Moraine Valley Speech Team makes tournament history

The Moraine Valley Community College Speech and Debate Team competed at the Illinois Intercollegiate Forensics Association State Tournament, taking home multiple individual and team awards. The tournament took place March 6 and 7 and was hosted by Prairie State College.

Individual awards included:

• Laura Galindo, of Burbank, earned first place in Prose Interpretation.
• Javier Ramirez, of Alsip, earned first place in Oratory and Communication Analysis, fourth place in Speech to Entertain and fifth place in the open division of Dramatic Interpretation.
• Aaron Vinicio Lopez, of Bridgeview, earned second place in the open division of Oratory and fourth place in the open division of After Dinner Speaking.

Along with his accolades, Lopez was selected to represent Illinois at the Interstate Oratorical Association’s national tournament in April. This recognition is given only to the top two speakers in the Oratory event. This milestone marks the first time a Moraine Valley student has qualified for the tournament.

“Every college who does persuasion covets the honor of representing Illinois at the Interstate Oratory Association – this was a huge honor for Moraine Valley,” said Krista Appelquist, Communications professor and director/co-coach of Forensics. “Lopez works so hard on his speeches, from research to delivery. He faced intense competition and impressed everyone.”

• Magali Garcia, of Summit, earned second place in Program of Oral Interpretation and third place in the open division of Duo Interpretation with Alexandra Zepeda.
• Zepeda, of Summit, earned third place in the open division of Duo Interpretation with Garcia and sixth place in Poetry.
• Andrew Banaszak, of Bridgeview, earned third place in Extemporaneous Speaking and fifth place in Communication Analysis.
• Tuana Ozbir, of Palos Hills, earned third place in the open division of Debate, sixth place in Impromptu Speaking and Duo Interpretation with Aya Mustafa and seventh place in the open division of Informative Speaking.
• Amin Trekrour, of Oak Lawn, earned fifth place in Oratory.
• Kandyce Swain, of Blue Island, earned fifth place in the open division of Informative Speaking.
• Mustafa, of Palos Heights, earned sixth place in Communication Analysis and Duo Interpretation with Ozbir.

As a team, Moraine Valley ranked first in the community college division and fourth in the open division at the tournament.

Other participating Illinois schools included Bradley University, College of DuPage, College of Lake County, Elgin Community College, Harper College, Highland Community College, Illinois State University, Joliet Junior College, McHenry County College, North Central College, Northern Illinois University, Northwestern University, Prairie State College, Southeastern Illinois College and University of Illinois-Chicago.

Coaches who attended the tournament included Appelquist, John Nash, associate professor of Communications and director of Forensics and Damian Samsonowicz, Communications professor.

For news media inquiries, contact Joshua Lahey, Moraine Valley communications specialist, at (708) 974-5652 or laheyj5@morainevalley.edu.