Months and months of feverish and exhaustive preparation came down to just a 5 1/2-point differential as Glacier High’s speech and debate claimed the Montana Class AA championship Saturday at Flathead High School.

The Wolfpack scored 172.5 points to edge the Braves, who tallied 167, Bozeman was a distant third with 109.5 while Missoula Sentinel scored 79.5 and Missoula Big Sky had 36.5 to round out the top five.

Glacier Head Coach Greg Adkins was ecstatic at his team’s performance.

“It’s just so exciting,” Adkins said. “We were so close in 2018 and it left an empty feeling for our kids falling short. But we knew we needed a true team effort to pull it out and that’s what we had.”

Glacier competitors racked up five wins in the 14 events to win its first state championship since 2014 and fifth since the school opened in 2007.

Mercedes Rebich and Simon Roston teamed up in Varsity Policy Debate for the Wolfpack’s first title. Then Malea Bauer claimed the championship in Varsity Lincoln Douglas. Akhil Patel and Brady Kazmier won the Public Forum Debate. Adding to Glacier’s championship medal collection were Becca Cross, who won Memorized Public Address, and Drew Lorenc and Zach Hill, who were Duo Interpretation champions.

The Wolfpack had five additional competitors place in the top three or better. They included Zach Hill, third in Memorized Public Address, Sierra Riley and Alexa Wilton, second and third, respectively, in Program Oral Interpretation; Brooklyn Lamers was third in Extemporaneous Speaking, Lorenc was second in Humorous Interpretation, and Jane Trina, who placed third in Dramatic Interpretation.

For the Braves, the narrow defeat was tough as they vied to win their first title since a 2015 triumph.

But the hosts did win five events. Melissa Roybal won the Legislative Debate title as she capped her undefeated season. Reed Miller won Extemporaneous Speaking, John Shelton was a champion in Impromptu, Julia Wynne claimed first in Original Oratory, and Carson Robison won Program Oral Interpretation.

Flathead added several top three finishes, too. Eva Bruce and Annabelle Pukas were second and third, respectively, in Varsity Lincoln Douglas, Scott O’Donnell and Miller were also second and third, respectively, in Impromptu, Korbyn Howe and Alix Major were third in Duo Interpretation, Anna Christensen was second in Memorized Public Address, Carson Robison was second in Original Oratory and Shelton was third in Informative Speaking.

Full results from the Class AA tournament will be published in Monday’s edition.

Results from the Class A and the Class B-C state tournaments weren’t available at press time.

Reporter Scott Shindledecker may be reached at 406-758-4441 or sshindledecker@dailyinterlake.com