Whitefish speech second in home tournament
The Bulldog speech and debate team hosted 17 high schools at the Whitefish Invitational on Saturday.
Whitefish finished second to Columbia Falls in sweepstakes. Polson was third.
“With 17 high schools competing, this was the largest tournament Whitefish has hosted since the Class A State Tournament in 2020,” Whitefish coach Sara Mueller said. “We are grateful for an exceptional turnout and support from judges in the community to make the event possible and former competitors who helped with the running of the meet. We also wish to thank the schools and the district for supporting our team.
In the meet, the Bulldogs had several placers and the debaters had a strong showing again. The team of Bjorn Bungener and Jake Dunker took second and Alex Losee and Vana Fortune took third in policy debate. For Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Charlotte Perkins finished second and in public forum debate, the team of Ana Alevizos and Avery McPherson was second.
On the speech side, Whitefish had a slew of competitors take third. In dramatic interpretation, Cole Pickert was third, in duo interpretation the team of Scarlet Burke and Unity Loveless was third and in extemporaneous Avery Sorensen finished third.
“The home tournament requires coaches to spend time away from coaching to prepare. We were proud of the students' efforts in practice to work with each other. We are thrilled to head into January with this momentum,” Mueller said.
Speech will compete again after the holiday break on Jan. 6 in Hamilton.
Whitefish Results:
Policy Debate: 2. Bjorn Bungener and Jake Dunker, 3. Alex Losee and Vana Fortune
Lincoln-Douglas Debate: 2. Charlotte Perkins
Public Forum Debate: 2. Ana Alevizos and Avery McPherson, 6. Jayce McDonald and Brynn McDonald, 8. Saige Smith and Shailey Green
Dramatic Interp: 3. Cole Pickert, 5. Annie Walsh
Duo Interp: 3. Scarlet Burke and Unity Loveless
Extemporaneous: 3. Avery Sorensen
Impromptu: 6. Ava Bee, 7. Astir Pulsifer
Informative: 6. Scarlet Burke
Memorized Public Address: 4. Unity Loveless, 8. Ella Walker
Original Oratory: 4. Astir Pulsifer, 5. Iona Sarraille
Sweepstakes: 1. Columbia Falls (150), 2. Whitefish (139), 3. Polson (103)