The speech and debate Class A competition continues to be close as Columbia Falls and Whitefish high schools claimed second and third place in the final tournament before divisionals.

Columbia Falls climbed to second place with 140 overall points in the virtual tournament hosted by Corvallis over the weekend. In third place was Whitefish with 134 points. Frenchtown took first place with 172 points.

Columbia Falls Head Coach Blake Ladenburg said the Class A competition was tight as it has been throughout the season. In the previous tournament Whitefish came in first and Columbia Falls in third.

Ladenburg was encouraged by his team’s performance.

“We made up ground in events that we needed to, and overall had a strong tournament,” he said. “The team had their best performance of the season during preliminary rounds, but slipped in out rounds.”

Whitefish Head Coach Sara Mueller said her team is looking ahead to divisionals on Friday and Saturday. The top 12 competitors from each the east and west divisional will move forward to the state tournament on Jan. 29-30.

“The competition is strong among the top three teams. Frenchtown is absolutely lights out in debate, and Columbia Falls is so balanced on both sides. It will take our best efforts to place among them,” Mueller said.

Each team needs to provide virtual judges for each tournament if you are interested in judging at any tournament please email [email protected].

Following are local individual results.

Memorized Public Address

1. Lucy Schindler, Whitefish
2. Lillian McDonald, Columbia Falls
3. McKenna Ferril, Whitefish

Informative Speaking

1. Adrienne Healy, Whitefish
2. Taylor Stephens, Columbia Falls

Original Oratory

1. Griffin Conger, Columbia Falls
2. Paetra Cooke, Whitefish

Impromptu Speaking

1. Chloe Coberley, Columbia Falls
2. Abigail Bowden, Whitefish
3. Adrienne Healy, Whitefish

Extemporaneous Speaking

1. Abigail Bowden, Whitefish
2. Aiden Judge, Columbia Falls
3. Grayson Butler, Whitefish

Dramatic Interpretation

1. Lucy Schindler, Whitefish
2. Griffin Conger, Columbia Falls
3. Chloe Coberley, Columbia Falls
4. Zack Tillman, Columbia Falls
5. Gabby Pickert, Whitefish

Humorous Interpretation

1. Ruby Davis, Columbia Falls

Policy Debate

1. Emma Stephens and Tre Finley, Columbia Falls
2. Danika Tintzman and Ali Hirsch, Whitefish
3. Eleanor Hollingsworth and Finley Sundberg, Columbia Falls

Public Forum Debate

1. Calie Johnson and Raphe Salmon, Columbia Falls
2. Stacia Tremper and Sophie Tabor, Whitefish
3. Brayden Crawford and Aiden Rohn, Columbia Falls