Glacier High speech and debate team opens new year with statement win
HILARY MATHESON | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 7 months, 2 weeks AGO
EDUCATION REPORTER Hilary Matheson covers education for the Daily Inter Lake. Her reporting focuses on schools, students, and the policies that shape public education across Northwest Montana. Matheson regularly reports on school boards, district decisions and issues affecting teachers and families. Her work examines how funding, enrollment and state policy influence local school systems. She helps readers understand how education decisions affect students and communities throughout the region. IMPACT: Hilary’s work provides transparency and insight into the schools that serve thousands of local families. | January 13, 2026 11:00 PM
The Glacier High School speech and debate team rolled into 2026 with a hard-fought win Friday and Saturday in Helena.
The competition was neck and neck between Glacier and Flathead high schools, but Glacier ultimately edged out Flathead by five points, 166 to 161.
The Glacier team was led by several decisive performances, head coach Greg Adkins said in a statement. Trevor Hammer and Megan Mikelson earned first place in Duo Interpretation; Josh Lee captured first in Extemporaneous Speaking; and Glacier secured the top two spots in Memorized Public Address, with Daniel Cole finishing first and Alex Carmalt placing second.
Flathead also had strong showing across events, including winning the top three spots in Program Oral Interpretation with Bronson Willcut in first place, Layna Astley in second and Jacob Braach in third. Other first-place finishers were B. Poitra in Legislative Debate and Keegan West and Sarah Loran in Public Forum Debate.
“Flathead had its strongest performance of the season, finishing just five points behind Glacier, with the team score tied until the last event was entered,” Flathead head coach Kelli Rosenquist said.
Seventeen schools competed in the two-day tournament, the majority of which were Class AA teams. Adkins noted that Bozeman — regarded as the favorite to win this season’s state title — had sent many of its varsity competitors to a tournament in Pocatello, Idaho, which added a layer of unpredictability to the competition.
“With Bozeman splitting their team, the results were tough to predict. We didn’t have a perfectly balanced tournament, but in the end, we did enough to win,” Adkins said.
All of Montana's 16 Class AA teams are expected to compete this weekend in Butte in the lead up to the Jan. 31 state championship.
The Class AA state tournament will be hosted by Glacier and volunteer judges are needed. People interested in judging can register online at kalispellspeechdebate.org. No prior experience is necessary. Training and a judge’s handbook will be available online. For more information contact Kyla Niva, judge coordinator, at 406-751-3500 extension 3583 or by email at [email protected].
Following are local results:
Duo Interpretation
1. Trevor Hammer and Megan Mikelson, Glacier
4. Layna Astley and Lincoln McElwain, Flathead
5. Sophie Johnson and Kaylin Stein, Glacier
7. Lynne Beisel and Jayden Astley, Flathead
Dramatic Interpretation
2. Autumn Bashara, Glacier
3. Lincoln McElwain, Flathead
4. Sophya Allred, Glacier
5. Jaydon Pesola, Flathead
6. Alex Carmalt, Glacier
Humorous Interpretation
3. Eli Sanderson Strutz, Glacier
4. Trevor Hammer, Glacier
5. Bridget Reed, Glacier
Program Oral Interpretation
1. Bronson Willcut, Flathead
2. Layna Astley, Flathead
3. Jacob Braach, Flathead
4. Daniel Cole, Glacier
6. Sophie Johnson, Glacier
8. Natalie Young, Flathead
Informative Speaking
3. Claire Timm, Flathead
4. Annabelle Church, Glacier
6. Adie Fedor, Flathead
8. Melody Hantz, Flathead
Original Oratory
2. Kendall Dolan, Glacier
4. Raya Gronley, Glacier
Memorized Public Address
1. Daniel Cole, Glacier
2. Alex Carmalt, Glacier
3. Bronson Willcut, Flathead
4. Josh Lee, Glacier
6. Tregan Blades, Glacier
Impromptu Speaking
2. Fenton Liebe-Cohen, Flathead
3. Jake Milone, Flathead
5. Erek Benson, Flathead
8. Autumn Bashara, Glacier
Extemporaneous Speaking
1. Josh Lee, Glacier
6. Logan Yuasa-Green, Flathead
7. Fenton Liebe-Cohen, Flathead
8. Jake Milone, Flathead
Legislative Debate
1. B. Poitra, Flathead
3. Vayda Kauffman, Flathead
6. Miles Flake, Flathead
Public Forum Debate
1. Keegan West and Sarah Loran, Flathead
3. Josie Morrison and Padmaja Vatti, Flathead
8. Joel Jones and Alexander Miller IV, Flathead
Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate
5. Noah Elliott, Glacier
8. Anya Denmark, Glacier
Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate
4. Lilah Wellemeyer, Glacier
5. Jonah Sphuler, Glacier
Varsity Policy Debate
3. Z. Belt and Tesla Liebe-Cohen, Glacier
7. Madhav Gautam and Griffin Ingersoll, Glacier
8. Mikayla King and Cayden Porter, Flathead
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