At this year’s National Catholic Forensic League (NCFL) Grand National Tournament #1 McKinley Paltzik of Phoenix Country Day School (AZ) won her second national championship and made history by becoming the second extemper in history to win a career grand slam. Paltzik won the tournament by four ranks over #8 Amy Cao of Ridge High School (NJ).
It is the first time that an extemper has won a career grand slam since 2005 when Kevin Troy of Eagan High School (MN) won the NCFL National Championship.
The win is Paltzik’s eighth of the season, which also sets a new record for wins in the National Points Race. The victory clinches the National Points Race title for Paltzik after she finished runner-up to Daniel Kind of Lake Highland Prepartory School (FL) last season.
While NCFL did not attract as many ranked extempers are other national competitions, those who did attend made deep runs in a tournament that featured 178 extempers. The final round also featured George Mason Patriot Games champion #9 Taylor Burris of the Potomac School (VA), who placed third, #13 Kevin Li of Ridge High School (NJ), who placed fourth, and #17 Aidan Marks of Benilde-St. Margaret’s (MN), who placed sixth and improved on a semi-finalist finish at the previous year’s national tournament.
Varun Nannuri of Shrewsbury High School (MA) rounded out the final round with a fifth place finish.
Judges in the final round were uniform in many of their ranks. Paltzik took four of the five available first place ranks while Cao took four of the five available second place ranks.
The final round also saw a three-way tie for third place between Burris, Li, and Nannuri. In cumulative scores, Burris beat Li by one rank to claim third overall.
Other notable finishes included a semi-finalist showing for #3 Theodore Gercken of the College Preparatory School (CA) and and octa-finalist placing for #21 Anastasia Koch of Eagan High School.
All of the quarter-finalists at the tournament earn a bid leg to the 2024 Extemp TOC at Northwestern University. All semi-finalists and finalists earn an automatic qualification to next year’s University of Kentucky TOC.
Here are the results of the 2023 National Catholic Forensic League Grand National Tournament (Click here for tab sheet):
National Champion: McKinley Paltzik (Phoenix Country Day School, Arizona)
2nd: Amy Cao (Ridge High School, New Jersey)
3rd: Taylor Burris (The Potomac School, Virginia)
4th: Kevin Li (Ridge High School, New Jersey)
5th: Varun Nannuri (Shrewsbury High School, Massachusetts)
6th: Aidan Marks (Benilde-St. Margaret’s, Minnesota)
Semi-Finalists
*Stephen Frank (Whitmer High School, Ohio)
*Theodore Gercken (The College Preparatory School, California)
*Vasu Lakshmanan (Shrewsbury High School, Massachusetts)
*Xavier Ramirez (Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School, Pennsylvania)
*Jude Rost (Oak Grove High School, Mississippi)
*Karam Weigert (Jackson-Reed High School, Washington, D.C.)
Quarter-Finalists
*Vishnu Angiras (Shrewsbury High School, Massachusetts)
*Zoe Becker (The School Without Walls, Washington, D.C.)
*Samantha Berk (Milton Academy, Massachusetts)
*Nitin Chandran (Upper St. Clair High School, Pennsylvania)
*Samuel Harvey (Starkville High School, Mississippi)
*Aleksey Olkhovenko (Stuyvesant High School, New York)
*Tea Shouldice (Half Hollow Hills East High School, New York)
*Max Smith (Ronald Reagan High School, Wisconsin)
*Eshaal Ubaid (Stuyvesant High School, New York)
*Siri Ural (Shrewsbury High School, Massachusetts)
*Hayden Watkins (Rowan County Senior High School, Kentucky)
*Felicia Zhongzhang (Bronx High School of Science, New York)
Octa-Finalists
*Sebastian Barnes (La Salle College High School, Pennsylvania)
*Sophia Chaudri (Syosset High School, New York)
*Noah Darby (St. Thomas More Catholic High School, Louisiana)
*Melinda Deng (Millburn High School, New Jersey)
*Malk El-Abtah (Syosset High School, New York)
*Connor Ennis (Durham Academy, North Carolina)
*Claire Han (Munster High School, Indiana)
*Matthew Hrehocik (Upper St. Clair High School, Pennsylvania)
*Saathvik Kannan (Hickman High School, Missouri)
*Layden Kennedy (Scarsdale High School, New York)
*Anastasia Koch (Eagan High School, Minnesota)
*Kai Li (Stuyvestant High School, New York)
*Kalinn Mecklin (McDowell Senior High School, Pennsylvania)
*Yotam Pe’er (Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School, New York)
*Lydia Pita (Strath Haven High School, Pennsylvania)
*Navya Raju (Ridge High School, New Jersey)
*Andrew Romitti (Rock Bridge High School, Missouri)
*Ishaan Sharma (Upper St. Clair High School, Pennsylvania)
*Lachlan Smith (Shawnee Mission West High School, Kansas)
*Peter Trabold (Fairview High School, Pennsylvania)
*Alex Watson (Apex Friendship High School, North Carolina)
*Nicolas Weaver (De Soto High School, Kansas)
*Cameron Weber (Upper St. Clair High School, Pennsylvania)
*Abigail Woldgebriel (The Potomac School, Virginia)
Extemp Central thanks the National Catholic Forensic League for posting the results of the tournament online.