The weather is growing colder as we delve into the heart of the extemp season! With three tournaments and hundreds of competitors across the country, the Extemper’s Bible is excited to celebrate some of the major wins in October.
Yale
Out of the three tournaments, Yale was the most prestigious, drawing rigorous competition. For this reason, it was delineated as a tier three tournament, with points awarded to quarter finalists and up.
Hosted at the cusp of September and October, the Yale Invitational consisted of four preliminary rounds and four elimination rounds. Eight speeches later, here are your finalists:
Amy Cao (Ridge, NJ) took the title this year, earning a cume of 31 (minus 1 worst in prelims). Though she only captured one 1, her performance in the final round was consistent enough that she won the final round with a 2 rank difference. This is Cao’s second first place win, following the UK Season Opener. With a strong start to the season, Cao gets 900 points for this placement, and currently leads the NPR with 1,300 points.
April Zhang (Neuqua Valley, IL), was second. Zhang captured 2 out of 5 ones, the most of any competition in the final round, but her cume put her behind Cao, along with a 5 that bogged down her final rank. This is Zhnag’s first major tournament placement for the season, and she will earn 750 points for her accomplishment.
Sruti Peddi (BASIS Scottsdale, AZ) came in third. Peddi also scored a one, but there was a six that brought her overall cume to a 39. Peddi has been a strong competitor on the NPR for a few years now, and this placement, along with her final round appearance at the UK Season Opener is indicative of another outstanding performance this year. She will receive 675 points for replacement.
Vishnu Angiras (Shrewsbury, MA) was fourth. Agniras tied Vasu Lakshmanan, another competitor from Shrewsbury. They both earned a cume of 42, but Agniras’ final round performance put him two ranks ahead, pushing Lakshmanan to fifth. Agrniras and Lakshmaanam will earn 600 and 525 points respectively.
Rounding out the top six is Akshaya Karanam (Mount Saint Mary, NJ). Karanam earned three sixes, placing a 16 point cumulative difference between sixth and fifth. Karanam will receive 450 points for this placement.
All semi finalists will earn 250 points. They are as follows: Ronak Patel (American Heritage Broward, FL), Maximilian Guo (BASIS Independent Silicon Valley, CA), Lucas Mejia-Fanjul (Regis, NY), Arya Goyal (Scarsdal, NY), Skyler Burrus (American Heritage Palm Beach, FL), and Elizabeth Ovelil (Desert Vista, AZ).
Additionally, all quarter finalists will earn 125 points. They re as follows: Iveena Mukherjee (Charter School of Wilmington, DE), Aradhya Goswami (Syosset, NY), Navya Raju (Ridge, NJ), Jasman Padam (Shrewsbury, MA), Téa Shouldice (Half Hollow Hills HS East, NY), Ella Witalec (Laurel, OH), Kajal Permar (Cary Acad, NC), Layden Kennedy (Scarsdale, NY), Anthony babu (Concord Carlisle, MA), Luke Chung (Pine Creek, CO), Eduardo Michelsen (Ransom Everglades, FL), and Ashton Dolce (BASIS Scottsdale).
Bronx
Hosted at the Bronx School of Science, the NYC (Bronx) Invitational drew national attendance. It is a tier four tournament, which means that semifinalists and above earn points.
After five preliminary and two elimination rounds, here are your winners:
Eshaal Ubaid (Stuyvesant, NY) won the final round with a cume of 26. This put her ahead of Brandon Cheng (Flintridge Prep, CA), by one rank. Cheng won the final round with a five rank difference, but his cume placed him at second, below Ubaid. This is Ubaid’s first national points race finish this season, and for her achievement, she will be awarded 600 points. This is Cheng’s second major placement after the UK Season Opener, depicting significant consistency. For his placement, Cheng will be given 500 points.
Charlotte Reitman (NSU, FL), took third. This final round was incredibly close as there was, again, only a one rank difference between second and third. Retiman had one first place rank, but a 6 dropped her final round rank down. This is Reitman’s first major finish, and for this, she will be given 450 points.
Lishore Kumar (Tomball Memorial, TX), placed fourth. His overall cume was a 31, but his final round rank was a 19, lower than Valerie Gu (Milton Acad, MA) who was fifth. Gu and Kumar had a mere one rank difference. For both competitors, this is their first major finish this season. For their achievement, they will be given 400 and 350 points respectively.
Akshaya Karanam (Mount Saint Mary, NJ) was sixth. She tied Gu for the overall cume, but had a lower final round rank, bumping her down. That said, Karanam has been consistent, finaling at Yale as well. Her placement will give her 300 points.
Since this is a tier four tournament, semifinalists will earn 125 points. They are as follows: Kai Li, (Stuyvesant, NY), Kajal Parmar (Cary Acad, NC), Celine Li, Westridge, CA), Aleksey Olkhovenko (Stuyvesant, NY), Sven Stumbauer (Cristopher Columbus, Fl), Anish Mehta (Scarsdale, NY0, Daphne Klir-Starr (College Prep, CA), Samantha Perk, (Milton Acad, MA), Nathan Thomas (La Salle, PA), Brooke Lausner (Convent of the Sacred Heart, NYC, NY), Claire Chen (Westridge, CA), Sadina Abramova (Milton Acad, MA), Luke Chung (Pine Creek, CO).
Blue Keys
Hosted in Florida at the end of October, the Blue Keys Invitation attracted competitors from the South and the East. It is considered a tier four tournament in the NPR, with semifinalists and up earning points. Below are your finalists:
Charlotte Reitman (NSU, FL), took the championship this year. Ranks were incredibly close this year, and with a cume of 8, just one rank above second place, Reitman continued her reign on the NPR. For this achievement, she will receive 600 points, catapulting her to second place in the overall scoreboard.
Taylor Burris (The Potomac School, VA), was second, with a cume of 9. While she did not capture any of the ones, Burris was consistently ranked in the top half. This is Burris’ first major placement of the season, and for this she will receive 500 points.
Robert Zhang (Elkins, TX), was third, with a cume of 10. Zhang earned a six and a one, bringing him to the exact middle of the room. This is Zhang’s first major win, and for his placement, he will earn 450 points.
Ronak Patel (American Heritage Broward, FL), placed 4th. This signifies Patel’s 2nd appearance in the points race, and will garner him 400 points.
Kate Liu and Chloe Leng round out the finals, taking 5th and 6th. They will receive 350 and 300 points respectively.
For this tournament, semi finalists earn 125 points. They are as follows: Alex Olshansky (Nova High School, FL), Meredith Vorndran (The Potomac School, VA), Alina Zaidi (Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy, FL), Jacob Chamugam (Lake Highland Prep, FL), Jack Aaron (Trinity Prep, FL), and Vanessa Wu (Bronx School of Science, NY).
The season will continue to gain traction as we enter into winter and round out the holiday season. Stay warm and happy competing!