pointsraceheader-01As was revealed yesterday, the 2009-2010 Extemp Central National Points Race will see some adjustments. The major adjustment is that there will be five tiers of tournaments as opposed to three. Extemp Central begins to release the tournaments that have been selected for this year’s points race today by detailing the three tournaments that will make up the fifth tier (lowest tier) of the points race.

Tournament #1: The Wake Forest National Early Bird

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The tournament that traditionally starts the national circuit is the first tournament that has been selected for the fifth tier of the national points race. The reason for selecting Wake Forest is that it still carries some prestige as being the year’s first major tournament and has had an impressive list of champions over the last ten years. Twice since 1999 the tournament champion has eventually won an NFL national championship (Gilbert Lee in 1999 and Kumbroch in 2006). However, as the power in extemp has shifted north over the last five years the extemp fields at Wake have not been as strong as later tournaments. This factor, compared with the performance of last year’s finalists nationally, leaves Wake in the fifth tier of this year’s points race.

Tournament #2: St. Mark’s Heart of Texas Invitational

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Ten years ago, the St. Mark’s Heart of Texas Invitational showcased arguably the strongest extemp field in the country. However, the tournament has now become more localized, with Texas dominating much of the field last year. Due to this local bent and because of the lack of significant outside competition, St. Mark’s has been placed in the fifth tier. St. Mark’s does offer a unique extemp experience, though, with extempers being able to compete in US Extemp and International Extemp categories simultaneously. What will be different to this year’s points race over last year’s is that St. Mark’s will not be double counted. Instead, extempers will be ranked based on their performances in both extemp categories and receive points based on this ranking. In other words, an extemper who wins the International tournament and places second in the U.S. tournament will receive more points than an extemper who wins the U.S. tournament and places sixth in the International tournament. A more detailed description of how points will be allocated will be revealed in this season’s first edition of The Ex Files.

Tournament #3: The California Invitational

The California Invitational, held in February at the University of California, berkeley Berkeley, is the last tournament that will make up the fifth tier of this season’s national points race. Its champion for the last two years, Evan Larson of Bellarmine College Prep, was last year’s U.S. Extemp national champion at NFL. Like St. Mark’s, the California Invitational has seen more localized extemp competition the last few years and that prevents it from moving to a higher tier. While some may chafe at its inclusion, the California Invitational represents the only West Coast tournament in the national points race and the points race committee believes that having a West Coast tournament is vital to making the rankings as inclusive as possible.

Check back tomorrow to see the three tournaments that have been selected for the fourth tier and again, the point allocations for each tier will be released in next month’s The Ex Files.