Flathead High School’s speech and debate team got its first win of the season Saturday at the Electric City Invitational in Great Falls.

Flathead finished the two-day tournament with 169 points, edging out Glacier High School’s 158.5 points and Bozeman High’s 151 points. The close finish is indicative of what Class AA coaches predicted would happen all season.

“Less than 20 points separated the first three teams, which is very, very close by speech and debate standards,” Flathead head coach Kala Lougheed said. “As we predicted, this is going to be a very tight, three-way race all year.”

Lougheed praised her team’s efforts at the meet.

“We had some robust performances from many of our team members this weekend,” she said. “When you win by 10.5 points, every competitor contributes. It was a very close battle, down to the last ballot of the last event.”

The teams were in a similar position at a tournament in Butte earlier this month. That time, the points came out favoring Glacier, which has won two of the three tournaments it has competed in this fall.

Despite his team’s second-place finish Saturday, head coach Greg Adkins was pleased with their efforts.

“What a dogfight. ... We battled until the end, but just ran out of steam,” he said.

The teams are off for the next two weekends, then will hit the road again for the City of Gold Tournament of Champions in Helena.

Following are local results from Great Falls:

n Varsity Policy Debate — 1. Kelsie Leu and Brigitte Baake, Flathead; 5. Brianna Walling and Brandon Simpson, Glacier; 6. Andy Walling and Ashley Berger, Glacier

n Novice Policy Debate — 1. Mariah Gladstone and Lauren Jones, Glacier; 2. Levi Proctor and Austin Patrick, Glacier

n Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate — 1. Mary Snipstead, Glacier; 2. Emily Stoick, Flathead; 6. John Patrick, Glacier

n Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate — 2. Elliott VanAllen, Glacier; 4. Hunter Jarbacz, Glacier; 6. Serena Brosten, Glacier

n Public Forum — 5. Ariel Berg and Kyle Schmauch, Glacier; 6. Hannah Wahlert and Natalie Pursell, Flathead

n Legislative Debate — 2. Logan Warberg, Glacier; 3. Dean Stimpson, Flathead; 4. Barrie Sugarman, Flathead; 5. Connor Tice, Flathead; 6. Montana Ziglar, Glacier; 7. Andora Tutvedt, Glacier

n Extemporaneous Speaking — 2. Maxine Sugarman, Flathead; 4. Severn Crabtree, Flathead; 7. Quinn Maroney, Glacier; 8. Jon Alan Osborne, Flathead

n Impromptu Speaking — 2. Maxine Sugarman, Flathead; 4. Severn Crabtree, Flathead; 6. Elena Musz, Flathead; 8. Molly Benedetto, Glacier

n Duo Interpretation — 5.  Kyle Decker and Peter Hoag, Flathead; 7. Cory Markellis and Clayton McDougall, Glacier

n Humorous Oral Interpretation — 1. Kyle Decker, Flathead; 7. Jarrette Baker, Flathead

n Serious Oral Interpretation — 1. Brianna Boozel, Flathead; 3. Amanda Frasier, Glacier; 5. Natalie Griffin, Flathead; 7. Cory Markellis, Glacier

n Memorized Public Address — 1. Accacia Gardner, Flathead; 2. Dawson Lynch, Flathead; 3. Tierney Strandberg, Flathead; 5. Megan Larsen, Flathead; 6. Caroline Houser, Glacier; 7. Kadeesh Griepp, Glacier

n Original Oratory — 1. Abby Connolly, Glacier; 3. Tierney Strandberg, Flathead; 8. Danielle Bowen, Flathead

n Expository Speaking — 1. Tess Barker, Flathead; 3. Megan McCauley, Flathead; 4. Kayla Nelson, Glacier; 5. Sonya Brosten, Glacier; 6. Danyelle Moore, Glacier; 8. Danielle Bowen, Flathead