Havre students place at state speech

Press release

Havre High School took a small team to the Class A state speech and debate tournament over the weekend, with Havre's team doing well in Sidney including bringing home two state medals.

"I'm pleased with how we did at state," head coach Tim Leeds said. "This is the best of the best in Class A competition, and our kids worked hard and did well."

Senior Paige Bertelsen, a fourth-year Lincoln Douglas debater, excelled in the preliminary rounds, going 4-1 in tough rounds to break into finals.

Bertelsen defeated debaters from Columbia Falls, Browning and East Helena before taking her first loss in the fourth round from a Corvallis competitor. She came back in the fifth round to defeat a debater from Hamilton.

She won a ballot in a close quarterfinals debate against a Billings Central debater, but lost in a 1-2 decision and ended in fifth place.

Senior Sterling Shelton, a second-year Lincoln-Douglas debater, started with a loss to a Fergus High School debater from Lewistown, but rebounded to beat a Corvalis competitor.

Shelton lost to an East Helena debater third round, but came back to win the next two against debaters form Columbia Falls and another East Helena student.

He won a ballot against a third East Helena competitor in the quarterfinals in a split decision, and brought an eighth-place medal back to Havre.

Senior Justin Lickfold, another second-year Lincoln-Douglas debater for Havre, faced tough competition from the start and lost the first four rounds, to debaters from Columbia Falls, Browning, East Helena and Corvallis. He came back to win the fifth round, against a debater from Hamilton.

Freshman Lyvia Little, who started the season in debate but switched to humorous oral interpretation of literature in December, did well in the preliminary rounds, including getting a first-place ranking from her third-round judge, and broke into the semifinals. She received good comments in the semis round but did not break into the finals round.

Sophomore Sienna Dennis, a second-year impromptu speaker for Havre, also did well in preliminaries including a third-place ranking from her third-round judge, but just missed the cut to get into semifinals.

Junior Carinna Kline and sophomore Trinity Olsen competed at divisionals for Havre, in informative speaking and dramatic oral interpretation of literature, respectively, but just missed the cut to break to state. They traveled with the team as alternates in case students who qualified in their events from other schools were unable to compete in Sidney.

The team now has a week off before it travels to Belgrade for Montana's National Speech and Debate Association Eastern District national qualifier tournament.

The national tournament will be held in June in Mesa, Arizona.