North Valley schools top Libby meet

The Daily Inter Lake

Speech and debate teams from Columbia Falls and Whitefish dominated the Libby Invitational Tournament on Saturday, finishing first and second, respectively.

Columbia Falls ended the day with 125 points. Whitefish came in second with 104 points. Polson High School was a distant third with 26 points.

Columbia Falls and Whitefish each won three individual events in Libby.

About 150 students from eight Northwest Montana schools, including Bigfork High School, competed in the tournament. Bigfork is the only Flathead Valley school that competes in drama; the team finished third in the drama competition.

"Libby often acts as a kind of predivisional tournament for the Northwest, and while we have a lot of work to do and great competition from every other school in the division, I was very pleased with the way we performed in our last season as an 'A' school," said Charlie Appleby, head coach of Bigfork, which will compete as a Class B school next season due to the district's declining enrollment.

A novice team from Flathead High School finished first in the Class AA section. It was the only AA school to compete. Lincoln County High School (Eureka) finished first in the Class B section.

Individual results

n Policy Debate - 1. Joe Mazur and Caitlin Caltabiano, Whitefish; 2. Marissa Getts and Ariel Ramstad, Columbia Falls; 4. Matt Danczyk and Patrick Meehan, Whitefish; 6. Jake Danczyk and Derek Janni, Whitefish; 7. Laura Burgess and Heidi Brunz, Columbia Falls

n Lincoln-Douglas Debate - 1. Tanner Conrad, Whitefish; 2. Patrick Ingham, Columbia Falls; 3. Josh Schott, Whitefish; 4. Jake Morison, Whitefish; 5. Amanda Johnson, Columbia Falls

n Impromptu Speaking - 1. Taylor Hopkins, Columbia Falls; 2. Jon Riffey, Columbia Falls; 4. Haley Hill, Whitefish; 6. Bralyn Joubert, Columbia Falls

n Humorous Oral Interpretation - 1. Hannah Brinton, Columbia Falls; 3. Keri Potter, Columbia Falls; 6. Taylor Hill, Whitefish; 7. Zoe Gaiser, Bigfork; 8. Krisie Henderson, Bigfork

n Serious Oral Interpretation - 4. Jenni Vail, Whitefish; 5. Candance Ward, Columbia Falls; 8. Melissa Bernstein, Whitefish

n Original Oratory - 1. Jessie Mazur, Whitefish; 3. Becky Griffith, Columbia Falls; 4. Renae Nelson, Columbia Falls; 5. Kate Donner, Columbia Falls

n Extemporaneous Speaking - 2. Ben Donner, Columbia Falls; 4. Jesse Flickinger, Columbia Falls; 5. Patrick McGunagle, Whitefish; 8. Natalie Law, Columbia Falls

n Expository Speaking - 1. Christina Nadine-Mark, Columbia Falls; 3. Caitlann O'Dell, Bigfork; 4. Jennifer Jurva, Columbia Falls

n Memorized Public Address - 1. Kayla Carlson, Bigfork; 2. Ryan Cox, Columbia Falls; 4. John Joern, Whitefish; 5. Julie Peterman, Whitefish; 6. Stephanie Christensen, Columbia Falls; 8. Laura Colvin, Bigfork