FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 13, 2002

Irvine Valley/Saddleback Debate Team Ranked Number Three In Nation

The SOCCCCD speech and debate squad sets it sights on UC Berkeley after beating out national powerhouses USC, UC Davis, and others.

IRVINE, CA - The South Orange County Community College District (SOCCCD) Speech and Debate team today moved into third place among all US colleges, and is gunning for the University of California, Berkeley, ranked number one by the National Parliamentary Debate Association (NPDA). The Orange County squad is ranked third among all community and four-year colleges, and it is already well ahead of big guns like the University of Utah, the University of Florida, and 300 other teams, and it is hoping to unseat both second place Notre Dame and Berkeley during competitions in the next few weeks.

The SOCCCD squad already has proved itself against Notre Dame when in January the NPDA ranked it second only to Berkeley, with Notre Dame in third. SOCCCD fell short against the Irish in a recent competition but expects to gain back lost ground at the league championships on February 22. Moreover, as debate coach Gary Rybold puts it: "There are only a few more competitions this year, and this very experienced and intelligent team has shown that it can beat out national powers like USC and Notre Dame and UC Berkeley."

Beating the nation's top forensics team would put the squad in first place nationally, an unprecedented achievement in college forensics. And, according to Rybold, despite the obvious strengths of the Berkeley team, the SOCCCD has a genuine chance at the top spot.
"Our forensics squad has placed either number one or number two among all community colleges nationwide for the previous four years, and it has consistently ranked high among all colleges and universities. It's conceivable that with the experience this team has, we can go all the way," he said. Last year, SOCCCD ranked 15th nationally.

The SOCCCD debate team will go on to compete at the state championships on March 15, and will conclude the season at the Nationals in Denver on March 22.

For more information, contact Professor Gary Rybold at (949) 451-5417 or at grybold@ivc.edu. For the latest rankings and more information about the NPDA, go to www.parlidebate.org.