Champion Forensics Team Is Honored

The national champion forensics team from the South Orange County Community College District has been honored by the district’s board of trustees for its achievements during the 1996-97 school year. During the academic season, the 19-member speech team, comprising students and coaches from Saddleback College and Irvine Valley College, won 16 first-place team awards at various events, along with being named state and national champions.

At the national tournament in April, the team competed against more than 400 students from 73 schools across the nation.

Seven team members scored among the top 25 nationally, with 14 speakers winning medals at the tournament.

Coach Larry Radden won the Collie-Taylor Fellowship for his spirit of fellowship throughout the competition.

The team won the Sylvia Mariner Perpetual Sweepstakes in recognition of sweepstakes points accumulated since 1988.

In addition, speech team co-captain Jennifer Priestley was named top overall speaker in the nation, winning three gold medals, two in drama interpretation and one in duo interpretation with Brandon Karrer, and a silver in prose interpretation.

“It means a lot,” Priestley, 26, of San Juan Capistrano, said of the top speaker award and national championship. “It was a nice ending to two years of hard work.”

The 1996-97 South County team included coaches Gary Rybold, Radden, Joe Barr, Kelli Smith and Julie MacHale and team members Sandra Betlan, Foothill Ranch; Priestley; David Watson, Mission Viejo; Apryl Nite, Laguna Hills; Karrer, San Juan Capistrano; Michelle Lehman, San Juan Capistrano; Taline Snell, Tustin; Adrienne Quarry, Orange; David Petrie, Irvine; Tim Higgins, Irvine; Mike Marse, Irvine; Kim Baker, Newport Beach; Taniya Weerasuriya, Irvine; and LeAnne Keller, Tustin.