Here is the very last installment of profiles for the sixteen competitors who will be at the 2011 MBA Extemp Round Robin. This last installment runs down two of the three California extempers in the field, a top ten competitor in this year’s National Points Race, and one of the more unknown extempers in MBA history.
Don’t forget to check back tonight and vote in our MBA Round Robin poll. We will release the tournament schedule this evening so you know when to check back for pairings, pictures, and additional Round Robin news. There will be no R&D tomorrow because of our MBA coverage.
Peter Vogel
*School: Ridge High School (Ridge, New Jersey)
*Class: Senior
*NFL Points: 1,137
*Previous Invites to MBA: None
*National Points Race Rank: 7th (62 pts.)
*Last Year’s National Points Race Rank: 32nd (50 pts.)
*National Circuit Finishes This Season: Yale-3rd, George Mason-Quarters
*National Finishes Last Season: CFL-DNC; NFL-Quarters (USX)
*Notes: Is the second extemper from Ridge High School to be invited to the Round Robin. The last time Ridge High School got an invitation was in 2006. Ridge has never had an extemper make the Exhibition Round…Earned his way into the tournament after a third place finish at Yale and a final round appearance at Harvard last season…Is one of the many United States extempers in the field…One of the five extempers in the top ten of the National Points Race that is attending the tournament. A top six finish would put him in the top four of the National Points Race…Is a two-time New Jersey United States Extemp state champion…Will look to beat several of his fellow Round Robin competitors that placed higher than he did at the George Mason University Patriot Games Tournament…Placed fourth at Harvard last season…Finishes at Yale and Harvard show that although United States Extemp is a strong area, he can do International Extemp topic areas as well…Was a quarter-finalist at Yale last season.
Matthew Yasuoka
*School: Kamehameha Schools (Honolulu, Hawaii)
*Class: Senior
*NFL Points: 967
*Previous Invites to MBA: None
*National Points Race Rank: NR
*Last Year’s National Points Race Rank: NR
*National Circuit Finishes This Season: N/A
*National Finishes Last Season: CFL-DNA; NFL-DNC (Public Forum)
*Notes: Is the first extemper from Hawaii to be invited to the Round Robin…Is arriving early to the tournament so jet lag is not an issue…Did Public Forum at last year’s NFL National Tournament, but did not break…One of three competitors in this year’s Round Robin that have fewer than 1,000 NFL points…Is a two-time Hawaii state champion in United States Extemp…Arguably the most controversial invitee this year because of a non-existent national circuit and nationals resume. This also makes him the most unknown of all of the invitees to this year’s Round Robin…Good work at the Florida Forensic Institute over the summer earned him a bid into this year’s field…No Hawaii competitor has ever been ranked in the National Points Race, but that will change if he finishes in the top six…A competitor to watch this weekend because a strong finish could signify that he’s a major threat to win one of the extemp categories at NFL Nationals and bring Hawaii it’s first national championship in extemp since 1990, when Chad Ho of Damien Memorial High School won United States Extemp.
Kevin Ye
*School: Gabrielino High School (San Gabriel, California)
*Class: Senior
*NFL Points: 1,510
*Previous Invites to MBA: None
*National Points Race Rank: NR
*Last Year’s National Points Race Rank: 30th (55 pts.)
*National Circuit Finishes This Season: N/A
*National Finishes Last Season: CFL-DNA; NFL-8th (USX)
*Notes: Is the first extemper from Gabrielino High School to be invited to the Round Robin…One of three California extempers in this year’s field…One of four United States Extemp semi-finalists at last year’s NFL National Tournament in the field…His eighth place finish in United States Extemp earned him a bid into the field…Matchups against fellow United States Extemp semi-finalists Forrest Richardson, Jared Odessky, and Susan Czaikowski may preview some of the United States Extemp NFL final later in the year. Then again, considering that most of the field has domestic extempers, the Round Robin might just be a small NFL USX preview…Finished in the top 30 in last year’s National Points Race, which is only eclipsed by three competitors in this year’s field: Nabeel Zewail, Odessky, and Richardson…Defeated fellow Round Robin competitor Jason Singh at Fullerton Joint Union’s Winter Classic tournament several weeks ago.
Nabeel Zewail
*School: San Marino High School (San Marino, California)
*Class: Senior
*NFL Points: 1,788
*Previous Invites to MBA: One (2010-4th)
*National Points Race Rank: 3rd (110 pts.)
*Last Year’s National Points Race Rank: 7th (230 pts.)
*National Circuit Finishes This Season: Glenbrooks-Semis, George Mason-1st (Round Robin), 2nd (Patriot Games)
*National Finishes Last Season: CFL-DNA; NFL-Octos (IX)
*Notes: Along with Jared Odessky, he is returning to Nashville for a second chance at winning the Round Robin championship…Represents San Marino’s sixth bid to the Round Robin and he is the fourth extemper from the school to participate in the Round Robin…Along with teammate Oscar Wang, he helped guide San Marino to the National Team Points Race title last season…Made the Exhibition Round at last year’s Round Robin…One of the fewer extempers in the field who has done International Extemp at NFL Nationals…Is the second highest ranked extemper in the National Points Race in this year’s tournament…If he wins the Round Robin and Nathaniel Donahue fails to make the top six, he would significantly close in on Donahue’s National Points Race lead and move into second place in the standings…Was a seventh place finisher in International Extemp in 2009, but went out in the octo-final round last season…Had a chance to win the National Points Race at NFL Nationals last season, but his early exit dashed those hopes…Was last year’s winner of the Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions at Northwestern University, becoming only the second junior in tournament history to accomplish that feat…One of three California extempers in this year’s field…Finished second at the Yale Invitational last season…Was a seventh place finisher at the California Invitational last season…Experience at the tournament and success in Round Robin and extemp “specialty” tournaments make him one of the favorites this weekend.
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