Bigfork High School’s Speech, Debate and Drama team walked away from the Ronan Invitational on Saturday as champions.

The team took first place in speech and drama, beating Ronan in speech by just two points.

“A close win against the tournament hosts always feels good,” coach Charlie Appleby said. “I was very proud of all our kids, though Sierra Curtis and Ryan Shaw really showed their potential by placing so high at this meet.”

Shaw placed second in Extemporaneous Speaking and Curtis placed second in Original Oratory.

Bigfork excelled in drama, winning with 56 points. Melody McHaley placed first in the serious and humorous solo drama categories. McHaley was closely followed in serious solo by Riley Hoveland, who placed second.

“At this point the competition between junior Melody McHaley and freshman Riley Hoveland is my favorite part of the drama team,” Appleby said. “So far Melody has bested Riley twice, but Riley fared better at the Kalispell meet. It should be great for both of them to push each other all year, and hopefully helps both make it to the state tournament this year in Ennis.”

The team will compete in Whitefish on Saturday.

Speech

1st Place Bigfork 35 points

2nd Place Ronan 33 points

Drama — 1st Place, Bigfork 56 points

Individuals Speech

Elizabeth Kalenak 3rd Place HOI

Elizabeth Kalenak 6th Place SOI

Shannon Frizzell 7th Place MPA

Ryan Shaw 2nd Place Extemporaneous

Sierra Curtiss 2nd Place Original Oratory

Reuben Hubbard 4th Place Lincoln Douglas Debate

Individuals Drama

Melody McHaley 1st Place Serious Solo

Melody McHaley 1st Place Humorous Solo

Riley Hoveland 2nd Place Serious Solo

Brett Bradstreet and Damon Maitland 1st Place Humorous Duo