Forensics Team Wins Nationals

June 12, 2019 - 03:43 PM

The Mt. SAC Forensics team recently won the 2019 Phi Rho Pi Speech and Debate Community College National Championship Title for the 9th time in school history. The championship, held April 8-13, in Reno, Nevada, featured 56 community colleges and almost 500 students from around the country.  Mt. SAC last won the National Championship in 2014.  The team of 14 Mt. SAC students took home an overall Gold Medal scoring 227.5 points finishing ahead of perennial rivals Southeastern Illinois, El Camino College, and Orange Coast College). Overall, Mt. SAC took home 36 total awards including seven national titles in six different event categories. Mt. SAC has finished in the top three at the National Championship tournament each year for the past decade.

Tournament standouts included second-year team members Mikayla Holzinger, Janay Bombino, and Edwin Ramirez and first-year team member Eisa Razzak, who each won four medals at the tournament. Mikayla took home gold medals in Prose interpretation and Duo interpretation, and two silvers in Dramatic interpretation and Readers Theater. Janay took home a gold medal in Duo interpretation, silver medals in Extemporaneous speaking and Readers Theater, and a bronze in Informative speaking. Both were recognized as the third and fourth best speaker in the nation, respectively.

Edwin Ramirez, competing at his second and last Phi Rho Pi tournament shared, “Being a part of the nationals team was the best experience I have had in my life thus far. It is hard to describe how rewarding this experience really is and how great it feels to have our hard work pay off.” Eisa Razzak shared, “This experience made me feel a part of something much bigger than myself. It felt incredible knowing I was part of the great legacy of Mt. SAC Forensics.” Coach Jasmine McLeod shared, “The students have been working so hard this year and to see their commitment and dedication pay off was really rewarding. Our team earned this national championship together in the best way possible.”

The team is directed by Communication professors Roger Willis, Jasmine McLeod, and Thuy Pham.