Local teams compete at state speech and debate
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Polson forensics, Ronan speech teams fares well at state meet
News from Polson and Ronan schools
HAMILTON — Competing with the best of the best from across the state, Polson High School speakers and debaters finished in fourth place at the Montana Class A Speech, Debate and Drama meet held in Hamilton Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.
Jon Petersen, PHS head speech coach, said 20 Class A teams competed at the tournament in seven individual events, two debate events and six drama events.
The top eight finishers in each event received a medal, and senior Sharidan Russell snagged two, a first place medal in Extemporaneous Speaking and a second place in Impromptu Speaking.
Petersen complimented Russell and said she would go down in PHS history as one of its best speech competitors.
Haley Kendley earned a second place medal in Expository Speaking, and Petersen said he told Kendley he felt she had the ability to medal at state.
“She kept making improvements to her speech, and in the end she did it with flying colors,” Petersen said.
Another PHS medalist was Kania Smith, who finished fifth in Serious Oral Interpretation of Literature.
“Kania changed her SOI piece halfway through the season, and it was a great choice for her. She really connected with her new character and brought her to life,” noted Katie Rehberg, PHS speech coach.
Cash Sisler finished his senior year with a fifth in Lincoln Douglas Debate while teammate and fellow senior Jacob Raymond pilled down an eighth place medal in Lincoln Douglas Debate. “It is great to have Cash and Jacob end their senior seasons with medals,” Ann Harrie, PHS debate coach, said. “The competition was tremendously tough this year, so they should both be proud of themselves.”
Columbia Falls High School’s team won state speech sweeps (team points, including debate) with 170 points, followed by Hamilton High School with 127 points, Stevensville with 82 points and then Polson with 66 points.
At the end of a long season, Petersen said he is really proud of the entire team.
“Almost all of the kids earned sweeps points, and a fourth-place finish is great, considering we have a small team,” she said.
Three members of the Ronan Speech and Debate team brought home prizes from the state tournament held in Glasgow last weekend.
Ryan Dresen placed third in humorous oral interpretation. Thomas Oschmann placed third in impromptu speaking. Bria Waldron placed eighth in expository speaking.
Out of 30 Class B teams competing at the state meet, Ronan ranked 7th as a team.
“(Assistant Coach Allen) Hazen and I are proud of our team’s strong showing in the post-season,” Head Coach Amy Miller said. “This was a building year for our team, and we proved to ourselves that we are contenders. We look forward to growing our program, recruiting more members, and having an even stronger finish next year.”
This year the Ronan program switched from a primary focus on drama competition to compete only in speech and debate.
“Coach Hazen and I felt we should redirect our team’s attention to speech and debate because it complements what students are doing in the classroom,” Miller said.
To get to State, the students first had to compete at the Southwest B Divisional Tournament held Jan. 25 in Ennis. Six students qualified for state.
Ryan Dresen took second place in Humorous Oral Interpretation; Ethen Sheumaker won third place in Humorous Oral Interpretation; Bradly Findly won third place in Serious Oral Interpretation; Thomas Oschmann took home third place in Impromptu Speaking; Ashley Boles ranked fourth in Spontaneous Oral Interpretation; and Bria Waldron was sixth place in Expository Speaking.
The team finished third place overall.
“To finish third in a division with 10 Class B schools on our first year in speech and debate only is a testament to how hard our team worked this year,” Miller said.
