Kalispell speech teams dominate
Kalispell speech and debate teams dominated their home meet over the weekend.
Together, Flathead and Glacier high schools scored 435 points at the Kalispell Invitational Speech and Debate Tournament. Flathead finished the two-day tournament with 233 points, enough for first place; Glacier came in second with 202 points.
The schools easily outdistanced the third place teams from Billings Senior and Billings West, which tied with 48 points. Billings Senior won a tiebreaker to officially finish in third.
“Two hundred two points is the most points our team has ever scored in a two-day tournament in our school’s history, and I believe it is the first time a team has ever scored over 200 points and not finished in first place in Montana,” Glacier head coach Greg Adkins said. “That tells you a lot about the kind of tournament we had and the kind of tournament Flathead had.”
The schools finished the weekend with champions in 12 individual events, six from Flathead and six from Glacier. Flathead had victories in Novice Policy, Varsity Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum and Legislative debates, Extemporaneous Speaking and Memorized Public Address. Glacier took first in Varsity Policy and Novice Lincoln-Douglas debates, Impromptu Speaking, Duo Interpretation, Serious Oral Interpretation and Original Oratory.
Competitors from Class A, B and C schools were scored separately from Class AA competitors. Loyola Sacred Heart High School of Missoula took first in speech and debate with 33.5 points, followed by Columbia Falls’ 22.5 points and Stevensville’s 21.5 points. Polson came in fourth with 10 points.
At the weekend’s David M. Hashley Drama Tournament, Libby High School took first with 75 points, followed by Hamilton’s 49 points and Glasgow’s 45. Polson came in fourth with 34 points, followed by fifth place Lincoln County High School of Eureka, which finished the weekend with 32 points.
In all, 768 entries from 27 schools competed at the tournament, the state’s largest invitational, Adkins said. It couldn’t have happened without nearly 1,000 hours of judging time from volunteers in the community.
“The Kalispell community really helped us with this massive tournament, and we are so appreciative. There is no wonder why the speech and debate programs have so much success in the Flathead Valley! We have a community that really cares about this activity,” Adkins said.
Following are individual local results from the meet.
• Varsity Policy Debate — 1. Ashley Berger and Brandon Simpson, Glacier; 5. Levi Proctor and Mariah Gladstone, Glacier; 7. Logan Nutzman and Kelsey Koberg, Polson
• Novice Policy Debate — 1. Vince Semenza and Cameron Brown, Flathead; 2. Audrey Sullivan and Devon Zander, Glacier; 3. Jaclyn Rensel and Ashton Geelan, Glacier; 4. Elise Byle and Ashlee Buller, Glacier; 5. Becky Griffith and Mason Gedlaman, Columbia Falls; 6. Erik Delay and Reed Hovenkotter, Polson
• Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate — 1. Sam Watson, Flathead; 3. Zac Parker, Flathead; 4. Hannah Wilson, Flathead; 5. Elliott Van Allen, Glacier; 6. Emily Stoick, Flathead
• Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate — 1. Hunter Oehrtman, Glacier; 2. Lukas Dregne, Glacier; 3. Aryn Phillips, Flathead
• Public Forum Debate — 1. David Browne and Jason Ritchie, Flathead; 2. Connell Rogers and Danielle Bowen, Flathead; 3. Tucker Connell and Logan Hendrix, Glacier
• Legislative Debate — 1. Jasmine Carlson, Flathead; 2. Matt Griffin, Flathead; 3. Barrie Sugarman, Flathead; 4. Andora Tutvedt, Glacier; 5. Hunter Garbacz, Glacier; 6. Jeremy Zug, Flathead
• Extemporaneous Speaking — 1. Hannah Anderson, Flathead; 3. Elena Musz, Flathead
• Impromptu Speaking — 1. Brandon Books, Glacier; 3. Elena Musz, Flathead; 4. JonAlan Osborne, Flathead; 5. Hannah Anderson, Flathead; 8, Quinn Maroney, Glacier
• Duo Interpretation — 1. Draylen Askvig and Jesse Davis, Glacier; 2. Tanner Maroney and Clayton McDougall, Glacier; 8. Natalie Griffin and Peter Hoag, Flathead
• Humorous Oral Interpretation — 2. Danny Power, Flathead; 3. Jesse Francis, Flathead; 5. Tanner Maroney, Glacier; 6. Damaris Gemmer, Glacier; 7. Kristi Persinger, Flathead
• Serious Oral Interpretation — 1. Caroline Houser, Glacier; 2. Bri Boozel, Flathead; 3. Accacia Gardener, Flathead; 4. Natalie Griffin, Flathead; 8. Peter Hoag, Flathead
• Memorized Public Address — 1. Tierney Strandberg, Flathead; 2. Brandon Books, Glacier; 3. Kaitlyn Turner, Glacier; 4. Caroline Houser, Glacier; 6. Accacia Gardener, Flathead; 7. Brianna Larson, Glacier; 8. Megan Larson, Flathead
• Original Oratory — 1. Quinn Maroney, Glacier; 3. Tierney Strandberg, Flathead; 6. Allison Woodruff, Glacier; 8. Katie Brown, Flathead
• Expository Speaking — 2. Laura Johnson, Flathead; 8. Jennifer Jurva, Columbia Falls
• Classical Duo — 2. Sydney Gambrel and Laura Barta, Polson; 5. Jarrod Plant and Ee-sack Petersen, Polson
• Humorous Duo — 1. Mark Curtiss and Josh Broderick, Libby; 2. Tia Luciano and Nichole Short, Eureka; 3. Jason Schilcora and Jolee Holder, Libby; 4. Delaney Kohler and Jerry Wachal, Polson; 6. Nation Garza and Krysta Seville, Polson; 7. Zach Calhoun and James Larson, Polson; 8. Jordan Stephenson and Justin Lauer, Libby
• Serious Duo — 2. Jordan Stephenson and Justin Lauer, Libby; 3. Hailey Bowe and Paige Bothman, Libby; 5. Thomas Oschman and Bradley Finley, Ronan
• Serious Solo — 4. Jessica Broderick, Libby; 5. Miranda Rob, Libby; 6. Jonelle Lauer, Ronan; 7. Eryn McGinnis, Polson
• Humorous Solo — 1. Danielle Smith, Eureka; 3. Andrew Crenshaw, Ronan; 4. Kathryn Stein, Eureka; 7. Anthony Dewey, Libby
• Pantomime — 2. Elise Bold, Ronan; 3. Hannah Payne, Libby; 4. Amber Metzger, Ronan; 5. Courtney Lindgren, Eureka; 6. Larissa Hanson, Polson