Speech and debate wins in Corvallis
The Columbia Falls speech and debate team had a strong start to the season over the weekend as it began its quest for a 15th straight state title with a win at the Corvallis Invitational Tournament.
The Wildcats outpaced Frenchtown by 81 points to bring home the first place trophy and beat third-place Whitefish 114, despite missing several key competitors.
Columbia Falls was missing a number of notable competitors due to post season cross country and soccer but was still able to put together a team of 27 students to compete in all seven speech events and three debate events.
The team was led by first places finishes by Issac Adams in dramatic interpretation, Aiden Judge in informative, Maggie McKeon in extemporaneous, and Shyane Williams and Emma Stephens in policy debate.
Head coach Tara Norick was pleased with the performance, but noted the team needed to continue to work hard to continue to bring home hardware.
The team has a busy season ahead of them with tournaments on six of the next seven weekends. The team will be in Kalispell this upcoming weekend for the Kalispell Kickoff tournament, which will be the first time the team competes against the larger Class AA schools.
Results:
Policy Debate:
1st - Shayne Williams and Emma Stephens
2nd – Tre Finley and Calie Johnson
Lincoln Douglas Debate:
5th – Chloe Coberley
8th – Raphe Salmon
Public Forum Debate:
3rd – Jesse Rusche and Damon Morris
5th – Aiden Rohn and Bryan Osborne
Dramatic Interpretation:
1st - Issac Adams
6th – Griffin Conger
Original Oratory:
5th – Paige Moriarty
6th – Sheridan Skerrit
Memorized Public Address:
2nd – Julia Sauerwine
5th – Lidda Peterson
Informative Speaking:
1st - Aiden Judge
4th – Anna Pickard
6th – Eloise McKeon
7th – Jack Zimmerly
Impromptu:
2nd – Sam Lovering
3rd – Maggie McKeon
4th – Paige Moriarty
Extemporaneous:
1st - Maggie McKeon
2nd – Sam Lovering
6th – Aiden Judge
Sweeps (team score):
1st – Columbia Falls 172
2nd – Frenchtown 91
3rd – Whitefish 58