Columbia Falls rolls to divisional speech title

Columbia Falls High School won the Northwest Class A Speech, Debate, and Drama divisional title over the weekend with 188 points.

Whitefish was second with 110 points followed by Polson in third with 38. In drama, Libby placed first.

This is the last season Libby will participate in Class A since the school is moving to Class B next school year.

Columbia Falls winners included Annabel Conger and Colin Norick in Policy Debate, Caitlyn Long in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Cody Phillips in Extemporaneous Speaking, Henry Chisholm in Impromptu Speaking, Bailey Duke in Memorized Public Address and Ava Chisholm in Humorous Oral Interpretation.

“Divisionals is always a tough tournament, because if a speaker who has performed well all year has a bad day, they might not qualify for the state tournament. This year it worked out for Columbia Falls and all of our competitors on the divisional team will be competing at state,” Columbia Falls head coach Tara Norick said.

Whitefish had two winners: Hira Ramay in Original Oratory and Sam Benkelman in Expository Speaking. Polson’s Jordan Broussard brought home first in Serious Oral Interpretation.

“I am so happy for Jordan,” Polson head coach Jon Peterson said. “She has had a tremendous amount of bad luck this season, losing tie-breaker coin flips, missing final rounds by one place, and so on. I kept telling her that eventually her luck would change. Well, she didn’t need any luck this time — she earned her championship on skill alone.”

Teams will head to state competition Friday and Saturday hosted by Columbia Falls High School.

Individual results are:

Policy Debate — 1. Annabel Conger and Colin Norick, Columbia Falls, 2. Anna Nicosia and Monique Schoech, Columbia Falls, 3. Zach Kasselder and Galen Jamison, Whitefish, 4. Annabelle Smith and Shannon McGinnis, Polson, 5. Gabby Merrell and Mary Ward, Columbia Falls, 6. Dan Seymour and Cody Casazza, Whitefish.

Lincoln-Douglas Debate — 1. Caitlyn Long, Columbia Falls, 2. Mikel Knutson, Columbia Falls, 3. Colter Norick, Columbia Falls, 4. Kenyon Cairns, Polson, 6. Bergen Carloss, Whitefish, 7. Aida Saurey, Whitefish,  8. Shayla Schruhriemen, Whitefish.

Extemporaneous Speaking — 1. Cody Phillips, Columbia Falls, 2. Abigail Belcher, Whitefish, 3. Henry Chisholm, Columbia Falls, 4. Danny Morgan, Columbia Falls, 5. Zach Ade, Whitefish, 6. Make Haller, Whitefish.

Impromptu Speaking — 1. Henry Chisholm, Columbia Falls, 2. Meredith Stolte, Columbia Falls, 3. Casey Shea, Columbia Falls, 4. Abigail Belcher, Whitefish,  5. Jordan Reese, Whitefish, 6. Teigen Tremper, Whitefish.

Original Oratory — 1. Hira Ramay, Whitefish, 2. Meredith Stolte, Columbia Falls, 3. Hunter Cripe, Whitefish,  4. Chloe Foster, Columbia Falls, 5. Ingrid Gundersen, Whitefish, 6. Casey Shea, Columbia Falls, 7. Ghanima des Lions, Polson.

Memorized Public Address — 1. Bailey Duke, Columbia Falls, 2. Sam Benkelman, Whitefish, 3. Bre Friar, Columbia Falls, 4. Jordan Reese, Whitefish, 5. Chloe Foster, Columbia Falls, 6. Kolton Mohn, Whitefish, 7. Alex Salois, Polson.

Humorous Oral Interpretation — 1. Ava Chisholm, Columbia Falls, 2. Jenna Smith, Columbia Falls, 3. Jerelyn Jones, Columbia Falls, 4. Saige Perchy, Whitefish, 5. Makkie Haller, Whitefish, 6. Jasmine Reese, Whitefish.

Serious Oral Interpretation — 1. Jordan Broussard, Polson, 2. Bailey Duke, Columbia Falls, 3. Jenna Smith, Columbia Falls, 4. Jasmine Reese, Whitefish, 5. Estevon Torres, 6. Kania Smith, Polson, Columbia Falls, 7. Hunter Cripe, Whitefish, 8. Solomon Ziegert, Whitefish.

Expository Speaking — 1. Sam Benkelman, Whitefish, 2. Emily Getts, Columbia Falls, 3. Sam Gilk, Columbia Falls, 4. Miranda Lauria, Columbia Falls, 5. Teigen Tremper, Whitefish, 6. Matthew Hutchinson, Whitefish.