[fblike]
Last weekend in Gainesville, Florida, more than seventy extempers participated in the thirtieth annual Florida Blue Key Speech and Debate Tournament. This year’s tournament attracted one of the strongest fields in recent memory, as seventy-four extempers competed in United States Extemp and seventy-five in International Extemp. Miles Saffran of Trinity Preparatory School (FL) , winner of this year’s Wake Forest and Yale tournaments, exchanged victories with Lily Nellans of Des Moines Roosevelt High School (IA), with Saffran winning International Extemp and Nellans winning United States Extemp. Nellans defeated Saffran by two ranks in the United States Extemp competition and took three one’s in the International Extemp final, but Saffran’s consistency across all five judges helped him achieve his third victory of the year in a Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions (TOC) qualifying tournament. Josh Wartel of Lake Braddock Secondary School (VA) and Isabella Paretti of Cypress Bay High School (FL) exchanged third and fourth places in United States and International Extemp as well, with Wartel taking third in International Extemp and Paretti taking third in United States Extemp. The top four in each category were participants at last year’s Montgomery Bell Extemp Round Robin.
Due to the impressive size of this year’s field, all extempers who reached elimination rounds earned a tentative qualifying leg for the Extemp TOC. Like St. Mark’s, extempers could earn both legs at this tournament if they managed to break in United States and International Extemp. Eight extempers, Varun Bhatia of Trinity Preparatory School, Sydney Britton of American Heritage School (FL), Daniel Greene of the University School (FL), Abhishek Kodumagulla and Connor Leech of Durham Academy (NC), Oscar Larraza of Nova High School (FL), Giancarlo Musetti of Cypress Bay High School (FL), and William Peebles of Cary Academy (NC), completed their qualifications by adding a leg from Blue Key to their performance at previous tournaments. Five more extempers, Omer Bensaadon and Kendra Blandon of Cypress Bay High School (FL), Natalia Castro of Jupiter High School (FL), Keegan Paugh of Stevens High School (SD), and Yijia Liang of Upper Arlington High School (OH), acquired both of their needed qualifying legs at Blue Key to make the 2014 TOC field. Four other extempers earned their first qualifying leg.
This weekend does not feature a TOC qualifying tournament, but the weekend of November 9th will feature two qualifying tournaments on opposite sides of the country as the Remy Wilcox High School Tournament will take place at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington and the Titan Invitational will take place at Nova High School in Davie, Florida.
Here are the results from the 2013 Florida Blue Key Speech & Debate Tournament (Click here for tab sheets)
International Extemp
Champion: Miles Saffran (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
2nd: Lily Nellans (Des Moines Roosevelt High School, Iowa)
3rd: Josh Wartel (Lake Braddock Secondary School, Virginia)
4th: Isabella Paretti (Cypress Bay High School, Florida)
5th: Noah Wexler (Nova Senior High School, Florida)
6th: Cameron James Bonnewell (Lake Highland Preparatory School, Florida)
Semi-Finalists
*Omer Bensaadon (Cypress Bay High School, Florida)
*Varun Bhatia (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
*Mark Cohen (Durham Academy, North Carolina)
*Yijia Liang (Upper Arlington High School, Ohio)
*Keegan Paugh (Stevens High School, South Dakota)
*William Peebles (Cary Academy, North Carolina)
Quarter-Finalists
*Kendra Blandon (Cypress Bay High School, Florida)
*Natalia Castro (Jupiter High School, Florida)
*Justin Graham (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
*Daniel Greene (The University School, Florida)
*Eric Hagen (Lake Highland Preparatory School, Florida)
*Abhishek Kodumagulla (Durham Academy, North Carolina)
*Andrew Langford (Lake Highland Preparatory School, Florida)
*Connor Leech (Durham Academy, North Carolina)
*Brian Min (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
*Giancarlo Musetti (Cypress Bay High School, Florida)
*Jasper Primack (Newton South High School, Massachusetts)
*Nathaniel Saffran (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
United States Extemp
Champion: Lily Nellans (Des Moines Roosevelt High School, Iowa)
2nd: Miles Saffran (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
3rd: Isabella Paretti (Cypress Bay High School, Florida)
4th: Josh Wartel (Lake Braddock Secondary School, Virginia)
5th: Daniel Greene (The University School, Florida)
6th: William Peebles (Cary Academy, North Carolina)
Semi-Finalists
*Cameron James Bonnewell (Lake Highland Preparatory School, Florida)
*Natalia Castro (Jupiter High School, Florida)
*Justin Graham (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
*Connor Leech (Durham Academy, North Carolina)
*Giancarlo Musetti (Cypress Bay High School, Florida)
*Jasper Primack (Newton South High School, Massachusetts)
Quarter-Finalists
*Omer Bensaadon (Cypress Bay High School, Florida)
*Kendra Blandon (Cypress Bay High School, Florida)
*Sydney Britton (American Heritage School, Florida)
*Mark Cohen (Durham Academy, North Carolina)
*Andrew Henzlik (Lake Highland Preparatory School, Florida)
*Abhishek Kodumagulla (Durham Academy, North Carolina)
*Samantha Koreman (The University School, Florida)
*Oscar Larraza (Nova Senior High School, Florida)
*Keegan Paugh (Stevens High School, South Dakota)
*Nathaniel Saffran (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
*Yijia Liang (Upper Arlington High School, Ohio)
Extemp Central thanks the Florida Blue Key staff and Ian Panchevre for assisting us in collecting these results.