The Los Medanos College debate team scored a big victory at the inaugural Dominican University Penguin Invitational Debate Tournament in San Rafael April 30 and May 1.

Team members Grace Babayan and Taylor Gonzalez claimed first place after entering the championship round as the number one ranked team.

They took first place wins in all six of their preliminary rounds on the way to their title win. The team was initially unsure if they’d make the tournament due to the entry size.

LMC entered the Worlds Schools Style format event as the only community college in a pool that included teams from Humboldt State University, University of California Davis and host Dominican University.

The community college team outperformed its stiff four-year opposition.

Not only did two of their own win the tournament, the team had members Richard Stanfield and Gennaro Mauricio enter the championship round as the second ranked team, eventually placing third overall.

The team also saw solid performances from Kyle Marshall and Amata Abatcha, as well as Collin Brown, who judged and was promoted to Chair, a head judge position.

The LMC debate team’s performance at the event was rewarding for Coach Marie Arcidiacono, who watched as her team rise to the occasion.

“To say that I am proud of the debate team would be an understatement. I couldn’t think of a better way to cap off our season as well as the final tournament for Taylor and Grace in their LMC debate careers,” Arcidiacono said. “It was amazing to hear and watch them debate at such a high level. It was truly a team effort this past weekend and I was impressed with everyone’s contributions and debating skills.”