Glacier and Flathead high schools secured the top two placements in Class AA at the Western Regional Speech and Debate tournament in Kalispell. 

The Dec. 5 and 6 competition held at Flathead and Glacier high schools featured 23 teams from across the region. 

Scoring 214.5 points overall, Glacier won first place, with runner-up Flathead not far behind with 188 points. Hellgate High School in Missoula took third place with 165.5 points.  

The first-place team got a boost from individual double-champion Josh Lee in Memorized Public Address and Extemporaneous Speaking and Dramatic Interpretation champion Autumn Bashera.  

“We’re really proud of this comeback win,” said Glacier head coach Greg Adkins. “We scored in every event, and that balance is what it takes to win at the AA level. Of course, we always want more individual champions, but this was a big team victory, and we’ll gladly take it.”  

“Flathead had a great showing, winning five events in total," said Flathead head coach Kelli Rosenquist. “It speaks to the team's balance right now that we had a champion in each of the four competition areas: debate, memorized, interpretation and short preparation.”  

These individual champions were Layna Astley and Lincoln McElwain, Duo Interpretation; Astley, Program Oral Interpretation; Adie Fedor, Informative Speaking; Jake Milone, Impromptu Speaking; and B. Poitra, Legislative Debate.    

The two coaches expressed gratitude to the assistant coaching staff and the hundreds of volunteer judges from the community who made the local tournament possible.  

IN CLASS A, B and C, Columbia Falls, Whitefish and Bigfork swept the top three spots. Earning 62.5 points overall for its first-place finish, Columbia Falls staved off runner-up Whitefish, which scored 58.5 points.   

Bigfork took third place with 35.5 points and had two individual champions, Brody Henion in Humorous Interpretation and Madeline Pomeroy in Original Oratory.   

“We are always grateful when we are extended an invitation to large AA tournaments for the chance to test our mettle against the state's very top competition,” said Whitefish head coach Sara Mueller. “We were also excited to start seeing the effects of great recruiting with a full bus for the first time this week. We continue to see how tight the competition between Class A schools might be.”  

Following are individual results:  

Duo Interpretation 

1. Layna Astley and Lincoln McElwain, Flathead 

2. Kajsa Mohr and Keian Moran, Columbia Falls 

3. Kaylin Stein and Sophie Johnson, Glacier 

4. Unity Loveless and Scarlet Burke, Whitefish 

5. Lynne Beisel and Myla Johnson, Flathead 

6. Lillian Nelson and Cassidy Krack, Whitefish 

7. Reid Sanders and Bridget Reed, Glacier 

8. Jaydon Pesola and Jasper Wilde, Flathead 

Dramatic Interpretation  

1. Autumn Bashara, Glacier 

2. Tia Marie Poor, Columbia Falls 

3. Kory Moran, Columbia Falls 

4. Rylee Wood, Bigfork 

5. Alex Carmalt, Glacier 

6. Megan Mikelson, Glacier 

8. Lincoln McElwain, Flathead 

Humorous Interpretation 

1. Brody Henion, Bigfork 

2. Jake Baldi, Bigfork 

3. Kaylin Stein, Glacier 

4. Tia Marie Poor, Columbia Falls 

5. Maxwell Jones, Flathead 

7. Trevor Hammer, Glacier 

8. Danika Sudan, Glacier 

Program Oral Interpretation 

1. Layna Astley, Flathead 

2. Scarlet Burke, Whitefish 

3. Myla Lamson, Glacier 

4. Daniel Cole, Glacier 

5. Sophie Johnson, Glacier 

6. Jacob Braach, Flathead 

7. Bronson Willcut, Flathead 

8. Kyla Turley, Glacier 

Memorized Public Address 

1. Josh Lee, Glacier 

2. Tregan Blades, Glacier 

3. Myla Lamson, Glacier 

4. Alex Carmalt, Glacier 

5. Unity Loveless, Whitefish 

6. Bronson Willcut, Flathead 

7. Merell Cooley, Columbia Falls 

8. Daniel Cole, Glacier 

Informative Speaking 

1. Adie Fedor, Flathead 

3. Eleanor Smiley, Columbia Falls 

5. Annabelle Church, Glacier 

7. Claire Timm, Flathead 

8. Eli Sanderson Strutz, Glacier 

Original Oratory 

1. Madeline Pomeroy, Bigfork 

2. Astir Pulsifer, Whitefish 

3. Kendall Dolan, Glacier 

4. Jacob Braach, Flathead 

5. Raya Gronley, Glacier 

7. Kyla Turley, Glacier 

8. Reid Sanders, Glacier 

Impromptu Speaking 

1. Jake Milone, Flathead 

2. Fenton Liebe-Cohen, Flathead 

3. Erek Benson, Flathead 

4. Dalton Howser, Flathead 

6. Autumn Bashara, Glacier 

Extemporaneous Speaking 

1. Josh Lee, Glacier 

2. Dalton Howser, Flathead 

5. Fenton Liebe-Cohen, Flathead 

6. Jake Milone, Flathead 

7. Erek Benson, Flathead 

Legislative Debate 

1. B. Poitra, Flathead 

2. Teyvia Davis, Flathead 

6. Vayda Kauffman, Flathead 

8. Miles Flake, Flathead 

Public Forum Debate 

3. Padmaja Vatti and Josie Morrison, Flathead 

4. Sarah Loran and Keegan West, Flathead 

5. Oliver Casey and Huzhao Miele, Glacier 

7. Garrison Burger and Abigail O'Connell, Flathead 

8. Olivia Kufa and Mavery Fauth, Glacier 

Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate 

5. Anya Denmark, Glacier 

7. Noah Elliott, Glacier 

Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate 

2. August Smith, Glacier 

5. Madelynn Danford, Flathead 

6. Jonah Spuhler, Glacier 

7. August Koon, Glacier 

Varsity Policy Debate 

2. Lillie Groom and Kyra Russell, Glacier 

3. Mikayla King and Cayden Porter, Flathead 

4. Elle Sauer and Brooklyn Bowen, Flathead 

5. Madhav Gautam and Griffen Ingersoll, Glacier 

6. Z. Belt and Tesla Liebe-Cohen, Glacier 

7. Kendal Moultray and Cheyanne Dear-Ruel, Columbia Falls 

Novice Policy Debate 

2. Noah Juster and Jayis Holm, Glacier 

3. Sam Burns and Beckett Karlin, Glacier 

5. Ozel Peters and Hannah Szady, Whitefish 

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or [email protected].