MHCC forensics team: best around

By JASON WHITE

The Saints’ forensics troupe has done it again, and after walking away from last weekend’s Clackamas Speech and Debate Invitational, only coach Shannon Valdivia can say how much further the team has to go until they reach maximum overdrive.

“I would say that we are at about 85 percent toward where we need to be,” Valdivia said while laying on one of two sofas in the team’s new office. “And we’re getting ready to go into the roughest part of the season.”

The team’s gusto, involving all-day practices and an admitted under-preparation due in part to a mass of new speeches, still led to a first-place standing among the Northwest’s community colleges in parliamentary debate after the Clackamas competition, and MHCC’s forensics rival, Clark College, was whomped – by 113 points.

“And we beat Boise State, which is one of the best four-year schools in the region,” said Valdivia, referring to the team’s narrow win over BSU, 220 to 218.

Of more than 300 two- and four-year colleges, MHCC is ranked 40th overall, nationally, and as of this month they hold the third-best community college ranking in the country, according to the National Parliamentary Debate Association.

In Valdivia’s opinion, even their win over Clark – MHCC’s toughest regional competitor in forensics – could be a difficult repeat. But “we’ve got the edge,” she said, “and we’ve got the talent to do it.”

The team members, admittedly, will focus on solidifying their speeches, and while they could find the coming weeks to be trying, the coach’s goal is to keep hammering the nails – fix what they need work on before entering nationals, which will be held in Gatlinburg, Tenn., in March.

While most of the team members’ triumphs included first-, second- and third-place wins, the major take-home highlight went to Tori Zanzalari, who won the Orv Iverson Pentathlon Award, a trophy named after a former Clark College forensics coach who “was highly respected,” Valdivia said. “It’s actually nice because,” since 1999, “she’s the third winner from [MHCC] for that award.”

Competitors vying for the Orv Iverson trophy had to register and compete in at least five events, and fellow teammates Lawrence Behmer and Sean Robinson placed 2nd and 4th, respectively, toward that end.

Zanzalari isn’t shy about her win. With plans to become a two-time Orv Iverson winner, the 25-year-old psychology major feels bagging the trophy set a precedent that must be upheld. She’s on the right path.

Spending nine hours a day in the squad room, practicing new speeches and still blazing the opponents who’ve held on to their same orations since the beginning of the school year while still attending college on a full-time basis – proofs of character that say she may be able to rake in some substantial wins over the next two terms.

“She did a hell of a job for us,” said Valdivia, “and I hope [this win gives her] more confidence in her abilities,” a comment Zanzalari snickered at.

The team’s next tournament will be at Diablo Valley College invitational in Concord, Calif.

Dick Magruder, an adviser to MHCC’s student government, said he’s proud of the team, and encourages students to join. “Valdivia is great,” he commented.