Glacier speech team tops in state, Flathead No. 2
Kalispell high school students brought home first- and second-place trophies Saturday in the Class AA Speech and Debate Tournament.
Glacier High School won its first-ever state title with 190 points, followed by Flathead High School in second place with 135.5 points. Bozeman High School, last year’s state champion, was third with 116 points.
The Wolfpack’s win marks the first time in 29 years that Flathead or Bozeman didn’t take home the state championship.
“I’m just super excited, super thrilled,” Glacier head coach Greg Adkins said. “I’m so proud of this team. They had a really amazing weekend, just a dominating performance.”
Glacier brought home seven individual state titles.
Caroline Houser took first in Serious Oral Interpretation and Memorized Public Address. Brandon Simpson and Ashton Geelan were tops in Policy Debate, while Serena Brosten was the champ in Legislative Debate.
Draylen Askvig and Jesse Davis were the state’s top team in Duo Interpretation. Quinn Maroney took first in Original Oratory, and Toni Braig won in Expository Speaking.
Flathead High School had one state champion: Emily Stoick brought home the trophy in Lincoln-Douglas Debate.
“I think that we did really well,” Flathead head coach Karen Downes said. “We had a really good season.”
The state tournament turned into “a battle between Glacier and Flathead,” she added. “Glacier is to be congratulated, they had a really good state tournament.”
Individual local results from the meet were:
Varsity Policy Debate — 1. Brandon Simpson and Ashton Geelan, Glacier; 4. Mariah Gladstone and Levi Procter, Glacier
Public Forum Debate — 2. Logan Hendrix and Tucker Connell, Glacier; 3. Kelly Hendrix and Aryn Phillips, Flathead; 4. Flint Martino and Ian Hollander, Glacier; 6. Danielle Bowen and Connell Rogers, Flathead
Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate — 1. Emily Stoick, Flathead; 3. Zac Parker, Flathead; 5. Hannah Wilson, Flathead; 7. Sam Watson, Flathead
Legislative Debate — 1. Serena Brosten, Glacier; 2. Hunter Garbacz, Glacier; 3. Jasmine Carlson, Flathead; 5. Matt Griffin, Flathead; 7. Andora Tutvedt, Glacier; 8. Jeremy Zugg, Flathead
Extemporaneous Speaking — 3. Elena Musz, Flathead; 4. Nick LaGrandeur, Glacier; 6. Hannah Anderson, Flathead
Impromptu Speaking — 3. Elena Musz, Flathead; 4. Quinn Maroney, Glacier; 5. Hannah Anderson, Flathead; 6. JonAlan Osborne, Flathead
Duo Interpretation — 1. Draylen Askvig and Jesse Davis, Glacier; 3. Clayton McDougall and Tanner Maroney, Glacier; 7. Natalie Griffin and Peter Hoag, Flathead
Humorous Oral Interpretation — 3. Tanner Maroney, Glacier; 4. Danny Power, Flathead; 7. Jesse Francis, Flathead
Serious Oral Interpretation — 1. Caroline Houser, Glacier; 2. Brianna Boozell, Flathead; 3. Accacia Gardner, Flathead
Memorized Public Address — 1. Caroline Houser, Glacier; 3. Brianna Boozell, Flathead; 4. Tierney Strandberg, Flathead; 5. Accacia Gardner, Flathead
Original Oratory — 1. Quinn Maroney, Glacier; 6. Tierney Strandberg, Flathead; 7. Allison Woodruff, Glacier
Expository Speaking — 1. Toni Braig, Glacier; 2. Sonya Brosten, Glacier; 3. Dakota Light-Smith, Flathead