Col. Falls speakers win home meet

Columbia Falls High School hosted and won its annual speech and debate tournament on Saturday.

Stevensville, Polson, Whitefish, Frenchtown, Bigfork, Ronan, Libby, Columbia Falls and the Flathead and Glacier junior varsity teams competed in the Columbia Falls Invitational Tournament.

Columbia Falls placed first in Class A speech sweeps with 160 points, followed by Stevensville with 76 and Polson in third with 33. Whitefish placed fourth and Frenchtown fifth.

Stevensville placed first in Class A drama sweeps, followed by Frenchtown in second and Libby in third.

In Class B competition, Bigfork placed first in speech and drama sweeps. Ronan placed second in both sweeps.

In Class AA, Glacier’s junior varsity team edged Flathead’s junior varsity team.

“The tournament displayed the talents of many strong competitors across the teams,” Columbia Falls coach Tara Norick said. 

“We really appreciate the strong support from the community filling all of the needed judging hours. The tournament ran very smoothly which is only possible with great community support.”

Following are local individual results from the tournament.

Serious oral interpretation — 2. Bailey Duke, Columbia Falls; 3. Kolton Mohn, Whitefish; 4. Garrett Role, Columbia Falls; 6. Lindy Rutledge, Polson

Humorous oral interpretation — 1. Mason Gedlaman, Columbia Falls; 3. Christine West, Flathead; 4. Jerelyn Jones, Columbia Falls; 6. Kayli Burback, Flathead; 8. Trey Shields, Glacier

Original oratory — 2. Emily Kern, Glacier; 3. Ali Gould, Columbia Falls; 4. Soloman Ziegart, Whitefish; 5. Chloe Foster, Columbia Falls; 6. Kendra Skelton, Columbia Falls; 6. Eliza Thompson, Flathead

Impromptu speaking — 1. Mason Gedlaman, Columbia Falls; 5. Henry Chisholm, Columbia Falls; 6. Sam Benkelmen, Whitefish; 6. Cody Phillips, Columbia Falls; 8. Jennifer Breese, Glacier

Expository speaking — 3. Haley Kendley, Polson; 5. Tristen Lang, Glacier; 6. Samantha Gilk, Columbia Falls; 7. Shannon McGinnis, Polson; 8. Isabella Francis, Flathead

Extemporaneous speaking — 2. Henry Chisholm, Columbia Falls; 3. Cody Phillips, Columbia Falls; 4. Emily Getts, Columbia Falls; 5. Dylan Crandell, Glacier; 6. Chloe Marum, Flathead; 7. Cody Bowen, Flathead; 8. Cade Shields, Glacier 

Memorized public address — 1. Alex Damon, Columbia Falls; 2. Breanna Friar, Columbia Falls; 4. Kylie Koberg, Polson; 6. Jerry Sandler, Glacier; 7. Zach Floyd, Glacier; 8. Hannah Hodges, Polson

Lincoln-Douglas debate — 4. Allison Foust, Columbia Falls; 7. Shelby Greene, Columbia Falls; 8. Maddie Mantell, Columbia Falls

Policy debate — 1. Meredith Stolte and Colin Norick, Columbia Falls; 2. Annabel Conger and Colin Norick, Columbia Falls; 3. Mara Barnes and Monique Schoech, Columbia Falls; 4. Annabelle Smith and Katie Stobie, Polson; 5. Tommy Mercer and Sam Heutmaker, Polson; 6. Tya Bonawitz and Hailey Lemburg, Columbia Falls; 7. Estevon Torres and Danny Morgan, Columbia Falls; 8. Mark Shamp and Tim Ingham, Columbia Falls.