Glacier, Flathead finish on top in Helena speech meet

The Daily Inter Lake

Glacier High School edged Flathead High by 5 points to win the 2008 Helena Invitational Speech Tournament on Friday and Saturday.

Glacier's 119 points led to the school's first-ever two-day Class AA tournament victory. Flathead finished with 114 points. Bozeman was third with 96 points.

Fifteen schools from Montana and Idaho attended the tournament at Helena High School.

"Big, big win for our kids and our program," Glacier head coach Greg Adkins said. "We have now defeated all the AA teams in Montana and are poised to compete for a state title."

Earlier this season, Glacier won the Kalispell Invitational, but this is the school's first major tournament victory.

"We are very proud of our friends from the Glacier team on winning their first major AA meet," Flathead head coach Kala Lougheed said. "It was also wonderful to finally defeat Bozeman. However, we have a lot of work to do to get to where we want to be in January at state."

Three Flathead debaters won individual speaker awards at the tournament. Jonathan Watkins was named first speaker and Zac Parker second speaker in Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate. Brigitte Baake was fourth speaker in Varsity Policy Debate.

Flathead and Glacier compete this weekend at the Garden City Invitational in Missoula, the season's largest invitational. The state tournament is in Billings Jan. 30 and 31.

Local speech results

n Public Forum Debate - 2. Ariel Berg and Kyle Schmauch, Glacier

n Legislative Debate - 1. Justine Klein, Glacier; 2. Logan Warberg, Glacier; 3. Robert Ross, Flathead; 4. Eve Haegele, Glacier; 5. Kenzie Weber, Flathead; 7. Andy Wilson, Flathead

n Extemporaneous Speaking - 1. Katie Hoag, Flathead; 2. Matt Schwager, Glacier; 3. Maxine Sugarman, Flathead; 4. Severn Crabtree, Flathead

n Impromptu Speaking - 1. Katie Hoag, Flathead; 3. Elena Musz, Flathead; 4. Severn Crabtree, Flathead; 8. Maxine Sugarman, Flathead

n Duo Interpretation - 1. Matt Schwager and Cory Markellis, Glacier; 5. Quinn Maroney and Will Tedrow, Glacier; 6. Megan Leininger and Dylan Rodwick, Glacier

n Humorous Oral Interpretation - 2. Will Tedrow, Glacier; 6. Dylan Rodwick, Glacier; 7. Clayton McDougall, Glacier

n Serious Oral Interpretation - 4. Eric Jeffords, Flathead; 5. Accacia Gardner, Flathead; 8. Caroline Houser, Flathead

n Memorized Public Address - 1. Olivia Heinle, Flathead; 3. Dawson Lynch, Flathead; 5. Megan Leininger, Glacier; 6. Caroline Houser, Flathead

n Original Oratory - 1. Abby Connolly, Glacier; 3. Olivia Heinle, Flathead; 6. Jordan Carpenter, Glacier; 7. Danielle Bowen, Flathead

n Expository Speaking - 1. Tess Barker, Flathead; 2. Christine Boles, Flathead; 3. Danyelle Moore, Glacier; 4. Katie Weber, Flathead; 5. Ann Koenig, Glacier; 6. Abby Connolly, Glacier; 7. Kayla Nelson, Glacier