2014 St. Mark’s Heart of Texas Invitational: Sridharan Wins IX; Cash Defends Booker T. Washington’s Title in USX; Lin Scores National Points Race Win

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The 2014-2015 Extemp Central National Points Race continued last weekend at the St. Mark’s Heart of Texas Invitational. The tournament, a fifth tier contest in the National Points Race, is one of two tournaments in this year’s competition that allows extempers to compete in International and United States Extemp. In International Extemp, Abhinav Sridharan of Plano Senior High School (TX), who won the Texas Forensic Association (TFA) State Championship in International Extemp last season, finished three ranks ahead of teammate Kishan Srikanth to take the title. Phoebe Lin of Plano West Senior High School (TX) tied Srikanth for second place, but fell to third place on a judge’s tiebreaker.  Sridharan is the first Plano Senior extemper to win the IX category at St. Mark’s since the 2010-2011 season.

In United States Extemp, Micah Cash of Booker T. Washington High School (OK), a quarterfinalist at last year’s Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions (TOC) at Northwestern University, successfully defended his team’s championship in the event by beating Lin by two ranks in the final round. Lin’s teammate Matthew Feng took third place.

To avoid double counting in the National Points Race, Extemp Central awards fifth tier points to the six extempers who had the best performances in each extemp category. Despite not winning either event, Lin will earn the forty first place points from St. Mark’s due to her high placing in IX and USX. She will also be credited with a victory in the National Points Race standings. Cash and Sridharan had the same point total when their finishes in both categories were calculated, so they will split the points awarded to a third and fourth place finisher in the National Points Race and receive twenty-four points each.  The six extempers who will receive points, as well as the extemper who finished next out in the competition, can be found at the bottom of the results listing.

All of the extempers who made the semifinal round of their respective extemp category earned qualifying legs to the 2015 Extemp TOC. Four extempers – Feng, Neil Patel of Plano West, Sridharan, and Srikanth – earned their TOC qualification at the tournament due to their performance in both category. Five other extempers earned their first qualifying legs. All of the extempers that earned a qualifying leg are indicated in italics below.

Here are the results of the 2014 St. Mark’s Heart of Texas Invitational (Click here for tab sheet):

International Extemp

Champion: Abhinav Sridharan (Plano Senior High School, Texas)
2nd: Kishan Srikanth (Plano Senior High School, Texas)
3rd: Phoebe Lin (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
4th: Grant Bumgarner (Booker T. Washington High School, Oklahoma)
5th: Patrick Wilson (Booker T. Washington High School, Oklahoma)
6th: Davis Larkin (Parish Episcopal School, Texas)
7th: Micah Cash (Booker T. Washington High School, Oklahoma)
8th: Matthew Feng (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)

Semi-Finalists

*William Hale (Magnolia High School, Texas)
*Neil Patel (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Rupasri Shankar (Plano Senior High School, Texas)
*Ben Tobin (Lake Braddock Secondary School, Virginia)

Quarter-Finalists

*Marcus Ayala (Hendrickson High School, Texas)
*Zain Aziz (Southlake Carroll High School, Texas)
*Pearce Barringer (Saint James School, Alabama)
*Nicholas Curtis (Westwood High School, Texas)
*David Dam (Westwood High School, Texas)
*Gregory Fantin (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Allee Johnson (Lake Travis High School, Texas)
*Sneha Karkala (Coppell High School, Texas)
*Emma Lin (Southlake Carroll High School, Texas)
*Brady Lu (Plano Senior High School, Texas)
*Michael Lupher (L.C. Anderson High School, Texas)
*Darren Pomida (Westwood High School, Texas)
*Jordan Rojas (Hendrickson High School, Texas)
*McClean Stewart (Saint James School, Alabama)
*Hasan Syed (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Mark Wilson (Parish Episcopal School, Texas)

United States Extemp

Champion: Micah Cash (Booker T. Washington High School, Oklahoma)
2nd: Phoebe Lin (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
3rd: Matthew Feng (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
4th: Kishan Srikanth (Plano Senior High School, Texas)
5th: Davis Larkin (Parish Episcopal School, Texas)
6th: Hasan Syed (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)

Semi-Finalists

*David Dam (Westwood High School, Texas)
*Zach Falkenbury (Hendrickson High School, Texas)
*Neil Patel (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Abhinav Sridharan (Plano Senior High School, Texas)
*Nader Syed (Claudia Taylor Johnson High School, Texas)
*Patrick Wilson (Booker T. Washington High School, Oklahoma)

Quarter-Finalists

*Jordan Auzenne (Pflugerville High School, Texas)
*Yannick Bongo (Plano Senior High School, Texas)
*Nicholas Curtis (Westwood High School, Texas)
*Usmaan Hasan (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Michael Lupher (L.C. Anderson High School, Texas)
*Darren Pomida (Westwood High School, Texas)
*Rupasri Shankar (Plano Senior High School, Texas)
*McClean Stewart (Saint James School, Alabama)
*Karna Venkatraj (A&M Consolidated High School, Texas)
*Bradley Wascher (Saint James School, Alabama)
*Amanda Wheelock (Norman High School, Oklahoma)

National Points Race Points

1st: Phoebe Lin (Plano West Senior High School, Texas) – 8 pts.
2nd: Kishan Srikanth (Plano Senior High School, Texas) – 10 pts.
T3rd: Micah Cash (Booker T. Washington High School, Oklahoma) – 16 pts.
T3rd: Abhinav Sridharan (Plano Senior High School, Texas) – 16 pts.
5th: Davis Larkin (Parish Episcopal School, Texas) – 19 pts.
6th: Matthew Feng (Plano Senior High School, Texas) – 20 pts.
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Next Out: Patrick Wilson (Booker T. Washington High School, Oklahoma) – 24 pts.