The Butte College Speech & Debate team won first place overall at the Hornet Cup, held on March 22 to March 23 at California State University, Sacramento. Photo courtesy of Butte College

OROVILLE, CA (MPG) - The Butte College Speech and Debate team won first-place overall at the Hornet Cup, held on March 22 and March 23 at California State University, California.

Competing against 21 colleges and universities, the team brought home an impressive 26 individual awards, marking their second consecutive first-place tournament finish.

Among the standout performances, Kyle Landrum won the limited prep. triathlon award for the second year in a row.

Ginger Gage-Nichols, Jacob Toste, Julia Irvine and Landrum each secured first-place finishes in their respective events, contributing to the team’s overall success.

The Butte College team took the first-place overall team award and had four individual first-place winners.

The individual first place winners included Ginger Gage-Nichols in the Open Drama & Open Ads category, Jacob Toste in the Open Informative category, Julia Irvine in the Open Prose category and Kyle Landrum in the Open Impromptu and Open Extemporaneous category.

Next up for the Speech and Debate team, the team will now compete in two national tournaments.

First, the Phi Rho Pi Community College National Tournament (April 6 to April 12, Norfolk, Virginia) in which Butte College will compete against top community colleges nationwide, aiming to build on last year’s success, where they earned seven awards, including a bronze team award.

Then, the National Forensics Association Championship (April 17 to April 21, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan). This tournament features the best competitors from both two-year and four-year colleges. Butte College is returning to this elite competition for the first time in several years.

Congratulations to the Butte College Speech and Debate team on their outstanding season and best of luck at nationals.