‘We try to get people to try’

To the other members of Columbia Falls High School’s speech and debate team, Ariel Ramstad and Jesse Flickinger are “Speech Mom” and “Speech Dad.”

Maybe it’s the way they get younger teammates to laugh away their nerves. Maybe it’s the advice they offer out of their own experiences.

Or maybe it’s the way Ramstad, armed with mineral water and her latest crocheted hat project, solves problems with snacks: “Did you eat? I’ll go make you some tea.”

Ramstad and Flickinger, both juniors, can’t seem to stop parenting their teammates. They, along with senior and speech neophyte Shiloh Knudsen, have emerged halfway through the season as team leaders.

Except for Flickinger, who is the team’s co-captain, they don’t have official leadership roles. But their enthusiasm for the activity and encouraging attitudes have turned the trio into Columbia Falls’ go-to teammates.

“We try to get people to try,” Flickinger explained.

Flickinger, who competes in Extemporaneous Speaking and Impromptu Speaking, didn’t expect to end up as a captain when he joined the speech and debate team last year.

“I probably kind of fell into it,” he said. “I came into [speech and debate] really shy as a sophomore.”

Flickinger said he was encouraged by the seniors during his first year on the team, and he wanted to do the same for his teammates this season.

“Basically all the seniors made me feel comfortable. I felt like I should take on that role as soon as that ended, when they went off to college,” he said.

Ramstad, who is competing this year in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, was likewise encouraged by last year’s team leaders. They helped her persevere through her sophomore season.

“Without the senior leaders from last year, I probably wouldn’t have stayed in it as long as I have,” said Ramstad, who is in her third year on the team. “They [would] encourage you even when you [failed]. That’s what really a leader is, I guess.”

When those seniors graduated, they left a void Ramstad and Flickinger couldn’t fill on their own.

“Shiloh, she kind of fills the gap, to a point,” Flickinger said.

Knudsen said she was surprised to become a leader. Even though she’s a senior, which, according to Flickinger, naturally commands respect among the younger team members, Knudsen is only in her first year on the team.

“I just wanted to survive,” said Knudsen, who competes in Original Oratory.

She acknowledges that she brings a lighthearted spirit to an activity that can be intense — especially on a team that has held the Class A state title for the last four years. She sings Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day” to teammates who don’t think they’ve done well, and she keeps her friends laughing on long bus rides.

“I think I make it more fun,” Knudsen said. “I might not be as serious or straight about it. It’s my first year; if I fail miserably, it happens.”

That doesn’t mean she doesn’t feel the pressure. Standing in front of a handful of judges is much harder than playing in a gym with hundreds of people watching, she said.

“It’s way more scary to do speech. In sports, you have a team to pick up for you, and you can always be benched,” she said.

Ramstad agreed.

“In speech you don’t get benched,” she said. “It’s not like you have anyone but yourself. It makes it really stressful.

“You rely on yourself, no one else.”

Despite the pressure placed on individual competitors, speech and debate is very much a team activity. Individuals earn points for their teams, and while they might compete against one another in rounds, the team’s overall victory is the ultimate goal, Ramstad said.

“If we don’t get first as a team, there’s really nothing to celebrate,” she said.

Coached by Michael Christensen, Columbia Falls has finished first at nearly every tournament this season, coming up short only to Class B powerhouse Loyola Sacred Heart High School of Missoula. Their success is impressive, considering Columbia Falls is competing without a Policy Debate team.

With no team in that event, there is no way to score points in Policy Debate. That means team members have to step up by competing in more than one event, like Flickinger does, and by doing well in every round.

“There is enormous pressure to do well in my event to make up for the points” lost in Policy Debate, Ramstad said.

Despite the lack of competitors in that event, she, Flickinger and Knudsen say a fifth-straight state championship can be won if everyone on the team shoulders the burden. The leaders can encourage everyone, but they can only earn so many points.

To win a state title, everyone has to contribute.

“If we can win state without a Policy Debate team, that’s pretty much the most amazing thing you can ever do,” Ramstad said. “I would rather win state without a policy team than go all four years” as state champions.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com