Speakers take first at Ronan tourney
<p>Wildcat speech and debate team members with their first-place medals from Ronan are, left to right, Baylee Brinton, Meredith Stolte, Blake Ladenburg and Kaitlin Barnes.</p>
The Columbia Falls speech and debate team will have some momentum going into the divisional tournament Saturday.
The Wildcats took first at the Ronan tournament Jan. 14 with 110 points. Polson came in second with 45, and Whitefish was third with 19.
The win was a total team effort.
"Every student we brought on the bus was on stage having placed in their event," coach Tara Norick said. "I was very pleased we placed so well with a small team since we were missing six students, three of whom compete in more than one event."
The team was led by Blake Ladenburg, Meredith Stolte, Baylee Brinton and Kaitlin Barnes. All four placed first in their events.
Norick said she's looking forward to the divisional tournament .
"Assistant coaches Kim Gange and Leslie DiMaio have done a fantastic job in preparing the students in their speech events for divisional competition," she said. "They provide such strong coaching in speech that we are a very balanced team, which will help us in the competition for the state title."
The team will fine-tune their work this week. The divisional tournament will take place Saturday in Columbia Falls. The community has helped fill all the judging spots, Norick said.