Cats take divisional speech, debate crown
<p>Columbia Falls senior Chance Morine hoists the Northwest A Divisional trophy, surrounded by teammates and coaches.</p>
The Columbia Falls speech and debate team gave their coach a big birthday present last week with a Northwest A divisional trophy.
The Wildcats ran away with the Jan. 21 tournament, scoring 206 points. Polson was a distant second with 72 points.
"They did a fantastic job," Norick, who turned 46, said. "They are a great group. This is a tough tournament because they compete against each other. It's tough to stay focused and energized."
Kaitlin Barnes, Jinise Osborne, Natalie Law, Blake Ladenburg, Chance Morine and Casey Bauer all had first-place finishes.
The entire team qualified for the state tournament this weekend in Polson.
"We've got our work cut out for us," Norick said. Norick was also named the divisional coach of the year
She said Stevensville, Laurel and Billings Central will be tough to beat.
The Wildcats won the state A tournament last year and look to repeat again this year.
Speech and debate sweepstakes
1st - Columbia Falls 206
2nd - Polson 72
3rd - Whitefish 62
Drama sweepstakes
1st - Libby 92
2nd - Polson 84
3rd - Frenchtown 12
Policy debate
3rd - Erick Franklund and Colter Norick
4th - Mary Gross and Allison Foust
5th - Ada Brooks and Monique Schoech
Lincoln-Douglas debate
1st - Kaitlin Barnes
2nd - Wolfie Dailing
6th - Becky Griffith
Impromptu
1st - Jinise Osborne
2nd - Mason Gedlaman
3rd - Chance Morine
Oratory
1st - Natalie Law
3rd - Meredith Stolte
5th - Casey Shea
Memorized
public address
1st - Blake Ladenburg
3rd - Olivia Ramstad
4th - Tristin Hennessey
Extemporaneous
1st - Chance Morine
3rd - Natalie Law
5th - Kevin Shea
Expository
1st - Casey Bauer
2nd - Baylee Brinton
3rd - Alex Damon
Humorous oratorical interpretation
2nd - Mason Gedlaman
4th - Calub Moon
5th - Lexi Brunz
Serious oratorical
interpretation
1st - Jinise Osborne
2nd - Brittany Cotton
3rd - Kate Donner