LCC Speech & Debate opens competition season with strong result

The Lower Columbia College Fighting Smelt Speech & Debate Team finished 3rd place in 2-year college sweepstakes at the Steve Hunt Classic tournament hosted by Lewis & Clark College. This was the first tournament of the year for the Fighting Smelt, and it also kicked off the Northwest Forensics Conference (NFC) season.

This result shows that LCC stacks up favorably against other community college programs in the conference, which represents schools in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Alaska.

The team result was led by Tungalagbolor Shinetulga, an international student from Mongolia. Competing in speech and debate for the first time, Tungalagbolor was named champion of junior persuasive speaking, finished third in novice impromptu speaking, and 7th speaker in novice IPDA debate. She was eliminated in the quarterfinal round of novice IPDA.

Also competing at the tournament were first-year competitor Cameron Richey and team captain Adah Moore. The Fighting Smelt received coaching support from program alumni Julia Mitchell (class of 2020), Rebecca Pickner (’18), and Penelope Anderson (’21).

Next up for LCC Speech and Debate is the McPherson Classic hosted by Whitworth University the weekend of October 22-23.