Speech grabs gold in Bozeman

The Whitefish speech and debate team continued its strong season with a first-place finish at the Bozeman Invitational.

Whitefish took first in Class A sweepstakes points at the meet, beating out second-place Corvallis and third-place Belgrade.

Bethany Barnes was the top Bulldog in a field of 700 competitors across the meet. She took sixth in informative speaking.

Danika Tintzman took seventh in humorous interpretation, and Lilly Butts finished eighth in Lincoln-Douglas debate.

“We were very proud to have held our own in a field of 700 competitors and to earn the Class A championship,” head coach Sara Mueller said. “This was a great opportunity to see what the east side of our state will bring prior to the state tournament held in January in Belgrade and to prepare ourselves for the judging pool we will face during that tournament.”

This week the team travels to Frenchtown. That will begin at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday. Then they’ll have a week over before the two-day Corvallis tournament the following week.

Individual results

Lincoln-Douglas debate: 8. Lilly Butts

Informative: 6. Bethany Barnes

Humorous interpretation: 7. Danika Tintzman

Sweepstakes: 1. Whitefish, 2. Corvallis, 3. Belgrade