Publish Date:  Apr 18, 2017

The Hartnell College Speech Team does it again!

SALINAS, Calif.   – The Hartnell Community College District is happy to announce that two students qualified to advance at the Phi Rho Pi Community College National Speech Tournament  in Washington, D.C. last week.    Enrique Lopez and Lourdes Tinajero became the first Hartnell students to ever advance to semi-finals, each earning a Bronze Award.

Along with teammates Casie Guido, Meritzy Ayala and Paola Delgado, the team competed against 58 others colleges and universities from 38 states.   Enrique earned his bronze placement for his Prose Interpretation, “Push and Pull.” The short story focuses on a young man who overcame his personal weight issues to become a personal fitness trainer to help others.

Lourdes earned her bronze placement for her Poetry Interpretation, “No Mas Machismo.” The collection of poems focuses on the voices of five different Latina women and their experience with machismo and hyper-masculine cultural norms in Mexican society.

“When we found out that they made it to semi-finals, there were a lot of tears and cheering,” said Coach Jason Hough. “In four short years since the team started, Enrique and Lourdes have shown the country what Hartnell College is capable of doing on the national level.”

Enrique competed against 98 competitors in his event, and Lourdes competed against 66.

“The team worked tirelessly to ensure that Hartnell could have a successful trip to the National Tournament,” said Coach Daniel Lopez. “Their success was directly linked to the countless hours of practice with coaches and teammates.”

The Hartnell Speech Team will be holding auditions for the 2017/2018 team on  Monday, April 24 and Tuesday, April 25, 2017 .   Hartnell students in good standing can audition. For details and questions, please contact Coach Hough at  jhough@hartnell.edu .

Hartnell Community College District – established in 1920

The Hartnell CCD serves over 17,000 students annually through its main campus in Salinas, the Alisal Campus in East Salinas, the King City Education Center, and various outreach learning centers throughout the Salinas Valley. Hartnell College, a Hispanic Serving Institution, provides workforce training, basic skills courses, and prepares students for transfer to four-year colleges and universities. Hartnell College is recognized for its innovative public and private partnerships that support world class STEM education, career technical education, fine and performing arts, humanities, and athletics. We are proud to be the winners of the Innovation Award for CSin3 – a Computer Science degree in three years.  We are growing leaders through opportunity, engagement, and achievement.  For more about Hartnell CCD, visit  www.hartnell.edu .  

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