Forensics Captures Gold at Nationals

May 01, 2018 - 02:38 PM

The Mt. San Antonio College Forensics Team won an overall gold medal and took second place overall at the 2018 Phi Rho Pi National Speech and Debate Tournament held recently in Daytona Beach, Florida, with students winning 13 gold medals, seven silver medals, and 13 bronze medals.

 Mt. SAC won a gold medal in the individual event sweepstakes, a silver medal in the debate sweepstakes, and a second-place overall gold medal behind Orange Coast College. More than 500 students from colleges throughout the nation competed.

 Mt. SAC’s top competitors Mikayla Holzinger (Anaheim) and Greyson McGee (Glendora) won three gold medals each and tied for the third-place top speaker award at the tournament. Holzinger won gold medals in drama, duo interpretation, and prose, while McGee won gold in readers theater, prose, and duo interpretation.

 Other gold medal winners included Julian McDonald (Baldwin Park) in programmed oral interpretation and readers theater; Aaron Evans (Covina) in readers theater; Grace Kim (chino Hilss), Janay Bombino (Covina), and Edwin Ramirez (La Puente) in persuasion; and Dawson Khoury (San Dimas) in debate.

 Shannon Martinez (Maracai, Venezuela) won silver medals in programmed oral interpretation and duo interpretation with Martha Martinez (Chino Hills). Caitlyn Carr (Covina) took the silver medal in impromptu speaking, while Kim won the silver in speech to entertain and Khoury and Tanner Marston (Rancho Cucamonga) won silver in debate.

 The Mt. SAC Forensic Team has won an overall gold medal three years in a row and has placed in the top three at the national tournament for the past nine years. The team is coached by faculty members Roxan Arntson, Danny Cantrell, Jasmine McLeod, Kenny Klawitter, and Roger Willis-Raymundo.