TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (February 3, 2012) –

New venue. Same result.

Making its first-ever appearance at the Eastern Michigan University Invitational, Tallahassee Community College’s speech and debate team walked away from the competition to claim another first-place prize.

Team TCC, the only two-year school in the competition, scored 241 points, easily outdistancing runner-up Illinois State University (166.5 points). Northwestern University (118 points), University of Akron (93.5 points) and Wayne State University (63 points) rounded out the top five.

This marked the 39th year for Eastern Michigan’s event, a testament to the longevity and success of its program. Although Team TCC had never made the trek to Ypsilanti, Mich., the team did have one common thread with the annual event – TCC Director of Forensics John Schultz competed in the 1986 event.

And as Schultz did 26 years ago, 12 of the team’s 13 members broke to the finals last weekend.

The most successful event was Pentathlon, commonly referred to as Individual Sweepstakes, or a student’s cumulative score in all events in which he or she is entered. Team TCC placed three students in the top five, led by champion Jake Harrelson. Eugene Butler finished third and Timothy Ward, fifth.

According to Schultz, Team TCC has captured Pentathlon at four consecutive events – but with four different students.

Ward won the event the previous weekend at the American Forensics Association’s (AFA) district tournament. Sarah Witten took home top honors at December’s Seminole Swing, hosted by Florida State University. Alex Coyle was the winner at November’s L.E. North Memorial Tournament, hosted by Bradley University.

“That, as much as anything, demonstrates the depth of our program,” said Schultz. “You’d be hard-pressed to find many, if any, four-year schools – much less a two-year program – which has four students capable of winning (Pentathlon).”

Harrelson also picked up the first-place prize in After Diner Speaking while Butler won Persuasive Speaking. Toy Campbell won Dramatic Interpretation.

Team TCC’s success is also continuing to catch the attention of four-year schools nationwide. According to Schultz, Chanequa Cargle-Price was offered a scholarship to Bowling Green State University. Other exiting team members are currently weighing their options, but have offered from schools such as Bradley, Berry College and Tennessee State University.

Team TCC will host its next event – the annual FCSAA Tournament, which will take February 9-11.