Speech competitors may speak the same language, but which team knows exactly the right thing to say to win is up for debate as the high school speech and debate season begins.

Flathead Valley teams are ready to let the words fly with the first tournament of the 2022-23 season, the Kalispell Kickoff, at Flathead High School on Saturday, Nov. 5. Rounds run every two hours from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Kalispell’s Class AA teams Glacier and Flathead high schools finished in second place and third place, respectively, last season. While Bozeman took the state title.

“Last year was another great season for our program. Obviously, we lost some great seniors to graduation, but I am as excited as ever for the upcoming season,” said Glacier Head Coach Greg Adkins.

Glacier launches this season with a team of 120 competitors.

“The team has some obvious top returners, especially in the senior class,” Adkins said.

They include — Lane McKoy, Informative Speaking state champion and nationals 12th-place finisher; Kenna Sandler, Legislative Debate state champion; Ryan Webster and Ethan Woods, Public Forum Debate state runners-up; Mac Adkins, Original Oratory and Duo Interpretation; Bella Auclaire, Original Oratory and Memorized Public Debate; Kaelin Holt, Duo Interpretation and Dramatic Interpretation; Harrison Sanders, Impromptu Speaking and Memorized Public Address; Calvin Schmidt, Public Forum Debate; and Miles Sneeden and Aidan Walker, Lincoln-Douglas Debate.

Former teammates Keegan Siebenaler and Jenna McCrorie have also returned to the fold as volunteer coaches.

Adkins expects to compete with Bozeman and Flathead for the state title again this year. “Bozeman is the defending state champs and I fully expect them to be great again. They have a great program and are going to be tough. Flathead is such a solid program with a rich history, so I’d never count them out either. I also saw a bunch of improvement from Missoula Hellgate, Missoula Sentinel, and Gallatin as well as Billings Skyview and Billings West last year, and expect to see them continue to improve,” he said.

Flathead leads off the season with 114 on the roster with hopes that number will increase once fall sports have wrapped up, Head Coach Shannon O’Donnell said.

“I anticipate a difficult season this year for Flathead. We graduated nearly half of last year's state team entries, so we have a lot of rebuilding to do. My hope is that as the season progresses, we'll see some new talents emerge and the team begin to strengthen overall,” O’Donnell said, adding that besides recruitment, one of the main goals this season is holding on to a place in the top three at the state tournament in Billings in January.

Top competitors to watch this season: Jasmine Anderson, Duo Interpretation and Humorous Interpretation; Hailey Hendrickson, Informative Speaking and Original Oratory; Mason Hermann, Original Oratory; Neila Lyngholm, Extemporaneous Speaking and Impromptu Speaking; Ada Milner, Program Oral Interpretation; Bethany Nairn, Program Oral Interpretation and Dramatic Interpretation; Rachel Ottman and Rylin Wilde, Extemporaneous and Impromptu Speaking; Tag Schow, Program Oral Interpretation and Humorous Interpretation; and Ryan Tiet, Dramatic Interpretation. Anderson, Hermann, Milner and Ottman are all returning national qualifiers.

CLASS A teams Columbia Falls wrapped up last season as the state runner-up behind the champion team, Frenchtown. Whitefish placed fourth.

Columbia Falls Head Coach Dawn Roe is excited for the 2022-23 season with returning state champions Brayden Crawford and Aiden Rohn in Public Forum Debate. Returning national qualifiers are Rohn and Eddie Chisholm. Other seasons competitors to watch this season are

Kai Lee Cole, Ruby Davis, Kynsleigh Gould, Eleanor Hollingsworth, Lauren Rogers, Carson Settles, and Zack Tillman.

The Columbia Falls team has grown and is bursting with new members from all grades and backgrounds which brings the opportunity for students to explore new events as they grow and develop their skills.

“We expect that our competition this season will continue to be Frenchtown, Whitefish, and Laurel as we were the top four finishers at state last year and were often close in sweeps points at our various invitational tournaments,” Roe said.

Whitefish is starting out the season with a fairly young team.

“We have a great number of new freshmen,” Whitefish Head Coach Sara Mueller said. “It is exciting to see young students coming out and getting engaged with the team. Coupled with some solid returning members, I am seeing some depth developing that will serve us well.”

“There is a good sense of unity in this group, as well as many rookies. Runner-up state champion in Policy Debate, Alex Losee, will be returning with a new partner,” Mueller said. “His leadership on the team is certainly valued.”

Mueller points to the Public Forum Debaters, Zoe Tremper, Addie Blackaby and May Rowles, who are entering their senior season as important pieces of the team.

“They have really led the way in recruiting and sharing their expertise,” she said.

In speaking about the competition this year, Mueller also noted Columbia Falls and Frenchtown in addition to Laurel, which finished third at state.

“Columbia Falls is always to be respected. They are well-coached and well-prepared, and I very much value our friendly competition. I believe we make each other better. Frenchtown is defending a state championship, and Laurel is also on our radar to watch, although we will not see them in competition until the state tournament.”

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.