Stupendous speakers earn sixth-straight title
HEIDI DESCH | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 15 years, 5 months AGO
Hannah Brinton and Ashley Carlson hold up the state championship and divisional championship speech and debate trophies Tuesday during an assembly for the team at Columbia Falls High School. The team won its sixth consecutive title last weekend.
DEPUTY EDITOR, FEATURES Heidi Desch is the Deputy Editor at the Daily Inter Lake, overseeing coverage of arts, culture, lifestyle, community, and business. Desch leads reporters in developing stories that highlight the people, traditions, and events shaping Northwest Montana, guiding content across print and digital platforms. With more than 20 years of journalism experience, including serving as managing editor of the Whitefish Pilot, Desch is a graduate of the University of Montana School of Journalism. She has received multiple Montana Newspaper Association awards, including part of the team leading the Daily Inter Lake to Best Daily Newspaper in Montana Award and the General Excellence Award in 2024 and 2025. IMPACT: Heidi’s work connects readers with stories that deepen the understanding of the community beyond daily news. | February 2, 2011 7:02 AM
Make it six.
The Columbia Falls High School speech and debate team earned its sixth-straight state title Saturday at the Class A State Speech and Debate Tournament in Laurel.
Led by three individual state champions, the team had 184 points. Billings Central came in second with 126 points.
Jesse Flickinger earned first in extemporaneous speaking. Casey Bauer took first in expository speaking. Stephanie Christensen won in memorized public address.
“The team was led by the three individual state champions,” Coach Tara Norick said. “Our freshmen policy debate team, Mary Gross and Allison Foust, made it to the finals round at the state tournament. Wow. None of the other coaches could remember freshmen debaters ever being in finals at state.”
The win continues Columbia Falls’ remarkable winning streak. The team set a record last year when it earned its fifth-straight state title.
“What a great team to work with, so motivated and dedicated,” Norick said. “Each student has performed over 100 speeches in the months leading up to this tournament and the double-entered kids have done twice as many.”
The full team competed at state with much of the team performing really well.
“Twenty out of 21 competitors in speech were in semifinals and 17 were in the finals round,” she said. “Two of our three policy teams and all three Lincoln-Douglas debaters were in quarterfinals. We were really balanced between speech and debate. It was a fantastic performance.”
Norick thanked her assistant coaches for their hard work during the season.
“The assistant coaches Kim Gange and Krista Martens were instrumental in the team’s success as well as continued support from (former head coach) Michael Christensen,” she said.
Individual results:
Policy debate - 2. Mary Gross and Allison Foust, 6. Becky Griffith and Mason Gedlaman
Lincoln-Douglas debate - 5. Kaitlin Barnes, 6. Kevin Kuper, 8. Ariel Ramstad
Extemporaneous speaking -1. Jesse Flickinger, 2. Chance Morine, 3. Marissa Getts
Impromptu speaking - 2. Marissa Getts, 5. Jesse Flickinger, 7. Chance Morine
Original oratory - 2. Jinise Osborne, 4. Stephanie Christensen, 6. Natalie Law
Expository speaking - 1. Casey Bauer, 3. Jennifer Jurva
Memorized public address - 1. Stephanie Christensen, 5. Nathan Trinastich
Humorous oral interpretation - 2. Hannah Brinton, 3. Keri Potter, 7. Ashley Carlson
Serious oral interpretation - 7. Keri Potter
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