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More than one hundred United States extempers and ninety International extempers competed last weekend at the University of Texas-Austin Longhorn Classic. The tournament allows extempers to participate in both extemp categories and it typically provides a venue for those seeking to bolster their resumes for the Montgomery Bell Academy Extemp Round Robin.
In the International Extemp portion of the tournament, Karna Venkatraj of A&M Consolidated High School (TX) defeated Davis Larkin of the Parish Episcopal School (TX), who took second at the Glenbrooks, by seven ranks. Venkatraj took two of the available first place ranks in the final round. Hina Uddin of Foster High School (TX) took third place.
In United States Extemp, Larkin beat Rachel Evans of Salado High School (TX) by one rank. Larkin was the only extemper at the tournament to made the final round in each category. Jordan Rojas of Hendrickson High School (TX) finished third. Venkatraj’s hopes of winning both categories ended when he was eliminated in the semi-final round.
Aside from Larkin, the only other prominent National Points Race competitor in the field was Phoebe Lin of Plano West Senior High School (TX). Lin made the semi-finals of IX and did not clear into the outrounds of the USX portion of the tournament.
All of the extempers reaching the semi-final round earned a qualification leg for the 2015 Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions (TOC) at Northwestern University. Eleven extempers locked up their qualifications for this year’s tournament, and four of them did so at the tournament based on their performance in both categories. These extempers included Nicholas Curtis of Westwood High School (TX), Evans, Zach Falkenbury of Hendrickson, Emily Hua and Hasan Syed of Plano West, Ayesha Karnik of Flower Mound High School (TX), Michael Lupher of L.C. Anderson High School (TX), Smriti Ahuja, Simbai Mutandrio and Shreetika Singh of Seven Lakes High School (TX), and Venkatraj. Twenty-four competitors earned their first qualifying leg. All of those receiving TOC qualifying legs are indicated in italics below.
Here are the results of the 2014 University of Texas-Austin Longhorn Classic (Click here for tab sheet):
International Extemp
Champion: Karna Venkatraj (A&M Consolidated High School, Texas)
2nd: Davis Larkin (The Parish Episcopal School, Texas)
3rd: Hina Uddin (Foster High School, Texas)
4th: Patrick Wilson (Booker T. Washington High School, Oklahoma)
5th: Lindsey Li (Cinco Ranch High School, Texas)
6th: Abhinav Sridharan (Plano Senior High School, Texas)
7th: Mark Wilson (The Parish Episcopal School, Texas)
8th: Darren Pomida (Westwood High School, Texas)
Semi-Finalists
*Juan Alvarez (Harlingen High School, Texas)
*Jordan Auzenne (Pflugerville High School, Texas)
*Grant Bumgarner (Booker T. Washington High School, Oklahoma)
*Micah Cash (Booker T. Washington High School, Oklahoma)
*Kevin Choi (A&M Consolidated High School, Texas)
*Nicholas Curtis (Westwood High School, Texas)
*Rachel Evans (Salado High School, Texas)
*Zach Falkenbury (Hendrickson High School, Texas)
*Matthew Feng (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Emily Hua (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Ayesha Karnik (Flower Mound High School, Texas)
*Phoebe Lin (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Michael Lupher (L.C. Anderson High School, Texas)
*Nicci Mattey (Saint Mary’s Hall, Texas)
*Shiva Musapeta (Union High School, Oklahoma)
*Simbai Mutandiro (Seven Lakes High School, Texas)
*Neil Patel (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Jordan Rojas (Hendrickson High School, Texas)
*Shreetika Singh (Seven Lakes High School, Texas)
*Mafaaz Tanzeem (Southlake Carroll High School, Texas)
*Tiffany Wang (Guyer High School, Texas)
*Marshall Webb (St. Mary’s Hall, Texas)
*Audrey Zhang (Flower Mound High School, Texas)
United States Extemp
Champion: Davis Larkin (The Parish Episcopal School, Texas)
2nd: Rachel Evans (Salado High School, Texas)
3rd: Jordan Rojas (Hendrickson High School, Texas)
4th: Marshall Webb (St. Mary’s Hall, Texas)
5th: Matthew Feng (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
6th: David Dam (Westwood High School, Texas)
7th: Nicholas Curtis (Westwood High School, Texas)
8th: Shreetika Singh (Seven Lakes High School, Texas)
Semi-Finalists
*Mostafa Abu-Hijleh (Flower Mound High School, Texas)
*Smriti Ahuja (Seven Lakes High School, Texas)
*Sir Maxim Belov (Lake Travis High School, Texas)
*Chauncey Buckley (Ennis High School, Texas)
*Micah Cash (Booker T. Washington High School, Oklahoma)
*Sunny Daggubati (Southlake Carroll High School, Texas)
*Zach Falkenbury (Hendrickson High School, Texas)
*Angelo Gaunichaux (Westfield High School, Texas)
*Pranav Harathi (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Emily Hua (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Shishir Jessu (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Sneha Karkala (Coppell High School, Texas)
*Ayesha Karnik (Flower Mound High School, Texas)
*Michael Lupher (L.C. Anderson High School, Texas)
*Priyanka Mara (Westwood High School, Texas)
*Andres Martinez (Eastwood High School, Texas)
*Dyana Martinez (St. Mary’s Hall, Texas)
*Dru Patel (Southlake Carroll High School, Texas)
*Neil Patel (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Abhinav Sridharan (Plano Senior High School, Texas)
*Hasan Syed (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Karna Venkatraj (A&M Consolidated High School, Texas)
*Patrick Wilson (Booker T. Washington High School, Oklahoma)
Extemp Central thanks the University of Texas-Austin for putting the tab sheets for the tournament online.