Havre speech does well at high-power tournament

Press release

The Havre High School speech and debate team took a small squad again cut by conflicting events to a highly competitive tournament this weekend, and saw enough success to make it into the top Class A teams.

The nine Havre competitors were up against students from Class AA schools Glacier High School from Kalispell and Great Falls’ CM Russell and Great Falls high schools, as well as perennial Class A powerhouses Columbia Falls and Whitefish as well as LIbby, host Browning and local Class B and C schools.

Havre ended up in third place in the Class A competition with Whitefish taking first and Columbia Falls in second place. Browning took fourth while Libby took fifth.

Leading the way for the Blue Ponies was first-year competitor Alex Barkus in informative speaking. The senior, competing in her second tournament, took second place in the highly competitive event.

Public forum debaters Tony Antley, a junior, and Noah Teasley, a freshman, competing as a team for the first time because their regular partners could not make the tournament, took seventh.

Eric Harrison, competing for the first time in extemporaneous speaking because his public forum partner also could not make the Browning meet, scored points for Havre with an eighth-place finish.

Also scoring points for Havre, with wins in Lincoln-Douglas debate, were senior Johnny Valadez, who went 2-1, and junior Kaleb Gardner, who went 1-2. Valadez and Gardner did not make the cut into the top eight of the 20 LD debaters at the tournament.

“I am pleased with how we did and continue to do this season,” head coach Tim Leeds said. “At the Lewistown tournament Dec. 2, we should have most of our team, nearly double what we took to Browning, and I am hoping the experience and practice they get the rest of the season will have our team peaking in January for divisionals and state.”

Divisionals is set this year for Jan. 20 in Sidney with state the following weekend, Jan. 26-27, in Corvallis.