C.F., Whitefish finish on top of Bigfork speech meet
Columbia Falls outpointed Whitefish on Saturday in Class A scoring at the Bigfork Viking Invitational, the final regular-season speech and debate meet.
The Wildcats won five events en route to 185 points; Whitefish had one individual winner and scored 170.
For Columbia Falls, debaters Annabel Conger and Colin Norick in Policy Debate and Gabby Merrell in Lincoln-Douglas Debate placed first. Other Columbia Falls individual champions were Emily Getts (Expository), Chloe Foster (Original Oratory) and Joey Chester (Memorized Public Address).
“There is tough competition across the West this year. Whitefish has a very strong team in both speech and debate. Every tournament is a battle of wills. We still have work to do as we approach divisionals and state.” Columbia Falls Head Coach Tara Norick said.
Whitefish was led by Kate Ehrenberg and Bergen Carlos, who won Public Forum Debate, as well as runner-up finishes in six other events.
“What is special about this group is a constant desire to improve and a set of very high personal expectations that motivate these kids to put in so much effort and time,” Whitefish Coach Sara Mueller said.
“A perfect example of this was the outstanding third-place finish for freshman Lilly Butts, in her second tournament of Lincoln-Douglas debating, and the noticeable successes within our debate squad as a whole after some focused work recently.”
Polson finished third in the Bigfork meet.
“It has taken us all season, but we finally got a couple of our speech kids into the finals round in two speech events,” Polson Head Coach Jon Peterson said. “Alex Salois has worked with a tremendous amount of conviction this season, so I was happy to see him earn eighth place in Memorized Public Address. Geneva des Lions had a solid showing, too, in Impromptu. That is a difficult event for a sophomore, so I was proud to see her make it into finals as well.
The teams begin their trek toward state Saturday at the divisional tournament in Hamilton.
The top 12 competitors in each event at the Western A Divisional Tournament will qualify for the Class A state meet in Belgrade the following weekend.
Bigfork Viking
Invitational
Team Sweepstakes
Class A Speech: Columbia Falls 185, Whitefish 170, Polson 47, Stevensville 18, Corvallis 6
Class B/C Speech: Ronan 67, Loyola 67, Bigfork 26, Libby 9 (Ronan won on tie-breaker).
Individual results
COLUMBIA FALLS
• Humorous Oral Interpretation: 3. Jerelyn Jones; 4. Ava Chisholm
• Dramatic Interpretation: 2. Jerelyn Jones; 5. Estevon Torres
• Extemporaneous: 5. Alex Garate; 6. Danny Morgan; 7. Tim Ingham
• Impromptu: 6. Tim Ingham
• Expository: 1. Emily Getts; 3. Miranda Lauria; 4. Samantha Gilk; 7. Danielle Rosenbaum
• Original Oratory: 1. Chloe Foster; 3. Willie Baltz; 5. Emily Getts
• Memorized Public Address: 1. Joey Chester; 4. Chloe Foster; 6. Jordyn King; 7. Emma Erickson
• Policy Debate: 1. Colin Norick/Annabel Conger; 4. Danielle Schwalk/Ian Mackenzie; 8. Ruth Nelson/Shayne Williams
• Lincoln-Douglas: 1. Gabby Merrell; 5. Mikel Knutson
• Public Forum: 2. Anna Nicosia/Mary Ward; 6. Sarah Posey-McGough/Mike Dittrich; 7. Cassidy Norick/Kelsey Wright
WHITEFISH
• Extemporaneous: 2. Abbie Belcher; 4. Zach Ade; 8.Makkie Haller
• Impromptu: 2. Abbie Belcher;3. Saige Perchy
• Memorized Public Address: 3. Austin Reese; 5. Zach Ade
• Original Oratory: 2. Hunter Cripe; 4. Lindsey Matulionis
• Expository: 6. Regan Tintzman
• Humorous Oral Interpretation: 2. Saige Perchy
• Dramatic Oral Interpretation: 3. Hunter Cripe; 4. Ella Van Vlack
• Lincoln-Douglas Debate: 2. Dakota Henson; 3. Lilly Butts
• Policy Debate: 2. Ian Caltabiano and Zach Kasselder
• Public Forum Debate: 1. Kate Ehrenberg and Bergen Carlos; 3. Cody Casazza and Bailey McCain
POLSON
• Policy Debate: 3. Annabelle Smith/Sophia Speckert
• Public Forum Debate: 4. Mollie Lemm/Katelyn Toland
• Lincoln-Douglas Debate: 4. Kenyon Cairns
• Memorized Public Address: 8. Alex Salois
• Impromptu Speaking: 8. Geneva des Lions