HELENA, MT — The Carroll College Talking Saints, competing in Nelson Stadium skyboxes, won 40 awards and dominated debate at the Pacific University tournament, hosted online January 23-25. The success moved the team close to clinching their 36th consecutive conference title, which will be determined February 15, in Longview, Washington, at the season’s final regional event.
The debaters swept the top three places in British Parliamentary Debate, with juniors Brad Tomasovic of Great Falls and Davis Thompson of East Helena finishing first. Sophomore Kate Wilkins of Salt Lake City and Catherine Dudley of Pendleton, Indiana, were second, with senior Kaylee Little of Boise and Ashlynne Jeffries of Vancouver, Washington, finishing third. The team won six of the top 10 speaker awards, with Wilkins named top open speaker and first year Kimber Koteskey of Great Falls winning top novice speaker.
“Brad and Davis deserved this win,” said coach Brent Northup. “They have been one of the region’s best teams all year, and finally won the gold.”
The team added 20 more awards in speech events, led by sophomore Leah Melvin of Kimberly, Idaho, and senior Olivia Smith of Bozeman. Melvin won four awards, including first place in junior impromptu. Smith won three, including second in persuasion. First year Thuymi Tran of Portland, Oregon, won three awards. Junior Katy Keim of Moscow, Idaho, finished first in after dinner speaking. Jenna Hammond of Libby, Montana, added two more awards.
Coach Brent Northup says the team owes a big thank you to the faculty and staff who pitched in to find places for the students to compete.
“Online competition requires each student to find a quiet space to set up their laptop, but the classrooms are full of courses on Fridays,” said Northup. “So we put out a plea to all employees. The response from faculty and staff was overwhelming. We had dozens of offers of faculty offices, conference rooms, and departmental spaces. Athletic Director Charlie Gross offered the Nelson Stadium suites, the skyboxes overlooking the field. Our campus friends saved us.”
“Competing remotely from the suites in Nelson Stadium for the tournament was very fun!” said first year Davey Erickson of Chester, Montana. “The natural lighting from the giant windows looked very nice on our video calls.”
Erickson’s partner, Kimber Koteskey, spoke for everyone afterwards.
“Thank you so much to Carroll Athletics and Mr. Gross for allowing us to compete in the stadium!” said Koteskey. “It was so fun to compete while looking out on Carroll's beautiful campus!”
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