Last weekend, competitors converged on the University of Florida for the 2010 Florida Blue Key Speech and Debate Tournament. The tournament allowed extempers to do International and United States Extemporaneous Speaking and there was a lot of volatility in the final results. Joseph Calder of Cary Academy in North Carolina, who was invited to compete at this year’s George Mason University Patriot Games Round Robin, won the International Extemp competition, while Jared Odessky of Nova High School in Florida won the United States Extemp competition. Odessky adds this title to the International Extemp title he won last year at Blue Key. Catherine Chiodo of Des Moines Roosevelt High School in Iowa, who will also be competing at the George Mason Round Robin, and Brandon Slotkin of Nova High School in Florida were the only extempers to final in both extemp categories. Chiodo placed fourth in the United States Extemp portion and sixth in the International Extemp portion and Slotkin took fifth in both categories.
Since the Florida Blue Key is a qualifier for the 2011 Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions (TOC), all of the competitors listed below earned TOC bids.
Here are the results from the 2010 Florida Blue Key Speech and Debate Tournament:
International Extemp
Champion: Joseph Calder (Cary Academy, North Carolina)
2nd: Arjun Murthy (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
3rd: Matt Debari (Lake Highland Preparatory, Florida)
4th: Daniel Schwindt (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
5th: Brandon Slotkin (Nova High School, Florida)
6th: Catherine Chiodo (Des Moines Roosevelt High School, Iowa)
Semi-Finalists
*Rishi Bajaj (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
*Daniel Bateyko (Pine View School, Florida)
*Alexandra Crenshaw (Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Florida)
*Eryn Hughes (St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Florida)
*Matt Linn (The University School, Florida)
*Paul Martin (Belen Jesuit Prep School, Florida)
Quarter-Finalists
*Rohit Bhandari (J.P. Taravella High School, Florida)
*Max Curtis (Nova High School, Florida)
*Ben Denton (Pinecrest High School, Florida)
*Aashna Desai (Charlotte Latin School, North Carolina)
*Nathaniel Donahue (Durham Academy, North Carolina)
*James Fishback (Western High School, Florida)
*Cash Galko (Seminole Ridge Community High School, Florida)
*David Goldstein (Nova High School, Florida)
*Tre Hunt (Durham Academy, North Carolina)
*Kiran Jones (Durham Academy, North Carolina)
*Justin Kochman (Nova High School, Florida)
*Julia Manchester (Lake Highland Preparatory, Florida)
*Jared Odessky (Nova High School, Florida)
*Indira Puri (Durham Academy, North Carolina)
*Jacob Weil (Nova High School, Florida)
U.S. Extemp
Champion: Jared Odessky (Nova High School, Florida)
2nd: Rishi Bajaj (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
3rd: Nathaniel Donahue (Durham Academy, North Carolina)
4th: Catherine Chiodo (Des Moines Roosevelt High School, Iowa)
5th: Brandon Slotkin (Nova High School, Florida)
6th: Justin Kochman (Nova High School, Florida)
Semi-Finalists
*Joseph Calder (Cary Academy, North Carolina)
*James Fishback (Western High School, Florida)
*Eryn Hughes (St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Florida)
*Bruno Mastrodicasa (St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Florida)
*Arjun Murthy (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
*Daniel Schwindt (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
Quarter-Finalists
*Daniel Bateyko (Pine View School, Florida)
*Alexandra Crenshaw (Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Florida)
*Max Curtis (Nova High School, Florida)
*Matt Debari (Lake Highland Preparatory, Florida)
*Ben Denton (Pinecrest High School, Florida)
*Tre Hunt (Durham Academy, North Carolina)
*Rebecca Ledesma (Braddock High School, Florida)
*Matt Linn (The University School, Florida)
*Julia Manchester (Lake Highland Preparatory, Florida)
*Luis Rolfo (Lake Highland Preparatory, Florida)
*Jacob Weil (Nova High School, Florida)
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