Glacier High School’s speech and debate team brought home the hardware in a decisive win over the weekend in Missoula.  

The Class AA team racked up 178 overall points at the Nov. 15 and 16 tournament, surpassing Bozeman's 129 points. Flathead High School placed third with 118 points.  

“What a battle from our team,” Glacier head coach Greg Adkins said. “This was truly a team effort, and we ended up in first place because of the balance across all the events.” 

In Class A, B and C, Columbia Falls High School took first place with 42 overall points, followed by Whitefish High School in second place with 33 points. Across all divisions, the two schools ranked seventh and 10th respectively. 

The Flathead Valley teams were led by standout performances from individual winners including Glacier’s Calvin Casey in Program Oral Interpretation, Anya Denmark in Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate and Lillie Groom and Kyra Russell in Novice Policy Debate. Flathead’s Collin Olson took first in Dramatic Interpretation while Columbia Falls’ Carson Settles and Reed Wollenzien won Duo Interpretation. Scoring a first-place finish for Whitefish was Unity Loveless in Memorized Public Address. 

Next, teams travel to Ronan to compete in a Saturday tournament.  

The following are local individual results. 

Varsity Policy Debate

6. Vana Fortune and Ethan Hunsaker, Whitefish 

8. Jake Dunker and Andrew Gibbs, Whitefish 

Novice Policy Debate 

1. Lillie Groom and Kyra Russell, Glacier 

3. Z Belt and Bryson Wakefield, Glacier 

5. Jake Dunker and Andrew Gibbs, Whitefish 

Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate 

1. Anya Denmark, Glacier 

Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate

6. Hailey Fiala, Glacier 

Public Forum Debate

2. Brett Pesola and Jack Blodgett, Flathead 

3. Kennady Garvin and Maya Kinkaid, Glacier 

4. Abigail O'Connell and Vikram Vatti, Flathead 

7. Kinsey Bergman and Kailey Lacy, Glacier 

Legislative Debate

4. Kaylee Hampton, Flathead 

6. B Poitra, Flathead 

Impromptu Speaking 

2. Katie Miletich, Flathead

3. Erek Benson, Flathead 

4. Jake Milone, Flathead 

7. Autumn Bashara, Glacier 

Extemporaneous Speaking

4. Jake Milone, Flathead 

6. Fenton Liebe-Cohen, Flathead 

Program Oral Interpretation 

1. Calvin Casey, Glacier 

2. Ada Milner, Flathead 

3. Anya Rountree, Glacier 

4. Jacob Braach, Flathead 

5. Bronson Willcut, Flathead 

6. Ili Hoerth, Glacier 

8. Natalie Young, Flathead 

Duo Interpretation

1. Carson Settles and Reed Wollenzien, Columbia Falls 

2. Ayden Mintz and Zaden Stout, Glacier 

3. Collin Olson and Jaydon Pesola, Flathead 

5. Claire Ennis and Daniel Cole, Glacier 

6. Allycyn Palmer and Merrick Fairchild, Columbia Falls 

Humorous Interpretation

2. Kaylin Stein, Glacier 

3. Bridget Reed, Glacier 

4. Maxwell Jones, Flathead 

5. Tia Marie Poor, Columbia Falls 

Dramatic Interpretation

1. Collin Olson, Flathead 

2. Noel Cantrell, Glacier 

6. Megan Mikelson, Glacier 

Original Oratory 

2. Astir Pulsifer, Whitefish 

3. Claire Timm, Flathead 

4. Myla Lamson, Glacier 

Informative Speaking 

7. Layna Astley, Flathead 

Memorized Public Address

1. Unity Loveless, Whitefish 

2. Calvin Casey, Glacier 

3. Ellie Fiala, Glacier 

4. Eleanor Smiley, Columbia Falls 

5. Anya Rountree, Glacier 

8. Merell Cooley, Columbia Falls