Flathead High School is looking to defend its state championship title in speech and debate against top rival and 2024 state runner-up, Bozeman, and fellow Kalispell team, Glacier High School as a new season begins. 

The Class AA speech and debate teams will speak their mind in the season-opener, Kalispell Kickoff, Saturday, which will be held at Flathead, 644 4th Ave. W., Kalispell. The first round starts at 8 a.m. with finals set to begin at 4:30 p.m. 

Flathead launches the competitive season on home turf with about 110 team members with more Braves set to join after fall sports wrap up. Flathead head coach Shannon O’Donnell anticipates this year’s team will be strong in debate events, despite losing most of last year’s state members competing in interpretive events. 

“I think the core strength of this season's team will be in Public Forum Debate, Extemp, and the handful of returning seniors we have  -- kids like Collin Olson in Duo Interpretation and Dramatic Interpretation, Ada Milner in Public Oral Interpretation, Fallon Maas in Dramatic Interpretation, Maya Graham in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, and Kaylee Hampton in Legislative Debate,” O’Donnell said. 

The team will look to its seasoned veterans to talk the team up including: Program Oral Interpretation state champion and national qualifier Lindy Porter; two-time World Schools Debate national qualifier, Jack Blodgett, who automatically qualified for the 2025 national tournament; two-time Legislative Debate national qualifier, Hampton; two-time Program Oral Interpretation national qualifier, Milner; Legislative Debate national qualifier, Mitchell Johnson and Duo Interpretation national qualifier, Olson. 

O’Donnell said to also keep an eye on performances by Jacob Braach in Original Oratory; Jake Milone the state runner-up in Extemporaneous Speaking; Brett Pesola in Public Forum Debate and Claire Timm in Original Oratory and Informative Speaking. 

The Braves are seeking to defend the state champion title and bring home the hardware by focusing on one tournament at a time, according to O’Donnell. 

“Because our season is such a long one, our primary goal is always to focus on what we can do in the moment to improve our craft for future performances,” she said. “January is such a long way off, and as we learned last year, a lot can happen between now and then. The coaching staff works hard to keep the team focused on each moment of the journey. What needs work today -- how can we improve our research, case-writing, humor, delivery ...  today?”  

“If your program is Flathead, Glacier, or Bozeman, it's always the goal to fight for a state championship. As a head coach, I've never won a back-to-back title before, and since state is in Bozeman, it will be a daunting task to pull it off this year. We'll certainly give it our best effort, though,” O’Donnell added. 

GLACIER OPENS the season with more than 120 students including returning state champions, national qualifiers and a mix of veterans and promising newcomers. The team finished in third place last season.  

He said the team is working hard to develop the next wave of talent by adding Jon Sorensen and Jackson Palmer to the junior varsity coaching staff. 

“Graduation has hit us hard. The last two graduating classes (’23 and ’24) were stacked with talent. We’re hoping to fill those gaps with a mix of newcomers and former JV members stepping into bigger roles,” Adkins said.   

He said the program aims to continue its 16-year trend of finishing in the top three spots at state noting some of the competitors to watch this season include: returning two-time state champion in Memorized Public Address and Original Oratory national qualifier, Ellie Fiala in addition to Humorous Interpretation state champion Kaylin Stein. Other national qualifiers returning to the Wolfpack are Noel Cantrell, Dramatic Interpretation; Kennedy Garvin and Josh Lee, World Schools Debate and Anya Rountree, Program Oral Interpretation.  

Adkins also noted the Montana High School Association All-State honorees Cantrell in Dramatic Interpretation; Fiala in Original Oratory; Rountree in Program Oral Interpretation; Stein in Humorous Interpretation and debaters Owen Carpenter and Lee.  

Other team members who may prove their mettle this season also include Alyssa Conrad, Atticus Cheman, Claire Ennis, Amelia Remley, Emmery Schmidt, Jack Syverson, Anya Denmark and Jakoby Isles. 

“Bozeman will be the team to beat this year, especially as the state hosts,” Adkins said. “Flathead has an excellent program with outstanding coaches, and Missoula Hellgate is an up-and-coming program to watch.” 

After the kickoff, the junior varsity teams are scheduled to compete in Columbia Falls Nov. 9. Varsity teams are set to compete in Missoula on Nov. 15 and 16. 

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or [email protected].