C-Falls speech, debate take first in Bigfork

Columbia Falls speech and debate team traveled to Bigfork for their final regular season tournament Saturday. The team claimed their third consecutive victory over Whitefish with 185 sweepstakes points to Whitefish’s 170. Debaters Annabel Conger, Colin Norick and Gabby Merrell placed first in their events. First place finishers Emily Getts, Chloe Foster and Joey Chester led the charge in speech.

“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,” head coach Tara Norick said.

The team begins their trek toward state next Saturday at the Divisional tournament in Hamilton with state the following week in Belgrade.

Final Standings:

Humorous oral interpretation

3rd Jerelyn Jones

4th Ava Chisholm

Dramatic interpretation

2nd Jerelyn Jones

5th Estevon Torres

Extemporaneous

5th Alex Garate

6th Danny Morgan

7th Tim Ingham

Impromptu

6th Tim Ingham

Expository

1st Emily Getts

3rd Miranda Lauria

4th Samantha Gilk

7th Danielle Rosenbaum

Original oratory

1st Chloe Foster

3rd Willie Baltz

5th Emily Getts

Memorized public address

1st Joey Chester

4th Chloe Foster

6th Jordyn King

7th Emma Erickson

Policy debate

1st Colin Norick/Annabel Conger

4th Danielle Schwalk/Ian Mackenzie

8th Ruth Nelson/Shayne Williams

Lincoln Douglas

1st Gabby Merrell

5th Mikel Knutson

Public forum

2nd Anna Nicosia/Mary Ward

6th Sarah Posey-McGough/Mike Dittrich

7th Cassidy Norick/Kelsey Wright