Havre competes at Corvallis speech tournament

Special to the Daily News

The Havre High School speech and debate team saw some success, though no sweeping victories, at its most competitive meet so far this year in Corvallis.

Havre took 18 of the 245 competitors registered at Corvallis, which included eight Class A schools and also saw entries from Class AA and B-C schools.

Sophomore Ethan Smith, competing in his second year for Havre, and junior Chris Steinmetz and freshman Esther Stocker, both first-year Blue Pony speakers, broke into the semifinal rounds in highly competitive events.

Smith broke into the top 16 in serious oral interpretation of literature, which saw nearly 40 entries at the tournament. Steinmetz made it into semifinals in memorized public address and Stocker hit the top 16 in original oratory; each event had nearly 30 entries.

The three semifinalists couldn’t quite make the cut to break into the finals rounds, although they received some good ballots against top competition.

Head coach Tim Leeds said that, while he would have liked to have seen more students break into outrounds and had hoped the semifinalists would make it to finals, he was pleased with the results.

“This was a tough tournament and great experience for our speakers,” he said. “Many of the kids Havre saw have been finalists at past state tournaments, and we may see them in finals at state this year.

“We had several other competitors who were right on the edge of breaking into outrounds, and everyone received good marks and some great critiques from judges,” he added. “I would have liked to have seen some Blue Ponies winning some awards at this tournament, but the experience is going to help get them ready for state in Columbia Falls.”

Junior Mina Everingham lost a tie-breaking procedure that would have put her in the semifinals in serious oral interpretation, while Brandon Bergren, also a junior, missed a chance to compete in semis by one point.

Havre’s debate squad also earned some team points for Havre with wins against top-notch competition.

Varsity policy team debaters Trenton Parrotte, a junior, and Trenton Smith, a sophomore, lost their first two rounds to teams from perennial powerhouse Columbia Falls, then won two rounds against debaters from Hamilton High School. Parrotte and Smith lost the fifth round, which could have gotten them into outrounds, in a debate against competitors from Loyala High School in Missoula, a debate the judge said was almost too close to call.

Freshmen Amelia Beard and Nic Tanner, competing in their second tournament in team debate for Havre, lost their first three rounds to debaters from Loyala, Hamilton and Stevensville High School. They beat a team from Ronan in the fourth round, but lost a close match in the fifth round to another Ronan team.

This weekend, Havre travels to Great Falls for a two-day AA tournament, then heads to Lewistown Jan. 10 for the Fergus County High School invitational after Christmas break.