It’s been a busy couple of weeks for extempers as several tournaments have happened over the last month, shaking up the standings of the National Points Race. With the NYC Invitational, Villiger, the Florida Blue Key, and Glenbrooks happening, it’s time for an update.
New York City Invitational (Bronx)
The NYC Invitational is classified as a Tier 4 event, awarding points to semifinalists and finalists. With 63 entries, it was held in the Bronx with five preliminaries, a semifinal, and a final.
NSDA USX Champion Téa Shouldice of Half Hollow Hills East (NY) emerged as champion in her home state, taking two ones in the final round. Combined with her stellar preliminary round ranks, she secured the title by one rank and earned her first points of the season with 600 points.
Just one rank behind Shouldice was NSDA IX Champion Anthony Babu of Concord Carlisle (MA). With equally stellar performance in the preliminary rounds, Anthony won the final round taking two of the ones, but was dropped by a two in the semis. Despite this, his overall performance earned him 500 points.
Al Zaidi of Holy Trinity Episcopal (FL) was five ranks behind Shouldice, tying with her in the final. A strong performance in the preliminaries and semifinals earned Zaidi 450 points.
Fourth place went to Daphne Kalir-Starr of College Prep (CA). Kalir-Starr had a strong preliminary showing and took the remaining one in the final round. The mix of fives, fours, and threes to round out her final performance tied her for fourth place, but her success in the final gave her 400 points.
In fifth place was Aparna Iyer of Ridge High School (NJ) in her second National Points Race final of the year. While Iyer was in the top three before finals, a six and a five in the final round lost her the tiebreaker for fourth. This dropped her to fifth place, earning her 350 points.
Rounding out the final round was sixth place Kai Forbach of Durham Academy (NC), earning 300 points for his performance.
All semi-finalists will earn 125 points. The semifinalists are as follows:
- Lexie Toshav (Isidore Newman School, LA)
- Noori Choudhary (Unionville, PA)
- Henry Perduto (Regis High School, NY)
- Grace Klausner (Convent of the Sacred Heart, NY)
- Manuela Mejia-Fanjul (Convent of the Sacred Heart, NY)
- Noah Berlin (Half Hollow Hills HS East, NY)
- Sebastian Cunto (Regis High School, NY)
- Nathan Thomas (La Salle College High School, PA)
- Myles Vuong (Stuyvesant High School, NY)
- Anish Mehta (Scarsdale High School, NY)
- John German (Regis High School, NY)
- Josef Bell (Berkeley Carroll School, NY)
- Kajal Parmar (Cary Academy, NC)
- Madeline White (Gwynedd Mercy Academy, PA)
Florida Blue Key
The Florida Blue Key Tournament in Gainesville, Florida attracted a field of 68 extempers this year. Another Tier 4 tournament, both finalists and semi-finalists will receive points for performance after 5 preliminaries, a quarterfinal, a semifinal, and a final.
Sven Stumbauer of Christopher Columbus (FL) took the first-place title, winning the final by two ranks. Taking one of the ones and two twos, he had a strong performance and will earn 600 points.
Al Zaidi of Holy Trinity Episcopal (FL) appeared in a second National Points Race final to take second place. Earning another of the ones but taking two threes, Zaidi maintained a strong presence in second. Zaidi will earn 500 points.
Also in the top three was third place Kate Liu of Plano West (TX). Liu was dropped by a five in the final, just two ranks behind Zaidi. She will earn 450 points for her efforts.
In fourth place was Shriya Dharmapurikar of Durham (NC). Just one rank behind Liu, her final performance will earn her 400 points.
Rohan Dash of Pine View (FL) took fifth five ranks behind Dharmapurikar. He will earn 350 points.
Rounding out the final was Sahana Srikanth of Mason (OH) following other National Points Race final appearances. She will earn 300 points for her efforts.
All semi-finalists will earn 125 points. The semi-finalists are as follows:
- Daphne Kalir-Starr (College Prep, CA)
- Jacob Chanmugam (Lake Highland Preparatory School, FL)
- Ayan Nallamshetty (Robinson, FL)
- Harry Reitman (NSU University School, FL)
- Tanmay Rai (Village High School, TX)
- Kai Forbach (Durham, NC)
Villiger at St. Joseph’s University
The Villiger Tournament occurred in late November with a field of 73 extempers. Four preliminaries, a quarterfinal, a semifinal, and a final later, we have our finalists. As a Tier 5 event, only finalists will receive points.
Katherine Simpson of Scarsdale (NY) won the final and the tournament by three ranks. She took two ones and two twos, earning her 400 points.
In second place was Grace Klausner of Convent of the Sacred Heart (NY). Taking two more of the ones, a four dropped her. Nonetheless, she will earn 300 points.
In third was John Germak of Regis (NY). Three ranks behind Klausner, he took the remaining one and earned 250 points.
Madeline White of Gwynedd Mercy (PA) took fourth with a cumulative of seventeen. She will earn 200 points for her performance.
Kasim Khapra of Potomac (VA) took fifth place, earning 150 points.
Rounding out the final round was Manuela Mejia-Fanjul of Convent of the Sacred Heart (NY), just six ranks behind Khapra. This earns Mejia-Fanjul 100 points.
Glenbrooks
The biggest tournament in the last month, the Glenbrooks Speech & Debate Tournament in November had a huge field of 103 extempers. As a Tier 2 event, octa finalists and onwards will earn points. However, as the tournament broke to quarters, we will only be awarding points for quarterfinalists, semifinalists, and finalists.
Kate Liu of Plano West (TX) took first by two ranks, earning three ones in the final. Her performances across four preliminaries, and out rounds earned her 1200 points for her victory.
Second place went to Rowan Seipp of A&M Consolidated (TX). Just two ranks behind Liu, Seipp managed to stay in second, a whopping ten ranks over the third place finisher after earning the remaining two ones. Seipp will earn 1000 points.
Al Zaidi of Holy Trinity Episcopal (FL) took third by just two ranks. After multiple other national points race finals this year, Zaidi will earn 900 points.
Fourth place was Ellie Sohn of Flintridge Prep (CA). Tying for fourth, Sohn won the tiebreaker over the fifth place competitor. She will earn 800 points for her efforts.
Alexandre Morel of Plano West (TX) asserted the school’s dominance in fifth, earning himself 700 points for the season.
Rounding the final out was Lindsey Zhao of Plano Senior (TX), just a rank behind Morel and Sohn. She is awarded 600 points for her final performance.
All semi finalists will earn 450 points. The semifinalists are as follows:
- Eric Qian (Plano West, TX)
- Ryan Xu (Plano West, TX)
- Lincoln Roston (Claremont, CA)
- Sahana Srikanth (Mason, OH)
- Daphne Kalir-Starr (College Prep, CA)
- Joy Hu (Harker, CA)
All quarterfinalists will earn 250 points. The quarter finalists are as follows:
- Boyana Nikolova (Irondale, MN)
- Tyler Travis (Plymouth, IN)
- Kajal Parmar (Cary Academy, NC)
- Sophia Wei (Plano West, TX)
- Aanya Venkat (Arizona College Prep, AZ)
- Alina Vang (Pekin Comm, IL)
- Lexie Toshav (Isidore Newman, LA)
- Krishna Mano (Grand Rapids City, MI)
- Wayne Lu (Archbishop Mitty, CA)
- Nick Pienkos (Marquette, WI)
- Claire Han (Munster, IN)
- Lucas Vargas (Brophy, AZ)
- Kashish Priyam (Harker, CA)
- Noah Kim (A&M Consolidated, TX)
Stay updated for upcoming results from this past weekend, as the George Mason University Patriot Games, UT Texas Tournament, and the Princeton Classic all run simultaneously!