Look's who talking Columbia Falls wins third straight Class A championship

By KRISTI ALBERTSON/Daily Inter Lake

Columbia Falls and Whitefish high schools took the top two spots at this year's class A state speech and debate tournament this weekend in Columbia Falls.

It's Columbia Falls' third-straight title and the seventh time in nine years it has won the state tournament. Whitefish finished third last year; it never has finished lower than third place in its last 14 years at the state tournament.

Polson High School took first place in the state drama tournament.

"I can't be prouder of our kids and our coaches," Columbia Falls head coach Michael Christensen said.

He said he was particularly grateful for his assistant coaches, Tara Norick and Alyson Dorr, who have helped create a "family atmosphere" for the team.

"Without those two, the success we've seen in Columbia Falls these last few years would be unattainable," he said.

The entire Northwest Division did exceptionally well, Christensen said.

Whitefish High School had three individual state champions: Evan Harris in Humorous Oral Interpretation, Katie Dodd in Original Oratory and the team of Joe Mazur and Adam Harris in Policy Debate.

Abby Rundles of Bigfork took first place in Impromptu Speaking. Patrick Ingham of Columbia Falls was the champion in Extemporaneous Speaking.

"Our effort was kind of like the New England Patriots," Christensen said. "A true team effort. There were no stars."

Kendra Brook brought home a first-place drama title for Bigfork in Humorous Solo. Polson won two individual state titles: Danny Beaver in Pantomime and the team of Shawna Baum and Malika Erekson in Classical Theatre.

The large number of champions "speaks very well for our division and our area in the Northwest," Christensen said. "It's not something that's unique to this year."

More than 500 students from 22 Class A high schools competed in the tournament. Between the state tournament and divisionals, which were held Jan. 18 and 19 in Columbia Falls, hundreds of volunteers helped to judge the competitions.

"I want to compliment the community volunteers from all the communities in our division, including Kalispell, who gave of their time to come up and judge," Christensen said. "In the past two weeks, my coaching staff and I have filled nearly 800 volunteer hours."

Individual speech and debate results

. Policy Debate - 1. Joe Mazur and Adam Harris, Whitefish; 7. Jake Danczyk and Derek Janni, Whitefish

. Lincoln-Douglas Debate - 3. Tiffany Gross, Columbia Falls; 7. Ellen Scheffer, Whitefish; 8. Thomas Elliott, Polson

. Original Oratory - 1. Katie Dodds, Whitefish; 3. Lena Olson, Bigfork; 4. Sami Venzio, Columbia Falls; 5. Hannah Pearce, Whitefish

. Expository Speaking - 2. Kelsey Smith, Bigfork; 3. Melina Loeven, Columbia Falls; 6. Nichole Riley, Columbia Falls; 7. Alicia Piquett, Columbia Falls

. Extemporaneous Speaking - 1. Patrick Ingham, Columbia Falls; 4. Tashia Shupert, Columbia Falls; 5. Karissa Koberg, Polson; 7. Julia Williamson, Whitefish

. Impromptu Speaking - 1. Abby Rundle, Bigfork; 2. Alex Prince, Columbia Falls; 6. Tyr Hawkaluk, Ronan

. Memorized Public Address - 2. Maya Negron, Columbia Falls; 3. Kayla Carlson, Bigfork; 4. Laura Olson, Bigfork; 6. Tyler Schiff, Whitefish; 8. Stephanie Christensen, Whitefish

. Serious Oral Interpretation - 4. Ryan Cox, Columbia Falls; 6. Sara Marcilla, Columbia Falls; 8. Ashleigh Gallatin, Polson

. Humorous Oral Interpretation - 1. Evan Harris, Whitefish; 2. Kerri Potter, Columbia Falls; 3. Laura Burgess, Columbia Falls; 4. Candance Ward, Columbia Falls; 5. Becca Denning, Bigfork; 8. TJ Lipko, Polson

Individual drama results

. Humorous Duo - 3. Jerry Gaiser and Jacob Sefcak, Bigfork

. Humorous Solo - 1. Kendra Brook, Bigfork; Dezzy Dodd, Libby

. Serious Duo - 8. Marietta Gopher and Isabel Kuhblank, Polson

. Serious Solo - 3. Stormy Miller, Libby; 7. Stormy Sauby, Libby

. Classical Theatre - 1. Shawna Baum and Malika Ereckson, Polson; 2. Shasta Baum and Rebecca Grant, Polson; 4. Brianna Sefcak and AnnMarie Losee, Bigfork; 7. Britney Cheff and Shelby Fisher, Ronan; 8. Miranda Raab and Mike Wise, Libby

. Pantomime - 1. Danny Beaver, Polson; 4. Tim Zhang, Libby; 5. Bob Denning, Bigfork

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.