The Columbia Falls speech and debate team took third in the virtual Custer County meet Jan. 8. The team was without its top two speakers who won’t be back until the divisional tourney, said coach Blake Ladenburg.

Whitefish won the meet with 138 points, Frenchtown was second with 118 and the Wildcats racked up 100.

In other words, the margin between the top three teams as the season winds down is very close.

“The competition has been strong for the past few years, but it really seems to be getting even tighter this year. I give a lot of credit to the competitors and coaches at the other schools. They are working tremendously hard. This season will come down to the last ballots,” Ladenburg said.

Overall the team was led by a first place finish by Eddie Chisholm in Lincoln Douglas Debate, and third place finishes by Griffin Conger in Dramatic Interp and Eleanor Hollingsworth and Finley Sundberg in Policy Debate.

Individual Results:

Memorized Public Address

5th Lillian McDonald

Informative Speaking

8th Aiden Judge

Original Oratory

5th Griffin Conger

Impromptu

4th Chloe Coberley

Extemp

5th Aiden Judge

Dramatic Interp

3rd Griffin Conger

5th Chloe Coberley

6th Zack Tillman

Policy Debate

3rd Eleanor Hollingsworth and Finley Sundberg

4th Emma Stephens and Tre Finley

Lincoln Douglas Debate

1st Eddie Chisholm