The 2021-22 season has come to a close, and the Extemper’s Bible is ready to crown a champion!
Congratulations to Daniel Kind of the Lake Highland Preparatory School, Florida for being the nation’s top Points Race performer this year with 10,750 points! Kind is the first-ever NPR competitor to break the five digit mark, and his list of accolades is incredibly long: first at NCFLs, first at Glenbrooks, first at Blue Key, first at the Patriot Games, first at the Sunvitational, first at Barkley, first at the UK Season Opener, first at Duke, second at NSDAs (IX), second at Yale, third at the MBA Round Robin, third at Harvard, and third at Bronx. His track record of consistent high-level performance is unmatched this year, and a 4,500 point gap (!) separates him from his closest competitor.
This year, that was McKinley Paltzik of the Phoenix Country Day School, Arizona, who placed second with 6,250 points. Paltzik had a record-breaking season herself, claiming hard-won championships at the year’s two most prestigious events: the MBA Round Robin and NSDAs (IX) (alongside the President’s Bowl). She also championed the UKToC, Yale (her second consecutive win), and Bronx, giving her the distinction of winning the most tournaments this year in the tournament’s top three tiers.
In third place was Ananth Veluvali of Edina High School, Minnesota. With 6,200 points, he lost the silver medal to Paltzik by just 50 points, accounting for less than one percent of their total points earned. A consistent top placer at large tournaments, Veluvali’s season highlights include second at the MBA Round Robin, second at the Extemp TOC, second at NCFLs, second at Bronx, and third at NSDAs (USX).
Another top performer returns from last year in Peter Alisky of Smoky Hill High School, Colorado, who places fourth with 4,800 points. Last year, Alisky was noted for his consistency but still lacked a marquee championship to claim as his own. This year, he changed that narrative by championing NSDAs (USX) and claiming a President’s Bowl, following up impressive performances from the year which include fourth at Glenbrooks, fourth at Bronx, and fifth at the MBA Round Robin.
In fifth is Cameron Roberts of Jack C. Hays High School, Texas with 4,625 points. Roberts made a huge jump from her previous placing of 21st last year by winning two impressive championships at this year’s Extemp TOC and UT. She also placed fourth at Yale and seventh at the MBA Round Robin.
The second Texan in this year’s top ten is Kyle Letterer of Plano West Senior High School. Letterer finished sixth, with 3,825 points to his name. He started slow, but had an impressive back half of his season, winning UT, placing fourth at NSDAs (USX), and earning second, fifth, and ninth at Cavalier, Barkley, and the MBA Round Robin respectively.
Marc Zavarro of Western High School, Florida returns for another star-studded season, where he demonstrated marked improvement to earn 3,750 points and a seventh-place title. Zavarro championed the largest open-registration tournament of the year at Harvard, and otherwise impressed with frequent final-round performances, including second at Blue Key, fourth at Barkley, third at the Patriot Games.
William Chien of the Harker School earns a title as the top-placing Californian and the eighth-best competitor in the country this year with 3,625 points. Chien won the Palm Classic, placed second at the Cal Invitational, sixth at NSDAs (USX), and tenth at the MBA Round Robin.
Gabriel Frank-McPheter of Gabrielino High School, California returns for another impressive year on the competitive circuit with 3,300 points, putting him ninth overall. Frank-McPheter won the James Logan Invitational, earned second place at the Palm Classic, and had impressive sixth-place finishes at both Harvard and the MBA Round Robin.
Rounding out the top ten is Dev Ahuja of Solon High School, Ohio. With 2,875 points, Ahuja more than septuples his total points from last year (400 points, T-86th overall) and thus wins The Extemper’s Bible’s (informal) Most Improved Award. Ahuja’s standout performances include second at Glenbrooks, second at the Patriot Games, and fifth at NSDAs (USX).
Congratulations to our Top 10 finishers!
Here are our 11th-25th place finishers:
11th: Gabriel Bo (Plano West Sr. High School, Texas), 2,825 points
- Season Highlights: 1st at NIETOC, 6th at NSDAs (IX), 2nd at Barkley
12th: Kevin Li (Ridge High School, New Jersey), 2,500 points
- Season Highlights: 3rd at Extemp ToC, Semifinalist at Harvard, Quarterfinalist at NSDAs (USX)
13th: Jack Ververis (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida), 2,450 points
- Season Highlights: 5th at Harvard, 5th at NSDAs (IX), 1st at Cavalier
14th: Majid Shabbeer (Bellarmine College Preparatory, California), 2,375 points
- Season Highlights: 3rd at NSDAs (IX), 3rd at Cal, Semifinalist at UKToC
T-15th: Michelle Jin (The Harker School, California), 2,300 points
- Season Highlights: 2nd at UKToC, 4th at Blue Key, 12th at the MBA Round Robin
T-15th: Phoena Lin (Plano West Sr. High School, Texas), 2,300 points
- Season Highlights: 6th at Extemp ToC, 2nd at UT, Semifinalist at NSDAs (IX)
17th: Alex Sorgini (La Salle College High School, Pennsylvania), 2,275 points
- Season Highlights: 5th at UKToC, 1st at Princeton, 14th at the MBA Round Robin
T-18th: Katelyn Cai (BASIS Scottsdale, Arizona), 2,200 points
- Season Highlights: 2nd at Harvard, 4th at the MBA Round Robin
T-18th: Iesh Gujral (Eden Prairie High School, Minnesota), 2,200 points
- Season Highlights: 4th at Harvard, Semifinalist at Extemp ToC, Semifinalist at NCFLs
T-18th: Kush Narang (Bellarmine College Preparatory, California), 2,200 points
- Season Highlights: 2nd at NSDAs (USX), 6th at UKToC
21st: Theodore Gercken (College Preparatory School, California), 2,025 points
- Season Highlights: Semifinalist at NSDAs (USX), Semifinalist at UKToC, 6th at Barkley
22nd: Natasha Banga (Coppell High School, Texas), 1,950 points
- Season Highlights: 3rd at Barkley, 4th at Cal, Semifinalist at NSDAs (IX)
23rd: Charles Hou (Plano West Sr. High School, Texas), 1,900 points
- Season Highlights: 3rd at Yale, 8th at the MBA Round Robin, 6th at Bronx
24th: Mukta Dharmapurikar (Durham Academy, North Carolina), 1,775 points
- Season Highlights: 3rd at Glenbrooks, 6th at NCFLs
T-25th: James Cullen (Chaminade High School, New York), 1,700 points
- Season Highlights: 4th at UKToC, Quarterfinals at NSDAs (IX), Quarterfinals at NCFLs
T-25th: Faye Zhang (Eastview High School, Minnesota), 1,700 points
- Season Highlights: 3rd at the Sunvitational, 13th at the MBA Round Robin, Semifinals at NCFLs
T-25th: Vikram Sundaram (Solon High School, Ohio), 1,700 points
- Season Highlights: Semifinalist at NSDAs (USX), 5th at Patriot Games, 6th at Yale
Rounding out our Top 50 competitors…
28th: Chirag Choudhary (Unionville High School, Pennsylvania), 1,625 points
29th: Amy Cao (Ridge High School, New Jersey), 1,600 points
T-30th: Rishika Bansal (Scarsdale High School, New York), 1,550 points
T-30th: Thomas Vandenburg (Flintridge Preparatory, California), 1,550 points
32nd: Praveen Kumar (Hawken School, Ohio), 1,400 points
33rd: Jonathan Tubb (St. Mary’s Hall, Texas), 1,350 points
T-34th: Rhea Rajvansh (Eastview High School, Minnesota), 1,300 points
T-34th: Cade Savoy (Teurlings Catholic High School, Louisiana), 1,300 points
T-34th: Elizabeth Wong (Durham Academy, North Carolina), 1,300 points
T-34th: Chloe Yang (Ridge High School, New Jersey), 1,300 points
T-38th: Nicholas Blauz (Nova High School, Florida), 1,250 points
T-38th: Francis Olakangil (Bellarmine College Preparatory, California), 1,250 points
40th: Pranav Gorty (Plano East Sr. High School, Texas), 1,200 points
41st: Shreyas Sriram (Cherry Creek High School, Colorado), 1,100 points
T-42nd: Arjun Raman (Westwood High School, Florida), 1,075 points
T-42nd: Olivia Wetzel (Whitmer High School, Ohio), 1,075 points
T-44th: Ajay Gupta (Hinsdale Central High School, Illinois), 1,000 points
T-44th: Raghav Ramki (Plano East Sr. High School, Texas), 1,000 points
T-44th: Siri Ural (Shrewsbury High School, Massachusetts), 1,000 points
47th: Madeline Tsao (Plano West Sr. High School, Texas), 950 points
T-48th: Pierce McDade (Normal University School, Illinois), 900 points
T-48th: Govind Pattathil (Hebron High School, Texas), 900 points
T-48th: Elliot Smith (Milton Academy, Massachusetts), 900 points
In total, 239 competitors placed on the National Points Race this season.
Want to see how you placed? Check out the National Points Race spreadsheet below. If you see any errors, please email james@extempers.org and I will fix them right away!
The link to the full spreadsheet is also available here.