Class AA speech find success during busy competition weekend

The Glacier High School speech and debate team brought home the hardware at the City of Gold Tournament at Helena Capital High School and the Tournament of Champions at Carroll College Dec. 2-3.

Glacier racked up 125 points overall to capture first place at the City of Gold Tournament, surpassing Bozeman in second place with 97 points. Not far behind, Flathead High School finished third with 92 points. The teams competed in 10 events.

At the Tournament of Champions, students only competed in Public Forum Debate, Policy Debate and Lincoln-Douglas Debate. Glacier finished in third with 42.5 points overall. Bozeman captured first with 142.5 points overall. Flathead ranked 13th.

Flathead’s Brett Pesola, Brody Turner and Maya Graham received top speaker awards at the Tournament of Champions.

In addition to the two tournaments, Flathead and Glacier junior varsity members competed in Frenchtown, with Glacier taking first in the Class AA divison.

“This team is so competitive and is working hard to find ways to make our team deeper and more balanced,” Glacier Head Coach Greg Adkins said. “So many of our kids are in the middle of major rewrites, adding a second event, or figuring out other ways to make the team deeper as we aim to win a state championship at the end of January.”

“It was a good weekend,” Flathead Head Coach Shannon O’Donnell said. “We're starting to see the growth that comes from hard work and a tight team dynamic, and that has the kids motivated to keep at it. There's still a lot of season ahead of us.”

Glacier is hosting the Western Regional tournament today and Saturday. An awards ceremony is set to begin at 6:45 p.m. Saturday in the performance hall.

Following are local individual results from the City of Gold Tournament and the Tournament of Champions.

Legislative Debate

1 Kenna Sandler, Glacier

4 Lukas Schubert, Glacier

7 Kaylee Hampton, Flathead

8 Emmery Schmidt, Glacier

Extemporaneous Speaking

2 Rachel Ottman, Flathead

3 Rylin Wilde, Flathead

8 Neila Lyngholm, Flathead

Impromptu Speaking

2 Rylin Wilde, Flathead

3 Neila Lyngolm, Flathead

4 Taylor Pooton, Flathead

5 Brenna Ernst, Glacier

Duo Interpretation

5 Quindey Gronley and Claire Schwaller, Glacier

6 Kaelin Holt and Ulrich Warner, Glacier

7 Adina Lockwood and Colin Olson, Flathead

Humorous Interpretation

1 Claire Ennis, Glacier

4 Bauer Hollman, Flathead

6 Kaelin Stein, Glacier

Dramatic Interpretation

2 Annabeth O'Shea, Glacier

8 Tehya Anderson, Flathead

Program Oral Interpretation

1 Bethany Nairn, Flathead

2 Anya Rountree, Glacier

3 Ada Milner, Flathead

4 Tag Schow, Flathead

Original Oratory

1 Quindy Gronley, Glacier

2 Luke Banks, Flathead

3 Bella AuClaire, Glacier

5 Mac Adkins, Glacier

Informative Speaking

1 Lane McKoy, Glacier

4 Sara Weingart, Glacier

8 Annabeth O'Shea, Glacier

Memorized Public Address

1 Bella AuClaire, Glacier

2 Gabrielle Cantrell-Musson, Glacier

3 Ellie Fiala, Glacier

4 Ellie Alvord, Flathead

6 Anya Rountree, Glacier

7 Kenna Anderson, Flathead

Public Forum Debate

1 Ryan Webster and Ethan Woods, Glacier

3 Timmy Glanville and Calvin Schmidt, Glacier

5 Thomas Konopka and Brett Pesola, Flathead

Novice Policy Debate

4 Joshua Lee and Jakoby Isles, Glacier

Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate

8 Anya Denmark, Glacier

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.