Havre speech takes third at East Helena

Press release

Havre High School saw success over the weekend when it took a young team to Helena Saturday for the first-ever tournament hosted by new Class A East Helena High School, the Vigilante Invitational, with a third-place finish in the Class A sweepstakes.

“This was a great showing for our team,” head coach Tim Leeds said. “To have two first-year entries break into the top eight and to score enough team points to win third in a meet of this size was pretty impressive of our students.

“All but three of our competitors at the Vigilante Invitational are first-year competitors, and everyone on the team got some good marks and good comments on ballots in the preliminary rounds,” Leeds added. “As well as being a great finish for our team, this was great experience for the Blue Pony speakers.”

The Ponies faced tough competition in its third-place finish, including students from Class AA schools Bozeman, Helena High, Helena Capital, Great Falls High School and C.M. Russell High School as well as from fellow Class A schools Fergus County High School from Lewistown, Park County High School in Livingston, Butte Central High School, Beaverhead County High School in Dillon and host East Helena High.

Park County took second in the Class A sweepstakes and East Helena won its home tournament.

Leading the charge for the Blue Ponies was third-year Lincoln-Douglas debater Paige Bertelsen, a junior. Bertelsen went 4-0 in preliminary rounds and broke into the finals round tied for first place. She lost in finals to an East Helena LDer and took second out of 18 debaters in the event.

Second-year Havre debater Justin Lickfold, also a junior, went 2-2 in the preliminaries in his first tournament of the season and fellow junior Sterling Shelton, a first-year debater competing at his second tournament, went 1-4, with neither quite breaking into the top eight. They took 12th and 13th, respectively.

In public forum debate, junior Corbyn Ehry and sophomore Carinna Cline, competing for the first time ever, went 1-4 to take fifth place.

And also scoring team points for Havre was first-year competitor Sophia Dawson, a junior. At her second-ever tournament, Dawson received one first-place and two second-place rankings in preliminary rounds, and, facing tough competition in finals, ending in fifth place.

Freshman Izabelle “Izzy” Hagen also competed in DOI for Havre at her second tournament, receiving good comments and marks in the preliminary rounds, but did not place.

In humorous oral interpretation of literature, Dever Everingham, a junior and second-year competitor, and sophomore Ethan Stimson, competing at his first tournament, received some good marks in preliminary rounds and almost made finals. Everingham ended in ninth place and Stimson finished in 10th.

In the most competitive event at the tournament with 24 entries, junior Jayden Zilkoski and freshman Sienna Dennis, both competing at their second tournament, did well in preliminaries but did not break into the top eight, although Zilkoski came close, ending in 11th.

After the Thanksgiving break, the Blue Pony team next competes at the two-day AA Frozeman Forensics Spectacular invitational tournament in Bozeman Dec. 3-4.