Kalispell schools have high hopes for new season
Hilary Matheson Daily Inter Lake | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 9 years, 3 months AGO
Speech and debate season for Flathead and Glacier high schools will be, in a word, electric.
Flathead, the 2015 Class AA state champion, charges into the new season pumped up on last year’s big win that ended Glacier’s chain of four straight state titles.
The two schools host the season-opening tournament on Saturday.
Flathead was ranked 92nd on a top 100 list by the National Speech and Debate Association out of more than 3,200 schools and was recognized for its high participation by the Societé de 300 — yet Flathead isn’t resting on its laurels.
“I know expectations are high for our team this year, especially because of the National Speech and Debate Association accolades,” Flathead Head Coach Shannon O’Donnell said. “However, due to the number of top competitors who graduated last year, this year’s team is a very different one. This year, we are an exciting mixture of highly qualified veterans and promising, young underclassmen. As always, we hope to hold our own against Glacier and Bozeman.”
This year, close to 150 students have joined the team. Out of that bunch, 22 are returning state competitors.
Returning state champions and national qualifiers include Wyatt Dykhuizen, Parker Kouns and Maija Hadwin. Other returning national qualifiers are Sophia Skwarchuk, Eli Brown and Sarah Ward.
“We lost a lot of our top scorers last year including four individual state champions and three national qualifiers,” O’Donnell said. “This year, we will be relying on strong showings from the three interp events and LD [Lincoln-Douglas Debate], which are this year’s most veteran squads.”
New competitors to watch this season are Reed Miller in Extemporaneous, Kenzie Griffin in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Tanis Hadwin in Expository, Riley Jochim in Memorized Public Address, Korbyn Howe and Annie Jones in Humorous Interpretation and Duo Interpretation and Edgar Hall also in Humorous Interpretation.
The Glacier Wolfpack is hungry to be back at the top and this is evident by the more than 167 students who have joined the team so far — a record number, according to Glacier Head Coach Greg Adkins.
Several national qualifiers are back for Glacier: Kyersten Siebenaler, Josie Jolly, Ryker McIntyre, Abby Van Allen, Spencer Johnson and Brock Adkins.
In addition, Glacier has state finalists Kelsie Davis, Anika Fritz, Aaron Robinson, Dylan Crandell, Teigan Avery, Ben Wright and Aidan Fritz returning.
With experience behind them, returning upperclassman are the backbone of any team, but Glacier may draw its strength from sophomores Millie Espeseth in Public Forum Debate, Keegan Siebenaler in Public Forum Debate, Trevor Woodward in Oratory and Impromptu Speaking, Brenden Anderson in Memorized Public Address and Duo Interpretation, Jenna McCrorie in Policy Debate, Harrison Rennie in Policy Debate and Emma Trunkle in Policy Debate.
“Our freshman class was outstanding last season and I fully anticipate we only get stronger and stronger,” Adkins said. “How quickly we become competitive will rely greatly on both the ability of our returners to progress to the next level and for our newcomers to figure out this activity.”
Both coaches expect competition to be tight among three teams — Flathead, Glacier and Bozeman.
“Of the three teams this year, Bozeman has the most returning veterans, which gives them an edge,” O’Donnell said. “I never rule out Greg Adkins, though, because he is a brilliant coach and knows how to engineer wins for his team.”
According to Adkins, “Flathead and Bozeman as always are the front runners in AA Speech and Debate. Flathead has to be the favorite — they have a strong tradition and nice mix of returners and a great coaching staff. Bozeman is a fantastic program, with a lot of depth and a solid returning coaching staff. I know that Billings Skyview was a young team last year, so with a large number of returners, they could be in the trophy hunt, too.”
On Saturday, 16 teams involving 552 students from 11 schools will descend on both Kalispell high schools for the season-opening Kalispell Kickoff Tournament.
Debate events will be at Glacier High School; speech events will be at Flathead High School.
Rounds are scheduled to begin at 8 a.m., 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. with finals at 4:30 p.m. An awards ceremony is scheduled to start between 7 and 7:30 p.m. in the Flathead High School Auditorium.
Hilary Matheson is a reporter for The Daily Inter Lake. She may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.
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