Whitefish speech dominates invite following holiday break

After steadily improving over the course of the season, on Saturday the Whitefish speech and debate team took first place in the virtual invite hosted by Custer County.

The Bulldogs scored 138 points to beat out Frenchtown by 20 points and Columbia Falls by 38 points, who took second and third place in the sweepstakes respectively. Whitefish not only grabbed the team victory, but also had six champions across various categories.

The Whitefish champions included Lucy Schindler in both memorized public address and dramatic interpretation, Abigail Bowden in both impromptu and extemporaneous speaking, Adrienne Healy in informative speaking, and the team of Stacia Tremper and Sophie Tabor in the public forum debate.

Also in the policy debate category, the team of Bethany Barnes and Emma Trieweiler took second place.

“Although the highlight of the tournament could have been the six championships, and that was certainly exciting, I was most proud watching the veterans support the rest of the team, recruit to fill remaining slots, and encourage each other in the most challenging of seasons,” Whitefish speech coach Sara Mueller said. “We are motivated to hold the momentum headed into the rest of the season.”

Bulldog speech and debate will compete again on Saturday for a virtual invite hosted by Corvallis.

Team results

Sweepstakes: 1. Whitefish (138 points), 2. Frenchtown (118 points), 3. Columbia Falls (100 points)

Individual results

Memorized Public Address- 1. Lucy Schindler

Informative Speaking- 1. Adrienne Healy

Dramatic Interpretation- 1. Lucy Schindler

Impromptu- 1. Abigail Bowden, 5. Adrienne Healy

Extemporaneous Speaking- 1. Abigail Bowden

Public Forum Debate- 1. Stacia Tremper and Sophie Tabor

Policy Debate- 2. Bethany Barnes and Emma Trieweiler