Ponies compete at debate national qualifier

Special to the Daily News

The Havre High School speech and debate team took some debaters to Billings over the weekend for the qualifier for national competition in Dallas in June, and although no Blue Ponies qualified for the national tournament, head coach Tim Leeds said he was happy with their efforts.

Junior Jacob Bachmeier and freshman Caitlyn Acuff competed in Lincoln-Douglas debate and Junior Trenton Parrotte and sophomore Ethan Smith competed for Havre in team policy debate.

“I would have liked to have seen them all go further — they could have made it all the way to nationals if things had fallen better — but all of our kids did well against the cream of the crop for Montana debaters,” Leeds said.

Bachmeier, who placed eighth for Havre at the Class A state tournament, lost his first round in a tough debate, then came back to win a 3-0 decision in his second round. He lost in a split decision in the third round in the double-elimination tournament.

Acuff won her first round, then lost in a split decision against the Class A state champion, winning one ballot off of the Columbia Falls debater, but losing a close match in the third round.

Parrotte and Smith had about the same success, losing a close first round then rebounding in the second, but the team was unable to win a close match in third round of competition.

The next major event for the team is its awards dinner, tentatively scheduled for next Monday, Feb. 23.