Local News in Brief : Costa Mesa : OCC Debate Team Wins Sweepstakes Trophy

Orange Coast College’s speech and debate team, which has won the state championship the past 3 years, last weekend captured the first-place Novice Sweepstakes Trophy at the Fall Championship Tournament at Pierce College in Los Angeles.

The Orange Coast team also finished second in the Junior Sweepstakes competition. Forty-four Southern California colleges and universities took part in the competition.

In the novice Lincoln-Douglas debate competition, Orange Coast students Chris Desurra of Costa Mesa and Mario Tonel of Irvine jointly won first- and second-place trophies. Tonel also earned a bronze medal in extemporaneous speaking.

Brendan Hayne of Santa Ana earned a gold medal in novice informative speaking, and Greg Bechtloff of Huntington Beach won a gold medal in novice extemporaneous speaking. Bronze medals went to novices Sara Pickens of Costa Mesa in persuasion and Kathleen Kaun of Irvine in oral interpretation.