Glacier edges Flathead 131-123 in speech meet
Glacier High School held a three-point lead over Flathead and a seven-point lead over Bozeman with only one event (Legislative Debate) left to be finished and tabulated on Saturday at the Garden City Invitational speech and debate meet in Missoula.
When the final event was tabulated, Glacier won the final regular-season tournament with 131 points while Flathead was second at 123. Bozeman finished in third with 112 points. The win was cemented by Glacier senior Kyersten Siebenaler’s first-place finish in Legislative Debate.
Glacier was led by a dominant performance in Memorized Public Address: Seniors Adam Habel, Aaron Robinson, Abby Van Allen and Hannah Tullett swept the top four places.
Robinson also won Original Oratory.
According to Flathead Head Coach Shannon O’Donnell, “We had some really strong performances this weekend — Kodee Wagner, first place in Expository, Sarah Ward, first place in Impromptu, Parker Kouns and Wyatt Dykhuizen, first place in Duo Interpretation.”
As Glacier Head Coach Greg Adkins put it, “We expected to be in a dogfight with Flathead and Bozeman, and that is what we got.”
The close finish in Missoula sets up a tight state tournament at the end of the month.
“This was our lowest point total of the season, and we had a bunch of tough breaks. But in the end we came together, and I am so proud of how we battled through some adversity,” Adkins said.
“But I am sure Bozeman and Flathead would say they same thing. When the score is this close, it really is a wash. They both have great teams with super coaches and will make improvements for the state tournament. We have our work cut out for us. But I love our balance, depth and especially our work ethic.”
After Flathead, the defending Class AA state champion, won the season-opening meet, Glacier has won team sweepstakes titles at six meets in a row.
The 2016 State AA Tournament will be Jan. 29-30 at Skyview High School in Billings.
“This weekend proves anything can happen,” Adkins said. “I expect a great battle at the state tourney with Bozeman and Flathead.”
According to O’Donnell, “Glacier has been one step ahead of us, but we have two weeks to make up the few points that separate us.”
Garden City
Invitational
Team Sweepstakes
1. Glacier 131
2. Flathead 123
3. Bozeman 112
4. Billings Senior 60.5
5. Sentinel 42.5
6. Billings Skyview 42
7. Billings West 31.5
8. Hellgate 30
9. Glacier JV 25.5
10. Great Falls 25
11. Helena 21
12. Butte 18
13. Big Sky 14.5
14. Helena Capital 13
15. Bozeman JV 9.5
16. Flathead JV 4
17. Sentinel JV 1
Following are individual finalists for Flathead and Glacier:
Policy Debate
3. Eli Brown/Liz Stone, Flathead
5. Emma Trunkle/Jenna McCrorie, Glacier
Lincoln-Douglas Debate
5. Teigan Avery, Glacier
8. Izy Lyon, Glacier
Public Forum Debate
2. Josie Jolly/Spencer Johnson, Glacier
4. Erin McHugh/Maya Buckingham, Glacier
5. Millie Espeseth/Keegan Siebenaler, Glacier
Legislative Debate
1. Kyersten Siebenaler, Glacier
4. Makenna Marvin, Flathead
6. Tristen Lang, Glacier
Extemporaneous Speaking
2. Sophia Skwarchuk, Flathead
3. Sarah Ward, Flathead
5. Dylan Crandell, Glacier
Impromptu
1. Sarah Ward, Flathead
2. Dylan Crandell, Glacier
4. Grace Cady, Flathead
6. Trevor Woodward, Glacier
7. Abigail Roston, Glacier
Duo Interpretation
1. Parker Kouns/Wyatt Dykhuizen, Flathead
3. Edgar Hall/Ethan Hall, Flathead
5. Abby Van Allen/Brock Adkins, Glacier
6. Annie Jones/Korbyn Howe, Flathead
7. Drew Lorenc/Nate Lorenc, Glacier
8. Trey Shields/Brenden Anderson, Glacier
Humorous Interpretation
4. Andrew Lorenc, Glacier
7. Wyatt Dykhuizen, Flathead
Dramatic Interpretation
3. Renee Barker, Glacier
6. Hannah Tullett, Glacier
7. Anika Fritz, Glacier
Memorized Public Address
1. Adam Habel, Glacier
2. Aaron Robinson, Glacier
3. Abby Van Allen, Glacier
4. Hannah Tullett, Glacier
Original Oratory
1. Aaron Robinson, Glacier
2. Maija Hadwin, Flathead
4. Aidan Fritz, Glacier
6. Kaitlin Giffin, Glacier
Expository Speaking
1. Kodee Wagner, Flathead
3. Anika Fritz, Glacier
4. Natalie Krueger, Glacier
6. Tristan Phillips, Flathead
7. Alec Willis, Glacier