Jason Gordon, Nick Laptew win high honors at intercollegiate debate tourney

CHAMPAIGN, IL (11/03/2011)(readMedia)-- Two members of the Parkland College speech team recently won high honors in intercollegiate forensic competition at Illinois Central College.

Parkland sophomores Jason Gordon of Thomasboro and Nick Laptew of Urbana finished second place in the parliamentary debate division during the October 28 tournament. Fourteen colleges and universities from across Illinois took part in the event.

Gordon and Laptew won their first three debates against the College of DuPage and two strong North Central College teams. Although they lost a close decision in their fourth round, it was enough for them to make the final against Northern Illinois University. The final debate ended in a split decision for NIU, 2-1.

It was a first debate final for Laptew, now in his second semester with the team. "It was a huge adrenaline rush," he said of the competition. "I learned a lot."

Brian Cafarelli, the team's coach and director of Forensics at Parkland, said competing and holding their own against four-year schools made the win even more significant for the Parkland debate students.

"What makes this result so special is that it was in the open division," said Cafarelli, a native of Portage, Michigan. "Normally, there are both two- and four-year divisions, but we ended up combining the divisions. Any time you can make the final in the four-year division as a two-year school, you know you have done something special."

The Parkland Speech team will continue its statewide debate competitions, traveling to Kishwaukee College in two weeks and concluding its fall semester travel at College of Lake County on December 2-3.

"The speech team is always looking for new members," Cafarelli said. "The only requirement is that you are a Parkland College student."

Parkland College is a fully accredited public community college serving the needs of District 505, geographically Illinois' third largest community college district. Offering 100+ degree and certificate options for career placement or academic transfer, Parkland has provided vocational/technical skills training and traditional academic instruction to more than 250,000 people since 1967. Its mission is to engage the community in learning.