Flathead Valley’s Class A high school speech and debate teams dominated a weekend tournament in Columbia Falls, claiming the top three spots. 

Columbia Falls High School won first-place by a slim margin, scoring 265 points overall, to runner-up Whitefish High School’s 252 points. Bigfork High School finished in third place with 102 points overall. 

“All season long, the margin between Columbia Falls and Whitefish has been razor-thin, with each tournament decided by only a handful of points. This ongoing back-and-forth has created a highly competitive yet respectful rivalry between the two schools," Columbia Falls head coach Dawn Wheeler said. 

Eleven schools competed at the two-day tournament with 159 entries.  

Individually, Columbia Falls competitors placed first in four events. They include: Kory Moran in Dramatic Interpretation, Eleanor Smiley in Impromptu Speaking and Informative Speaking, and Megan Day and Lily Aveson in Policy Debate.   

Whitefish students won four events, including Sage Delaloye in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Shailey Green and Avery McPherson in Public Forum Debate, Logan Covey in Extemporaneous Speaking and Unity Loveless in Memorized Public Address. 

“This tournament proved that the battle for state is going to be tight. The team worked hard over break to put together some updates to pieces and prepare for new debate topics. We can certainly see areas where that work paid off right away,” Whitefish head coach Sara Mueller said. 

Bigfork High School hosts the next tournament Jan. 17 and volunteer judges are needed. No prior experience is necessary. Training will be held at 3:30 p.m., Jan. 14 in the high school library. Register online at tinyurl.com/Bigforkspeechjudge. For more information contact Bigfork head coach Shirley Stine at [email protected].    

Following are individual results for Columbia Falls and Whitefish: 

Policy Debate 

1. Megan Day and Lily Aveson, Columbia Falls 

2. Bjorn Bungener and Cohen Gates, Whitefish 

5. Andrew Gibbs and Ozel Peters, Whitefish 

6. Annika Alevizos and Zooey Alevizos, Whitefish 

Lincoln-Douglas Debate 

1. Sage Delaloye, Whitefish 

2. Loren Connors, Columbia Falls  

5. Josie Ekholt, Columbia Falls 

6. Anastasia Alevizos, Whitefish 

Public Forum Debate 

1. Shailey Green and Avery McPherson, Whitefish 

2. Marcus Mercer and Gracie Sliman, Whitefish 

3. Malakai Shaw and Chloe Kinsella, Columbia Falls 

6. David Losee and Avery Sorensen, Whitefish 

Policy Debate 

4. Kendal Moultray and Cheyanne Dear-Ruel, Columbia Falls 

Extemporaneous Speaking 

1. Logan Covey, Whitefish 

2. Mason Loeffler, Whitefish 

3. Merrick Fairchild, Columbia Falls 

4. Greyson Pfeifle, Columbia Falls 

7. Fawkes Flaherty, Whitefish 

Impromptu Speaking 

1. Eleanor Smiley, Columbia Falls 

3. Abby Lawhead, Columbia Falls 

4. Astir Pulsifer, Whitefish 

5. Sierra Gibb, Whitefish 

6. Kira Shanks, Columbia Falls 

Informative Speaking 

1. Eleanor Smiley, Columbia Falls  

4. Olivia Close, Bigfork

6. Greyson Pfeifle, Columbia Falls 

Humorous Interpretation 

1. Brody Henion, Bigfork

2. Jacob Baldi, Bigfork

3. Tia Marie Poor, Columbia Falls 

4. Adrien Sandon-Thompson, Columbia Falls 

5. Lillian Nelson, Whitefish 

6. Brandon Widhalm, Columbia Falls 

Dramatic Interpretation 

1. Kory Moran, Columbia Falls 

2.  Rylee Wood, Bigfork

3. Tia Marie Poor, Columbia Falls 

7. Aiden Cubbage, Whitefish 

Program Oral Interpretation 

1. Micah Butler, Bigfork

2. Scarlet Burke, Whitefish  

4. Kira Shanks, Columbia Falls  

5. Merrick Fairchild, Columbia Falls 

7. Charlie Helgeson, Whitefish 

8. Callie Williams, Columbia Falls 

Duo Interpretation 

1.  Olivia Close and Jacob Baldi, Bigfork

2. Scarlet Burke and Unity Loveless, Whitefish 

3. Brandon Widhalm and Von Blanchard, Columbia Falls 

4. Adrien Sandon-Thompson and Jacob Osborn, Columbia Falls 

5. Cassidy Krack and Lillian Nelson, Whitefish 

6. Madeline Pomeroy and Cy Devlin, Bigfork

Original Oratory 

1. Madeline Pomeroy, Bigfork

3. Astir Pulsifer, Whitefish 

6. Merell Cooley, Columbia Falls 

7. Abby Lawhead, Columbia Falls 

8. Meghan Amick, Whitefish 

Memorized Public Address 

1. Unity Loveless, Whitefish 

2. Merell Cooley, Columbia Falls  

3. Olivia Lawson, Columbia Falls 

4. Logan Covey, Whitefish 

7. Mason Loeffler, Whitefish