Speech teams converge on Kalispell

By KRISTI ALBERTSON/Daily Inter Lake

Flathead and Glacier high schools will defend their home turf Friday and Saturday at the 2008 Kalispell Speech and Debate Invitational.

The schools are co-hosting the tournament, which has taken place each year since 1969. Twenty-six Class AA, A, B and C teams from Western Montana and Washington will compete.

All speech events are at Flathead High School. Debate events are at Glacier High.

Flathead and Glacier also are hosting the David M. Hashley Drama Tournament, which is open to Class A, B and C schools. All drama events take place at Flathead High.

Together, the tournaments make up one of the season's largest events. About 650 community members will volunteer 800 judging hours over the two-day competition.

Flathead head coach Kala Lougheed said her teams have spent the week refocusing and finding fresh motivation after last weekend's third-place finish at the Electric City Invitational in Great Falls. Flathead finished behind second-place Missoula Sentinel and first-place Bozeman High School, the defending Class AA state champions. Glacier finished fourth.

"I expect big things this weekend," Lougheed said. "We knew in pretty short order that Glacier would get a team together that was dynamite. I expect a tough competition between us and them - and Missoula Sentinel also has a team that's really coming into their own. They're a formidable opponent as well."

Glacier's objective this weekend is to finish in the top three, head coach Greg Adkins said.

"Our goal always is to be in the trophy hunt," he said. "Sentinel and Flathead are great teams. It will be interesting to see where we're at."

Glacier won its first tournament of the season and finished third and fourth at the next two competitions. Flathead, which took second at last year's Class AA state speech and debate tournament, has finished second at two tournaments this season and third at another.

Whitefish High School, which finished second at last year's Class A state speech and debate tournament, anticipates strong competition from the other Class A, B and C schools, head coach Pat McLaughlin said. Columbia Falls and Whitefish have finished within a few points of each other at previous meets this fall and may very well be vying for the top slots again this weekend.

"We're hoping to at least have the consistency we've had for the last 14 years - to not come home with anything less than third by the time we get to state," she said. "We haven't competed against any east-side teams yet, but this [Kalispell] tournament will give us the chance to see what the competition is."

McLaughlin said she expected stiff competition this weekend from Loyola Sacred Heart and Corvallis.

The competition from those tough schools is always a great experience for Columbia Falls, head coach Michael Christensen said.

"I think my kids learn more from competing against the AA and Missoula Loyola than any other time of the year," he said. "Those programs have outstanding kids in all events."

Columbia Falls, the defending Class A state champion, doesn't focus on the end-of-the-day outcome at tournaments, Christensen said, and the Kalispell Invitational is no different.

"We focus round to round," he said. "When the judges comment on our students, we want them to take it to heart and work on it and improve. If my kids are doing that, I'll be happy.

"And every time they do, the results, frankly, take care of themselves."

Bigfork High School will take small speech and drama teams to the tournament, head coach Charlie Appleby said.

The teams are small this year, but individually, many students have had success, he said. The drama team recently finished fifth in a tournament in Polson, an impressive feat considering only six students were able to attend the meet.

Appleby said he hopes this weekend will be a learning experience for his students.

"We're going for individual practice, to be honest," he said. "Some kids are looking to win. Some are looking to try their piece."

The Kalispell Invitational kicks off at 3:30 p.m. Friday. All events are closed to spectators, but the awards ceremonies are open to the public.

The drama tournament's awards ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Flathead High auditorium. The speech and debate awards ceremony is at 6:30 p.m. in the Glacier High performance hall.

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