HELENA – Unphased by having 11 students and two coaches in quarantine from positive COVID tests, the Talking Saints team earned its 32nd straight Northwest Forensics Conference regional title, shared this year with Boise State University and Lewis & Clark College.
Carroll students won 48 awards at the championship online tournament hosted by Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, January 28-30. The team won gold medal recognition for the year, the region’s highest honor, and was named the top debate program in the Northwest. First-year Emma Peterson of Belgrade, Montana, was named the top novice at the tournament.
“A really surreal weekend, with kids in designated quarantine rooms with their laptops,” said coach Brent Northup. “Some of the students were asymptomatic, or with light symptoms. Everybody chose to compete, even though they had the option to pull out. A few voices were raspy and they were tired, but their minds were sharp. Their spirit was inspiring.”
Leading the team was Vicente Gallardo, a junior from Butte, who, with partner Roisin O’Neill of Lake Oswego, Oregon, won open debate. Competing from a quarantine room in Guad, Gallardo also won open impromptu, and was named top speaker in the tournament.
“I am very happy with not only our own performance, but the performance of the team overall,” said Gallardo. “A full season of hard work and practice has really paid off.”
Both sophomore Melissa Jagelski of Ontario, Oregon, and first-year Anna Brown of Olympia, Washington, each won four awards. Jagelski and senior partner Ally Haegele of Helena followed their success in December with another exceptional tournament.
Sophomore Josie Howlett of Bigfork and junior Brady Clark of Madison, Wisconsin, competed in debate finals, and were among the four Carroll semifinal teams in open debate – half the field. Carroll’s first-year team of June LePage of Lewistown and Madi McDonald of Missoula finished second in junior, behind a team from Georgia Tech.
“Something like this was likely to happen at some point, but being quarantined during the most important tournament of the year was unprecedented,” said McDonald. “I am so grateful that I was able to quarantine with June and compete with her there. Her competitiveness and Sophia's humor are what allowed us to be hopeful and successful.”
The weekend was full of moments to share with their grandchildren.
“Anna (Brown) was in tears on Thursday. She thought it was so unfair she had caught COVID twice this year. She felt miserable and had resigned to dropping out on Thursday morning,” said Northup. “But Thursday night she called me and said she had played through injuries all through her varsity basketball career, and wanted me to put her back in for the 8 am Friday round. I trusted her judgement, and she was brilliant. Later Friday, I tested positive, so I just channeled Anna’s spirit and became their loudest cheerleader from my study at home. I handed off my credit card and told them not to forget to eat and not to drain my account. Not sure if letting them compete was the best call, but trying to stop them was going to foment a rebellion. Their performance reminded me of the Kirk Gibson World Series homer, a reference no one understood.”
Ten team members won three or more awards including first-years LePage, Brown, Peterson and Angelica Sutton of Wolf Point. Sutton won an Eagle award as the region’s third best novice competitor for the year.
Brady Clark won extemporaneous speaking for the second straight time this season, and reached finals of debate with partner Josie Howlett, who won three awards.
“I’m thrilled,” said Clark, who credited his coaches. “Josh (Mansfield, ’21) made me an Extemp whiz and Teigen (Tremper, ’21) got me ready for the final arts motion in debate.”
The conference’s Brent Northup Award was won by Simone Jericho of Whitworth University. The award, given to the region’s top competitor, was renamed for Carroll’s coach last year.
The team now turns the corner to season-ending championships. Four first-year debaters head to Novice Nationals, held online and hosted by at Cornell University, on February 12 and 13. The upper class is aiming for an Alaska championship in April, which hopes to host in-person, if Omicron subsides.
“The struggles this weekend seemed to bring us together,” said Northup. “Two years ago at this same Pacific event, our bus was stuck in the mud, and we had to walk down a dirt road to get rescued by a Boise State bus. This year we got stuck in COVID mud. Hard times bring out the best in us. I can assure the Carroll family that these kids represented their school proudly. They simply refused to quit. They were aware of those alums that came before them, and that motivated them. I wondered if they’d survive, and they ended up having one of their best tournaments in years.”
HELENA – Unphased by having 11 students and two coaches in quarantine from positive COVID tests, the Talking Saints team earned its 32nd straight Northwest Forensics Conference regional title, shared this year with Boise State University and Lewis & Clark College.
Carroll students won 48 awards at the championship online tournament hosted by Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, January 28-30. The team won gold medal recognition for the year, the region’s highest honor, and was named the top debate program in the Northwest. First-year Emma Peterson of Belgrade, Montana, was named the top novice at the tournament.
“A really surreal weekend, with kids in designated quarantine rooms with their laptops,” said coach Brent Northup. “Some of the students were asymptomatic, or with light symptoms. Everybody chose to compete, even though they had the option to pull out. A few voices were raspy and they were tired, but their minds were sharp. Their spirit was inspiring.”
Leading the team was Vicente Gallardo, a junior from Butte, who, with partner Roisin O’Neill of Lake Oswego, Oregon, won open debate. Competing from a quarantine room in Guad, Gallardo also won open impromptu, and was named top speaker in the tournament.
“I am very happy with not only our own performance, but the performance of the team overall,” said Gallardo. “A full season of hard work and practice has really paid off.”
Both sophomore Melissa Jagelski of Ontario, Oregon, and first-year Anna Brown of Olympia, Washington, each won four awards. Jagelski and senior partner Ally Haegele of Helena followed their success in December with another exceptional tournament.
Sophomore Josie Howlett of Bigfork and junior Brady Clark of Madison, Wisconsin, competed in debate finals, and were among the four Carroll semifinal teams in open debate – half the field. Carroll’s first-year team of June LePage of Lewistown and Madi McDonald of Missoula finished second in junior, behind a team from Georgia Tech.
“Something like this was likely to happen at some point, but being quarantined during the most important tournament of the year was unprecedented,” said McDonald. “I am so grateful that I was able to quarantine with June and compete with her there. Her competitiveness and Sophia's humor are what allowed us to be hopeful and successful.”
The weekend was full of moments to share with their grandchildren.
“Anna (Brown) was in tears on Thursday. She thought it was so unfair she had caught COVID twice this year. She felt miserable and had resigned to dropping out on Thursday morning,” said Northup. “But Thursday night she called me and said she had played through injuries all through her varsity basketball career, and wanted me to put her back in for the 8 am Friday round. I trusted her judgement, and she was brilliant. Later Friday, I tested positive, so I just channeled Anna’s spirit and became their loudest cheerleader from my study at home. I handed off my credit card and told them not to forget to eat and not to drain my account. Not sure if letting them compete was the best call, but trying to stop them was going to foment a rebellion. Their performance reminded me of the Kirk Gibson World Series homer, a reference no one understood.”
Ten team members won three or more awards including first-years LePage, Brown, Peterson and Angelica Sutton of Wolf Point. Sutton won an Eagle award as the region’s third best novice competitor for the year.
Brady Clark won extemporaneous speaking for the second straight time this season, and reached finals of debate with partner Josie Howlett, who won three awards.
“I’m thrilled,” said Clark, who credited his coaches. “Josh (Mansfield, ’21) made me an Extemp whiz and Teigen (Tremper, ’21) got me ready for the final arts motion in debate.”
The conference’s Brent Northup Award was won by Simone Jericho of Whitworth University. The award, given to the region’s top competitor, was renamed for Carroll’s coach last year.
The team now turns the corner to season-ending championships. Four first-year debaters head to Novice Nationals, held online and hosted by at Cornell University, on February 12 and 13. The upper class is aiming for an Alaska championship in April, which hopes to host in-person, if Omicron subsides.
“The struggles this weekend seemed to bring us together,” said Northup. “Two years ago at this same Pacific event, our bus was stuck in the mud, and we had to walk down a dirt road to get rescued by a Boise State bus. This year we got stuck in COVID mud. Hard times bring out the best in us. I can assure the Carroll family that these kids represented their school proudly. They simply refused to quit. They were aware of those alums that came before them, and that motivated them. I wondered if they’d survive, and they ended up having one of their best tournaments in years.”