Polson team places third at Class A State, debate duos earn gold
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News from Polson High School
BELGRADE — With just 11 competitors headed to State competition, the Polson High School Speech and Debate team finished third in Speech Sweeps at the Montana Class A Speech, Debate, and Drama Tournament held last weekend, Jan. 29-30, in Belgrade.
Only Columbia Falls and Whitefish bested Polson, but those schools boast full 36-member teams for speech, debate and drama. Twenty Class A teams participated in 16 different events broken up into 10 speech/debate events and six drama events. Corvallis won the championship in drama.
“Our goal at the beginning of the season was to finish third at state, so I am extremely satisfied with our showing this weekend,” Head Coach Jon Petersen said. “We just haven’t been able to get enough kids to join or stay on the team to compete with Columbia Falls and Whitefish. Nonetheless, we managed to beat several teams that had larger rosters.”
Medalists who placed and brought home first-place hardware for the Pirates were Mollie Lemm and Katelyn Toland in Public Forum Debate and Annabelle Smith and Sophia Speckert in Policy Debate.
“What can I say about our two debate teams? Both Policy and Public Forum were 1-2 after the first three rounds, and both made a huge comeback on Saturday to take their respective titles,” Petersen said. “Last week I said that I couldn’t be prouder of my team. I was wrong. I am even prouder this weekend.”
Kenyon Cairns earned third place in Lincoln-Douglas Debate and Geneva des Lions placed fifth in Impromptu Speaking.
“Geneva has been working super hard all season, so it was great to see her finish in fifth place. She fully deserved the medal that she earned,” Petersen said. “Kenyon’s third place finish was impressive as well—the level of competition in Lincoln-Douglas debate was outstanding this year.”
Results
Team Sweeps, Top Five, Speech
1st – Columbia Falls (229)
2nd – Whitefish (204)
3rd – Polson (83)
4th – Stevensville (68)
5th – Billings Central (59)
