Glacier speech wins Billings meet

Buoyed by first-place finishes in four events, Glacier High School’s speech and debate team walked away the champions of the Billings Olympiad Tournament over the weekend.

Head coach Greg Adkins called the victory “maybe the most important win for our team this season. We are so balanced this season, and this tournament was such an indication of our strength.”

Glacier finished the two-day meet with 200.5 points and champions in Novice Policy Debate, Duo Interpretation, Serious Oral Interpretation and Memorized Public Address. Flathead High finished the weekend with 91 points and third place, behind Bozeman’s 182.5 points.

Flathead also had one individual champion in Extemporaneous Speaking.

“We struggled in many areas this weekend and obviously are disappointed at our finish,” Flathead head coach Karen Downes said. “This will be a tough battle going down the stretch, and we are going to work harder to make sure we improve going into January.”

The teams are off for the next few weeks because of Christmas vacation. Their next tournament is the Crosstown Talkdown at Glacier High Jan. 7, which will pit Kalispell’s teams against one another.

Individual local results from the Billings tournament are as follows:

• Varsity Policy Debate — 2. Mariah Gladstone and Levi Proctor, Glacier

• Novice Policy Debate — 1. Jaclyn Rensel and Ashton Geelan, Glacier

• Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate — 2. Elliott Van Allen, Glacier; 5. Hannah Wilson, Flathead

• Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate — 3. Lukas Dregne, Glacier; 5. Kelly Hendrix, Flathead; 7. Aryn Phillips, Flathead

• Public Forum Debate — 2. Logan Hendrix and Tucker Connell, Glacier; 8. Ian Hollander and Flint Martino, Glacier

• Legislative Debate — 2. Jasmine Carlson, Flathead; 3. Hunter Garbacz, Glacier; 4. Reece Erickson, Glacier; 8. Serena Brosten, Glacier

• Extemporaneous Speaking — 1. Hannah Anderson, Flathead; 5. JonAlan Osborne, Flathead; 7. Elena Musz, Flathead

• Impromptu Speaking — 4. JonAlan Osborne, Flathead; 7. Quinn Maroney, Glacier

• Duo Interpretation — 1. Draylen Askvig and Jesse Davis, Glacier; 5. Clayton McDougall and Tanner Maroney, Glacier; 8. Natalie Griffin and Peter Hoag, Flathead

• Humorous Oral Interpretation — 2. Brittnie Dull, Glacier; 3. Draylen Askvig, Glacier; 4. Danny Power, Flathead; 8. Jay Evans, Flathead

• Serious Oral Interpretation — 1. Caroline Houser, Glacier; 3. Brianna Boozell, Flathead; 5. Natalie Griffin, Flathead; 7. Accacia Gardner, Flathead; 8. Emily Creighton, Glacier

• Memorized Public Address — 1. Caroline Houser, Glacier; 2. Megan Larsen, Flathead; 3. Kaitlyn Turner, Glacier; 5. Accacia Gardner, Flathead; 6. Brianna Larson, Glacier; 7. Brianna Boozell, Flathead

• Original Oratory — 3. Quinn Maroney, Glacier; 4. Tierney Strandberg, Flathead; 6. Keckley Habel, Glacier; 7. Allison Woodruff, Glacier

• Expository Speaking — 2. Sonya Brosten, Glacier; 4. Tessa King, Glacier; 5. Toni Braig, Glacier; 8. Katie Brown, Flathead