C.F. slips past Whitefish in divisional speech
By a 14-point margin over rival Whitefish, Columbia Falls Speech and Debate took first place at the Western A Divisional tournament in Hamilton on Saturday.
Columbia Falls finished with 232 points to Whitefish’s 218. Polson was third with 75.
Divisional qualifiers advance to the state tournament Friday and Saturday at Belgrade High School. This was the first year of a new, two-division format in Class A for determining state qualifiers. Previously, there were four divisional tournaments.
Columbia Falls was led by first-place finishes in Policy Debate, where Colin Norick and Annabel Conger continued their winning streak, and Public Forum Debate, with Anna Nicosia and Mary Ward.
In speech, Columbia Falls divisional champions were Jerelyn Jones in Dramatic Oral Interpretation and Ava Chisholm in Humorous Oral Interpretation.
“The competition in the west is fierce and we were within a couple of points of Whitefish all day,” Columbia Falls Head Coach Tara Norick said. “The tough competition will help us prepare for state.”
Whitefish was led by Abbie Belcher, who took first in Impromptu and second in Extemporaneous; Sam Benkelman, divisional champion in Original Oratory and runner-up in Memorized Public Address; and Zach Ade, who won Memorized Public Address and was third in Extemporaneous.
Polson was paced by Lincoln-Douglas champion Kenyon Cairns, who had to overcome a scoring glitch that initially had kept him out of the final round.
“For the second time this season, an error was made regarding Kenyon’s ability to advance into his next round,” Polson Coach Jon Peterson said.
“This was really unfortunate, because we had to stop the finals round of Lincoln-Douglas and replace another competitor with Kenyon, who had won his semifinal round with a 3-0 score. I feel terrible for the student that had to be replaced. But it is a credit to Kenyon’s cool demeanor that he was able to deal with the confusion and win his final debate.”
WESTERN A DIVISIONAL
Team Sweepstakes
1. Columbia Falls 232
2. Whitefish 218
3. Polson 75
4. Stevensville 70
5. Corvallis 68
6. Hamilton 48
7. Butte Central 16
8. Beaverhead 10
9. Frenchtown 0
Individual results
COLUMBIA FALLS
Impromptu: 3. Ava Chisholm; 6. Tim Ingham
Extemporaneous: 4. Danny Morgan; 6. Alex Garate
Humorous Oral Interpretation: 1. Ava Chisholm; 3. Jerelyn Jones; 5. Brandon Karberg
Dramatic Oral Interpretation: 1. Jerelyn Jones; 3. Estevon Torres; 7. Jacob Hohman
Expository: 2. Emily Getts; 3. Samantha Gilk; 7. Danielle Rosenbaum
Original Oratory: 3. Chloe Foster; 4. Willie Baltz; 5. Emily Getts
Memorized Public Address: 3. Joey Chester; 4. Chloe Foster
Public Forum: 1. Anna Nicosia/Mary Ward; 6. Cassidy Norick/Kelsey Wright; 8. Sarah Posey McGough/Mike Dittrich
Lincoln Douglas: 5. Mikel Knutson; 6. Tyler Brown
Policy: 1. Annabel Conger/Colin Norick; 6. Shayne Williams/Ruth Nelson
WHITEFISH
Policy Debate: 2. Ian Caltabiano/Zach Kasselder, 5. Mirielle Kruger/Kate Doorn; State qualifiers — Jade Greenberg and Ella Greenberg
Public Forum debate: 3. Bergen Carloss/Kate Ehrenberg, 4. Cody Casazza/Bailey Mccann; State qualifiers — Solomon Zeigert and Julien Leroux
Lincoln-Douglas Debate: 3. Dakota Henson; State qualifiers — Lilly Butts, Mary Hook
Impromptu: 1. Abbie Belcher; 4. Saige Perchy; 5. Teigen Tremper
Extemporaneous: 2. Abbie Belcher, 3. Zach Ade; State qualifier — Makkie Haller
Humorous Oral Interpretation: State qualifier — Saige Perchy
Dramatic Oral Interpretation: 3. Hunter Cripe; 5. Ella van Vlack; State qualifier — Naya Brigette
Expository: 5. Teigen Tremper; State qualifier — Regan Tintzman
Original Oratory: 1. Sam Benkelman; 2. Hunter Cripe; State qualifier — Lindsey Matulionis
Memorized Public Address: 1. Zach Ade; 2. Sam Benkelman; 6. Austin Reese
POLSON
Lincoln-Douglas Debate: 1. Kenyon Cairns
Public Forum Debate: 2. Mollie Lemm/Katelyn Toland
Policy Debate: 3. Annabelle Smith/Sophia Speckert
Memorized Public Address: 5. Alex Salois
Humorous Interpretation: 6. Nathan DePoe
Additional Polson state qualifiers: Jordan Croft, Humorous Interpretation; Geneva des Lions, Impromptu Speaking; Makauly Morrison, Extemporaneous Speaking; Zachary Evertz, Expository Speaking; Asher Dalbey, Lincoln-Douglas Debate