Columbia Falls orators hope to make it six in row

This could be the year Columbia Falls brings home its sixth-straight state title in speech and debate.

Columbia Falls High School’s top orators and debaters square off against the best speakers in Montana at the 2011 Class A State Speech and Debate Tournament Friday and Saturday in Laurel. The school set a state Class A record last year after winning its fifth-straight state championship.

But to build on that record, Columbia Falls will have to get past tough teams in other divisions. The team also will face stiff competition from their cross-valley rivals at Whitefish High School. Whitefish doesn’t have Columbia Falls’ depth or experience, but the eight students the Bulldogs are sending to state will be tough to beat in their individual events.

Tara Norick, who took over this season as head coach after five years as an assistant coach at Columbia Falls, said she would love to bring home another state title. But her goal for her team this weekend is more about harmony than hardware.

“This team, they work well together. They really are functioning as a team instead of just individuals trying to achieve their own personal win,” she said. “We’re focused on that team goal ... trying to put individual successes and disappointments aside in light of overall team results.”

If her students can do that, she added, they might bring home a trophy.

“In the end, that is how a state tournament is won, by everybody contributing,” she said.

The team Norick took to last weekend’s Northwest Class A Divisional Tournament demonstrated an ability to perform as a group. A Columbia Falls competitor finished first in eight of nine speech and debate events.

Columbia Falls will have three competitors in each event at state — except Policy Debate, a team event. Three pairs of students will represent Columbia Falls in that event.

Five team members will compete in more than one event. Marissa Getts, Jesse Flickinger and Chance Morine compete in Extemporaneous Speaking and Impromptu Speaking. Stephanie Christensen is double-entered in Memorized Public Address and Original Oratory. Keri Potter competes in Serious Oral Interpretation and Humorous Oral Interpretation.

“It’s a team with a lot of seniors, experience and maturity,” Norick said. “But it’s a challenge. We’re going to have to work hard and really focus because we’ve got real competition.”

Billings Central and Laurel are well-balanced teams that have been winning tournaments all season, Norick said. Havre has had a strong showing in the Central division, and Stevensville can be counted on to bring tough competition from the Southwest division.

“There’s going to be some serious competition by the time we get over to Laurel,” Norick said.

Individual competition will come from Whitefish’s eight state competitors.

“Although mostly freshmen, they need to simply focus on doing their best against more seasoned competitors,” head coach Gary Carmichael said. “If they compete at the levels they are capable of, they will be successful at state.”

Elsa Dodds and Julie Peterman should be “in the race to place” in Original Oratory, he said. Peterman placed fifth in that event at last year’s state tournament.

Carmichael said he expects Sloan Ellis in Impromtpu Speaking and Emily Morison in Humorous Oral Interpretation to be medal contenders.

Other competitors will be tough as well, Carmichael said.

“Hania Korzial has a wonderful Expository presentation on chocolate, which could delight the judges,” he said. “Freshman Team [Policy] and Lincoln-Douglas debaters have the basics down and could upset some more experienced teams.”

That lack of experience hasn’t hindered Carmichael’s enjoyment of this year’s team. He is in his first year of coaching at Whitefish but has coached at Loyola Sacred Heart High School in Missoula, Saco School on the Hi-Line and C.M. Russell High School in Great Falls.

“Although this team was very young, I was very pleased not only by their improved performances over the course of the season but also by their enthusiasm,” Carmichael said of his Whitefish squad. “This very dynamic group was a pleasure to work with and exciting to watch as their skills grew as the season progressed.”

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com