Here is the third day of profiles for the competitors at the 2010 Montgomery Bell Extemp Round Robin. Today’s profiles center around three of the four competitors who are returning to this year’s field.
Don’t forget that Monday will be the 2010 launch of content at Extemp Central. The weekly news quiz will be posted as well as the day’s R&D. The MBA Round Robin contest will also be announced with rules, procedures, etc. MBA Round Robin live coverage will begin late Friday evening and run through Sunday afternoon when the tournament concludes. We hope that you will check the site for updates to follow the action.
KEY: DNA = Did Not Attend; DNC = Did Not Clear (Break); NR = Not Ranked
Dillon Huff
*School: Southlake Carroll HS (Southlake, TX)
*Class: Senior
*NFL Points: 1,876
*Previous Invites to MBA: One (2009)-5th; Winner of Exhibition Round
*National Points Race Rank: 1st (110 pts.)
*Last Year’s National Points Race Rank: 3rd (263 pts.)
*Notable Finishes This Season: 1st-St. Marks USX; 1st-St. Marks IX; 1st-George Mason Extemp Round Robin; 1st-George Mason
*National Finishes Last Season: CFL-DNA; NFL-DNA
*Notes: To outside observers he is the clear favorite in this year’s field due to his undefeated mark at national circuit tournaments this season…Was the first extemper to sweep St. Marks since 2005…Being in last year’s field earned him an invite back this year…Became only the second junior in the history of the Round Robin to win the Exhibition Round last year (joining Josh Bone of Massachusetts as the only extempers to hold that distinction)…Was the only extemper who could have caught Stacey Chen in last year’s National Points Race at NFL Nationals but when he was not able to attend it gave Chen the honor before the tournament began…Had impressive runner-up finishes at the Barkley Forum and the Extemp Tournament of Champions last year…Finished runner-up at the TFA state tournament last year in International extemp (he was tournament champion in 2008)…Is the second extemper from Southlake Carroll to earn a bid to the Round Robin and it is the fourth bid Southlake Carroll has earned into the tournament (having been represented in the field for 4 of the last 5 years).
Jane Kessner
*School: Walt Whitman HS (Bethesda, MD)
*Class: Senior
*NFL Points: 1,968
*Previous Invites to MBA: One (2009)-6th
*National Points Race Rank: NR
*Last Year’s National Points Race Rank: T19th (75 pts.)
*Notable Finishes This Season: 3rd-George Mason Extemp Round Robin; QF-George Mason
*National Finishes Last Season: CFL-SF; NFL (USX)-DNC
*Notes: Has a solid record in Round Robin competition as she was the sixth place finisher at the Round Robin last year and has finished second and third at the George Mason Round Robin in 2008 and 2009, respectively…Is the highest placing 2009 CFL national participant in the field where she was the fourth place finisher in her semi-final round…Quarter-final finish at George Mason is her only national circuit peformance in an at-large tournament this season…Although she is not currently ranked in the National Points Race the odds are that that will change after MBA concludes…Must be considered as a dark horse in the field due to her strong finish last year and the usual trend for second year competitors at MBA to place higher than their previous year’s performance.
Aaron Lutkowitz
*School: Montgomery Bell Academy (Nashville, TN)
*Class: Senior
*NFL Points: 1,051
*Previous Invites to MBA: One (2009)-DNF
*National Points Race Rank: T4th (70 pts.)
*Last Year’s National Points Race Rank: 26th (62 pts.)
*Notable Finishes This Season: 1st-Yale; 2nd-George Mason Extemp Round Robin; SF-St. Marks USX; QF-Glenbrooks; QF-George Mason
*National Finishes Last Season: CFL-DNA; NFL (IX)-DNC
*Notes: Is MBA’s participant in this year’s Round Robin and earned a bid as a returning participant and for winning the Yale University Invitational in early October…Has traveled to the most national circuit tournaments this year of any other competitor in the field, although being eliminated in elimination rounds prior to the final has kept his standing static in the National Points Race…Like Kessner, has a strong Round Robin record at George Mason, having placed 3rd and 2nd in 2008 and 2009…Went 7-0 this year in the preliminary rounds at the George Mason Round Robin before being defeated by Dillon Huff in the final…Was an Emory finalist and semi-finalist at the Extemp Tournament of Champions last season…Last year’s George Mason open tournament champion.
Jamie Mohan
*School: Danville High School (Danville, KY)
*Class: Senior
*NFL Points: 1,637
*Previous Invites to MBA: None
*National Points Race Rank: T9th (50 pts.)
*Last Year’s National Points Race Rank: NR
*Notable Finishes This Season: 3rd-George Mason
*National Finishes Last Season: CFL (PFD)-DNC; NFL (PFD)-Rd. 11
*Notes: One of the competitors with less press than most of his counterparts in this year’s field…Sitting on the bubble prior to George Mason, a third place finish at that tournament earned him a bid into the Round Robin…Has a strong in-state record in Kentucky this season where he has tangled with Lutkowitz and Wake Forest champion Emily Martin on numerous occassions and has yet to lose a final round…Has primarily competed in Public Forum debate the last several seasons at nationals and on the national circuit and made Round 11 at NFL Nationals last season, the farthest any Kentucky Public Forum team has ever advanced…A three-time state finalist in Kentucky extemp where he placed fourth last year…Is the third extemper from Danville High School to attend the Round Robin and it is the fourth bid the school has gotten in tournament history…Was a quarter-finalist at the Barkley Forum in extemp two years ago.