By HILARY MATHESON/Daily Inter Lake |
The Columbia Falls High School speech-and-debate state championship dynasty continued Saturday as the team brought home its 11th consecutive title.
This time around, however, the gap between first and second was extremely close at the Class A state tournament in Belgrade.
Both Whitefish and Columbia Falls were neck-and-neck the entire competition with the winner decided by the final ballots.
In the end, the Wildcats rose to the top with 229 sweepstakes points and the Whitefish Bulldogs, in second place, amassed 204 points. Polson was third with 83 points.
Columbia Falls’ individual championships went to — Ava Chisholm in Humorous Interpretation; Chloe Foster and Emily Getts in Expository Speaking; and Jerelyn Jones in Dramatic Interpretation.
“We are grateful and deeply humbled by the level of competition we have encountered up until the last second of this season,” Columbia Falls Head Coach Tara Norick said. “Our students worked so hard right until the end and we couldn’t be more proud.
Whitefish Head Coach Sara Mueller said she was proud of her team’s accomplishments at state. With three individual champions winning five events. Whitefish’s first-place finishers were — Abbie Belcher in Extemporaneous Speaking and Impromptu Speaking; Sam Benkelman in Original Oratory and Memorized Public Address; and Dakota Henson in Lincoln-Douglas Debate.
“I’m really proud of what we accomplished,” Mueller said.
Polson had two individual championships — Annabelle Smith and Sophia Speckert in Policy Debate and Mollie Lemm and Katelyn Toland in Public Forum Debate.
Class A Speech Sweeps
1. Columbia Falls, 229
2. Whitefish, 204
3. Polson, 83
Individual Results
Policy Debate
1. Annabelle Smith and Sophia Speckert, Polson
3. Annabel Conger and Colin Norick, Columbia Falls
4. Ian Caltabiano and Zach Kasselder, Whitefish
5. Ruth Nelson and Shayne Williams, Columbia Falls
7. Danielle Schwalk and Ian McKenzie, Columbia Falls
Lincoln-Douglas Debate
1. Dakota Henson, Whitefish
3. Kenyon Cairns, Polson
Public Forum Debate
1. Katelyn Toland and Mollie Lemm, Polson
2. Anna Nicosia and Mary Ward, Columbia Falls
5. Bergen Carloss and Kate Ehrenberg, Whitefish
7. Cassidy Norick and Kelsey Wright, Columbia Falls
8. Mike Dittrich and Sarah Posey, Columbia Falls
Extemporaneous Speaking
2. Abbie Belcher, Whitefish
4. Zach Ade, Whitefish
6. Danny Morgan, Columbia Falls
7. Tim Ingham, Columbia Falls
8. Makkie Haller, Whitefish
Impromptu Speaking
2. Abbie Belcher, Whitefish
3. Ava Chisholm, Columbia Falls
4. Teigen Tremper, Whitefish
5. Geneva des Lions, Polson
6. Saige Percy, Whitefish
7. Tim Ingham, Columbia Falls
8. Willie Baltz, Columbia Falls
Original Oratory
1. Sam Benkelman, Whitefish
2. Chloe Foster, Columbia Falls
4. Emily Getts, Columbia Falls
8. Lindsey Matulionis, Whitefish
Expository Speaking
1. Emily Getts, Columbia Falls
2. Teigan Tremper, Whitefish
8. Regan Tinzman, Whitefish
Memorized Public Address
1. Sam Benkelman, Whitefish
2. Chloe Foster, Columbia Falls
3. Zach Ade, Whitefish
5. Austin Reese, Whitefish
6. Joey Chester, Columbia Falls
7. Emma Erikson, Columbia Falls
Humorous Interpretation
1. Ava Chisholm, Columbia Falls
2. Saige Perchy, Whitefish
3. Jerelyn Jones, Columbia Falls
4. Brandon Karberg, Columbia Falls
Dramatic Interpretation
1. Jerelyn Jones, Columbia Falls
2. Hunter Cripe, Whitefish
5. Jacob Hohman, Columbia Falls
Corvallis wins Class A Drama championship title
Corvallis High School is the Montana Class A Drama championship team for the third year in a row.
The team has won 10 state championships and three second-places in the past 14 years.
Coaches are Doug and Michelle McConnaha.
“All the credit goes to the students who worked hard, practiced constantly and worked beyond their own expectations,” Doug McConnaha said. “They had fun doing it and I believe that leads to success.”
The state tournament was held in Belgrade, Jan. 29 and 30, with 14 A schools participating in two days of tough competition.
The highlight of the awards ceremony for Corvallis was the Humorous Duo competition where the school’s competitors finished first, second and third. Seniors Easton Powell and Josh Smith are state champions competing with “Open to Interpretation,” sophomores Colton Mason and Nathaniel Heckeroth took second and Kristen Saturday and Zoe Brouwer took third.
In Dramatic Duo Acting, Kim Bounds and Sebastian Reed took first with “New York Minute,” Taylor Saturday and Sarah Cerdenia placed fourth and Hannah Brown and Josh Smith took fifth.
In Classical Duo, Nathaniel Heckeroth and James Gladden place fifth and Emma Pickett and Claire Pickett placed eighth. In Humorous Solo Abigail Brion placed second, Kristen Saturday placed sixth and Sebastian Reed placed eighth. In Pantomime Gui Dourado placed fifth and Nate Labrosse placed seventh. In Dramatic Solo Acting Zoe Brouwer placed sixth.
Class A Drama Sweepstakes: first – Corvallis, 160 points; second – Belgrade, 94 points, third – Sidney, 50 points, fourth – Beaverhead, 38 points.
Statewide Class A Drama Bitterroot Valley results:
Humorous Duo Acting: first – Easton Powell and Josh Smith (Corvallis), second – Colton Mason and Nathaniel Heckeroth (Corvallis), third – Kristen Saturday and Zoe Brouwer (Corvallis), sixth – Cody Vincent and Matthew Kleinjan (Stevensville).
Dramatic Duo Acting: first – Kim Bounds and Sebastian Reed (Corvallis), fourth – Taylor Saturday and Sarah Cerdena (Corvallis), fifth – Hannah Brown and Josh Smith (Corvallis).
Classical Duo Theatre: fifth - Nathaniel Heckeroth and James Gladden (Corvallis), 8th - Emma Pickett and Claire Pickett (Corvallis).
Humorous Solo Acting: second - Abigaill Brion (Corvallis), sixth - Kristen Saturday (Corvallis), 8 - Sebastian Reed (Corvallis).
Dramatic Solo Acting: first - Alyssa Seeber (Stevensville), third – Nathon Petersen (Hamilton), sixth - Zoe Brouwer (Corvallis).
Pantomime: fifth – Gui Dourado (Corvallis), seventh – Nate LaBrosse (Corvallis).
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Class A Speech Sweepstakes: first – Columbia Falls, 229 points; second Whitefish, 204 points; third – Polson 93 points; fourth Stevensville – 68 points.
Bitterroot Valley speech results at the state tournament included:
Policy Debate: sixth - Brendan Wathen and Jared McGourty (Hamilton), eighth - Thomas Dowdy and Emily Mosbrucker (Hamilton).
Lincoln Douglas Debate: Second - Robert Morawic (Stevensville), sixth - Ashley Fredde (Corvallis).
Extemporaneous Speaking: first - Nick Sundberg (Stevensville), third – Michael McKay (Corvallis).
Impromptu Speaking: first – Nick Sundberg (Stevensville).
Expository Speaking: fourth – Nathaniel Brown (Corvallis).
Memorized Public Address: fourth – Nathaniel Brown (Corvallis).
Dramatic Oral Interpretation of Literature: fourth – Jenna Cardenas (Stevensville), seventh – Brandon Cleveland (Hamilton).
