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The Columbia Falls speech and debate team celebrated their 12th consecutive championship with rides in a Columbia Falls Fire truck parade through town Monday. Front row, from left is, Mary Ward, Anna Nicosia, Brandon Karberg, Jerelyn Jones, Joey Chester , Chloe Foster, Mikel Knutson, Colin Norick, Annabel Conger, Miranda Lauria, Hannah Gustin, Tyler Brown; second row, Ava Chisholm, Kelsey Wright, Gabby Merrell, Jordyn King, Lizzy Olsen, Kennedy Payne, Danielle Schwalk, Shyane Williams, Emma Erickson, Danielle Rosenbaum, Cassidy Norick; third row, Ian Mckenzie, Willie Baltz, Sam Baltz, Jacob H…
The Columbia Falls speech and debate team rolled over the competition as it took an unprecedented 12th straight state A title Saturday in Laurel. The Wildcats were led by debaters Annabel Conger and Colin Norick, who took first in policy debate, while seniors Ava Chisholm and Anna Nicosia took second in public forum debate.
On the speech side, Chloe Foster nabbed a title in memorized public address; Estevon Torres was first in dramatic interpretation; Jacob Hohman got top honors in informative speaking and Jerelyn Jones was first in original oratory.
The Cats racked up 280 points total, while Whitefish was a distant second with 126 points.
“We are overwhelmingly proud of our state team. We had a very strong team this year, with 14 seniors and a full roster of dedicated competitors,” said coach Tara Norick. “This is a group of kids who worked hard, practiced hard, stayed focused, and kept their eye on the prize.”
Norick also commended her assistant coaches.
“We couldn’t have done it without our amazing group of coaches - Alyssa Militello, Candy Gross, Alicia Gillan, and Barry Conger,” she said.
Foster said she didn’t expect to win.
“The day before (finals) I had some horrible scores,” she said. “I didn’t even expect to make semis.”
Torres said he was surprised by the victory as well.
“I won off a tie,” he said. He tied with another speaker and won by tie break, he noted.
But for debaters Norick and Conger, the victory was a long time coming. They came in third last year when they expected to win and they took second as sophomores. Both are planning to attend Stanford University in fall. Norick plans on studying artificial intelligence and possibly law, Conger physics and biology.
Columbia Falls results:
Public Forum Debate
2nd - Ava Chisholm and Anna Nicosia - Columbia Falls
5th - Cassidy Norick and Kelsey Wright - Columbia Falls
7th - Delaney Conger and Maggie McKeon -Columbia Falls
Policy Debate
1st - Annabel Conger and Colin Norick - Columbia Falls
4th - Ian McKenzie and Danielle Schwalk - Columbia Falls
6th - Mary Ward and Shyane Williams - Columbia Falls
LD Debate
4th - Mikel Knutson - Columbia Falls
6th - Gabby Merrell - Columbia Falls
8th - Tyler Brown - Columbia Falls
Impromptu
2nd - Danny Morgan - Columbia Falls
3rd - Willie Baltz - Columbia Falls
Extemporaneous:
3rd - Danny Morgan - Columbia Falls
7th - Alex Garate - Columbia Falls
Memorized Public Address
1st - Chloe Foster - Columbia Falls
4th - Joey Chester - Columbia Falls
Dramatic Interpretation
1st - Estevon Torres - Columbia Falls
3rd - Jacob Hohman - Columbia Falls
5th — Lizzy Olsen - Columbia Falls
Humorous Interpretation
3rd - Jerelyn Jones - Columbia Falls
4th - Brandon Karberg - Columbia Falls
Informative
1st - Jacob Hohman - Columbia Falls
4th - Danielle Rosenbaum - Columbia Falls
6th - Kennedy Payne - Columbia Falls
Original Oratory
1st - Jerelyn Jones - Columbia Falls
5th - Miranda Lauria - Columbia Falls