Havre speech and debate competes at state

Press release

Havre High School took a small team to the Class A state speech, debate and drama meet in Columbia Falls over the weekend, and while no one brought home any hardware, the head coach said he is pleased with their performance.

“All of our competitors are in their first year in their events, and while I would have liked to have seen some finalists, they did well against the best Class A has to offer for competition,” coach Tim Leeds said.

Sophomore Paige Anderson, competing in her first year in impromptu speaking, received some good marks and complimentary comments from judges in the preliminary rounds in Columbia Falls, but did not quite make the cutoff for the top 16 to compete in semifinals for a chance to advance to finals. Anderson ended in 21at place at state.

Freshmen Malachi Morris and Ishaan Vikas, competing in policy debate, won one round against a team from host and debate powerhouse Columbia Falls, but lost to teams who went on to place in the top eight at the tournament, including a team from Frenchtown, a team from Park High School in Livingston and the two Columbia Falls teams that ended up closing out the finals round and taking first and second.

The Havre team now takes a week off before heading to Billings to compete in the eastern Montana national qualifier tournament, to fight for a chance to travel in June to the National Speech and Debate Association national tournament in Des Moines, Iowa.