Havre speakers do well in Bozeman

Press release

The Havre High School speech and debate team did well at a massive interstate tournament in Bozeman over the weekend.

The tournament saw members of 25 teams compete, from schools in the Class C, B, A and AA brackets including a AA team that traveled from Pocatello High School in Idaho.

The meet was filled with students, with close to 600 students including the 10 Blue Ponies competing.

“This was great experience,” Head Havre High Coach Tim Leeds said. “We have many new competitors on the team along with some veterans, and to see this size, and quality, of competitors was great training for our team.”

Havre’s Lyvia Little, a sophomore in her second year on the team and first year competing in Lincoln-Dougas debate — Bozeman was her third tournament in that event — went the furthest.

Little went 3-2 in the preliminary rounds and earned high speaker points, leading to her breaking into the octafinals round in Bozeman.

She beat debaters from Billings Senior High School, co-host Bozeman High School and CM Russell High School in Great Falls while losing close rounds to debaters from Billings Senior High School and Hellgate High in Missoula before breaking into the octafinal round. There, she beat a debater from co-host Gallatin High School before losing a close round in quarterfinals to another Gallatin High student.

Little ended up in seventh place out of the 42 competitors in her debate.

Fellow Havre High Lincoln-Douglas debater Trinity Olsen just missed the cut to outrounds. Olsen, also a second-year Blue Pony speaker in her first year in LD debate and at her third tournament in the event, beat debaters from Glacier High in Kalispell and two Bozeman competitors but lost rounds to a debater from CM Russell and another Glacier competitor to end up 3-2. 

Olsen’s 80 speaker point total was one short of putting her into contention for octafinals.

Havre’s Carinna Kline also came close to outrounds, with high scores in informative speaking putting her just short of breaking into semifinals in her event.

Senior Ethan Stimson, who has competed for Havre in the past two seasons as well, also received some high marks and complimentary comments from judges in humorous interpretation of literature, but did not make the cut to semifinals in the event, which saw 40 competitors.

Senior Gavin Lara, competing in informative for the first time, also received good comments from judges in informative speaking, as did third-year competitor Sienna Dennis, a junior, in impromptu speaking and second-year speaker Paige Anderson, a sophomore in impromptu. 

Impromptu speaking had a massive roster of 65 students in Bozeman.

Senior Quentin Randles, competing at his first tournament, received strong complimentary comments from judges in humorous interpretation of literature but did not break into semis.

Havre travels this weekend to face some strong competition from both sides of the continental divide at the Browning invitational tournament.