Cats take divisional speech, debate crown

The Columbia Falls speech and debate team gave their coach a big birthday present last week with a Northwest A divisional trophy.

The Wildcats ran away with the Jan. 21 tournament, scoring 206 points. Polson was a distant second with 72 points.

"They did a fantastic job," Norick, who turned 46, said. "They are a great group. This is a tough tournament because they compete against each other. It's tough to stay focused and energized."

Kaitlin Barnes, Jinise Osborne, Natalie Law, Blake Ladenburg, Chance Morine and Casey Bauer all had first-place finishes.

The entire team qualified for the state tournament this weekend in Polson.

"We've got our work cut out for us," Norick said. Norick was also named the divisional coach of the year

She said Stevensville, Laurel and Billings Central will be tough to beat.

The Wildcats won the state A tournament last year and look to repeat again this year.

Speech and debate sweepstakes

1st - Columbia Falls 206

2nd - Polson 72

3rd - Whitefish 62

Drama sweepstakes

1st - Libby 92

2nd - Polson 84

3rd - Frenchtown 12

Policy debate

3rd - Erick Franklund and Colter Norick

4th - Mary Gross and Allison Foust

5th - Ada Brooks and Monique Schoech

Lincoln-Douglas debate

1st - Kaitlin Barnes

2nd - Wolfie Dailing

6th - Becky Griffith

Impromptu

1st - Jinise Osborne

2nd - Mason Gedlaman

3rd - Chance Morine

Oratory

1st - Natalie Law

3rd - Meredith Stolte

5th - Casey Shea

Memorized

public address

1st - Blake Ladenburg

3rd - Olivia Ramstad

4th - Tristin Hennessey

Extemporaneous

1st - Chance Morine

3rd - Natalie Law

5th - Kevin Shea

Expository

1st - Casey Bauer

2nd - Baylee Brinton

3rd - Alex Damon

Humorous oratorical interpretation

2nd - Mason Gedlaman

4th - Calub Moon

5th - Lexi Brunz

Serious oratorical

interpretation

1st - Jinise Osborne

2nd - Brittany Cotton

3rd - Kate Donner