Fighting Smelt end season with 2 national titles

Lower Columbia College's speech and debate team finished the season with two national championships and placed third out of 53 community colleges in another.

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A college press release says LCC's Fighting Smelt was named co-champion of the American Forensics Association's National Speech Tournament in early April at Lewis & Clark College in Portland. The other co-winner was Tyler Junior College from Tyler, Texas.

Less than a week later, LCC was honored as the top community college program in the nation across the entire season at the IPDA National Championship Tournament, the notice continues.

Then, at Phi Rho Pi National Tournament in Maryland, LCC took the bronze in speech, debate and the overall team sweepstakes.

Breakout stars from the season include Mara Slabu, who was honored at the IPDA Nationals as the 10th debater in the country out of over 650 qualifying students.

Kamren Mattison is also the first LCC student to earn a Phi Rho Pi Nationals medal for a platform speech since 2006, with his silver medal finish in informative speaking.

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