The Columbia Falls speech and debate team took first place among Class A, B and C schools at the two-day tournament in Great Falls on Dec. 7-8. The squad was led by Erick Franklund and Colter Norick with a first-place win in varsity policy debate.

“It was a very competitive tournament, and yet we had some students placing that had not been on stage yet this year,” coach Tara Norick said. “The team has been working very hard in practice.”

This week, the team travels to Kalispell for the Valley Wide Talkdown at Glacier High School on Thursday and then a two-day tournament in Corvallis on Friday and Saturday.

Great Falls results:

Varsity policy debate

4th - Mara Barnes and Monique Schoech

Novice policy debate

3rd - Emily Getts and Maddie Mantell

5th - Stephen Lindsey and Mike Dittrich

Varsity Lincoln-Douglas debate

9th - Allison Foust

Novice Lincoln-Douglas debate

8th - KC Holm

Original oratory

8th - Mary Gross

13th - Meredith Stolte

14th - Casey Shea

15th - Cassidi Bowman

Memorized public address

15th - Breanna Friar

16th - Garrett Role

Impromptu speaking

8th - Blake Ladenburg

12th - Henry Chisholm

14th - Britney Cotton

Extemporaneous speaking

3rd - Blake Ladenburg

6th - Mary Gross

8th - Cody Phillips

9th - Henry Chisholm

Expository speaking

4th - Yeo Chung

6th - Baylee Brinton

8th - Mariah Walker

12th - Samantha Gilk

Serious oral interpretation

6th - Bailey Duke

8th - Britney Cotton

10th - Meredith Stolte

Humorous oral interpretation

11th - Bailey Duke

15th - Lexi Corbett

16th - Jenna Smith