Havre High debater sees success at Corvallis online meet

Press release

Havre High School speech and debate fielded its smallest team in decades at an online tournament hosted by Corvallis High School Friday and Saturday, but still saw success at the tournament.

Senior LillieAnn Mecklenburg and sophomore Paige Bertelsen competed in Lincoln-Douglas debate for Havre, facing off against 32 opponents in the event.

The tournament saw 20 Class A schools including Havre competing.

Mecklenburg, a fourth-year debater for Havre, only lost one debate in the preliminary rounds, a close match against a Laurel debater. She won all four of her other preliminary rounds, including receiving a perfect score against a Columbia Falls debater. Her other three wins were against competitors from Lockwood and East Helena and another Laurel debater.

Mecklenburg just missed the cut to go to the finals round to debate for first and second place with a 4-1 record and 141 speaker points. She would have made finals with 146 speaker points, but ended up in fifth place at the tournament based on her win-loss record and points.

The Corvallis meet was the fourth-straight meet where Mecklenburg placed in the top eight.

Bertelsen, a second-year debater for the Blue Ponies, faced tough Class A competition and went 1-4, although she earned a perfect score in her win in a debate against a Whitefish competitor. Bertelsen’s losses were against another debater from Whitefish and competitors from Columbia Falls, Frenchtown and Sidney.

The Havre team will compete Saturday at the Eastern Class A Divisional Tournament to determine who goes to state. The top 12 in each event from divisionals go to state.

“I have high hopes for this weekend,” head coach Tim Leeds said. “The students seem to have gotten the hang of the online tournaments, and they have been working hard and doing well at the invitationals. I have hopes of qualifying our full team for state next week.