensics Association Spring Championship tournament and took fourth-place team sweepstakes in the state junior college competition.

The MJC squad now is preparing to compete April 6-12 at the national Phi Rho Pi championship in Cleveland.

The Modesto team brought home an array of medals and the top-speaker award from the California Community College Forensics Association State Championship held March 11-15 at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills.

MJC swept parliamentary debate, with topics from forgiving student loan debt to U.S. drone policy, bringing home first-, second- and third-place medals. Jon Sahlman and Michael Rourick took gold, Megan Chatelain and Caterina Grossi won silver, and Ronald Thompson and James Baugh earned bronze.

In Lincoln-Douglas policy debate, Rourick, Baugh and Sahlman all won gold, with Chatelain taking home a silver medal. Lincoln-Douglas policy debate centers on a single topic, this year on the value of returning to the moon.

The Modesto Junior College team was awarded the fourth-place sweepstakes award, the only Northern California college to win an overall sweepstakes award, and beat out some of the Southern California powerhouses.

Baugh captured the gold, with Chatelain and Sahlman winning silver medals in extemporaneous speech. Sahlman won gold in impromptu speech. Grossi’s speech on cardiac gloves designed to replace pacemakers brought her a bronze medal in informative speaking.

Sahlman was also awarded the Tabor/Collins top-speaker award, named to honor Steve Collins, retired MJC professor and administrator, who coached the MJC debate squad in the 1970s.

In the Northern California competition, held Feb. 21-22 at City College of San Francisco, MJC achieved more sweepstakes points than any of the four-year universities in attendance.

“The Modesto squad went home with an impressive haul of awards and honors,” said Ryan Guy, director of speech and debate at MJC. “I woke up Monday morning to an inbox full of congratulations and praise for the talent and work ethics of our students.”

MJC team member Tyrus Loveless was presented with the NCFA Student Fellowship award, which honors a student who exemplifies the best traits and qualities of a forensics competitor and is decided by a vote of the students in NCFA programs.

Baugh was honored with the Cynthia Sutherland top-speaker award, which is given annually to the student who has accumulated the most points across all their events.

This story was originally published March 27, 2015 at 12:38 PM with the headline "Modesto JC Speech and Debate Team wins regional title, state honors."