Havre speech takes firsts at Chinook

Special to the Daily News

The Havre High School speech and debate team, again shrunken by conflicting events preventing students from competing, once more took several first place finishes Saturday including in the team competition, with central Class A rival Browning taking second Saturday at the Chinook tournament.

“We keep having conflicts with other events that keep students from getting on the bus, but I’m very happy with how our kids who did compete this weekend finished,” Havre head coach Tim Leeds said.

Havre competitors took three first-place finishes, including second-tournament competitor Haley Nicholson, a senior, taking two first-place finishes in preliminary rounds and winning a first-place trophy.

Veteran Lincoln-Douglas debater Jacob Bachmeier, a junior, also took first at Chinook. Freshman Caitlyn Acuff took fourth out of six competitors in that event, with a loss to Bachmeier third round keeping her out of the finals round.

Team policy debaters Trenton Parrotte, a junior, and Trenton Smith, a sophomore, took first place in their event, as well.

Freshman Esther Stocker took a second-place finish in original oratory for Havre, while sophomore Randi Ruhkamp and junior Amanda Viall finished third and fourth, respectively, in humorous oral interpretation of literature.

Junior Josiah Stocker took fourth in memorized public address, while sophomore Kristen Belcourt took fifth in expository speaking and freshman Johnny Valadez, competing at his second tournament, took seventh in impromptu speaking.

“This was some pretty tough competition from north-central Montana schools ranging from Browning to Glasgow, and it should help the students fine-tune their performances for divisionals in Browning this next weekend,” Leeds said.