MHCC Forensics Team Places First Among Community Colleges, Second Overall, at Smelt Classic

Four members of the MHCC Forensics Team placed first among community colleges and second overall at the 45th Annual Lower Columbia College Smelt Classic, held in Longview, Wash., Dec. 2 – 3.

The team of Hunter Boelow, Eugene Tyshevsky, Austin Schubert and Jo Cunningham achieved big wins in the competition’s individual and debate events, resulting in them beating out much larger college and university teams, including teams from the University of Oregon and Oregon State University.

In the individual speech events, Boelow placed second in the Persuasion category and was named the Top Novice. Tyschevsky and Schubert took first and second, respectively, in Editorial Commentary. Tyschevsky was named Topic Novice in Editorial Commentary and Extemporaneous Speaking. Cunningham placed first in Programmed Oral Interpretation and received Top Junior in Poetry.

In debate, Tyschevsky won the Novice International Public Debate Association (IPDA) event and was named the second-best speaker in the division. The team of Boelow and Schubert earned semi-finalist honors in the Open National Parliamentary Debate Association (NPDA) debate. And Cunningham finished the Junior IPDA event as a semi-finalist and third-place divisional speaker with honors.

The Forensics Team will next compete at the 2nd Greater Portland Parliamentary Debate Tournament in Corvallis on Jan. 13. You can learn more about the team at mhcc.edu/Forensics.