The Lower Columbia College Fighting Smelt Speech & Debate Team competed alongside 25 other colleges and universities at the Earl Wells Virtual Speakeasy tournament, hosted by Oregon State University. The squad finished second among community colleges, and fifth place overall at this competitive invitational. This placed LCC ahead of regional rivals Oregon State and Pacific University, as well as strong national programs including Tallahassee Community College and Louisiana State University.

This result was a true team effort, with six different LCC students advancing to elimination rounds and earning team sweepstakes points.

The Fighting Smelt received coaching and judging support from program alumni Erika Hein (class of 2017), Rebecca Pickner (‘18), Mitchell Levy (‘20), Glenn John Cervantes (‘18), Alayna Tovar (’21) and Julia Mitchell (‘20).

Next up for LCC Speech and Debate is a public exhibition debate as part of the Community Conversations series. All members of the community are welcome to join them on campus or virtually via Zoom from 11:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m. on Thursday, March 2. More information can be found on the Lower Columbia College website.