Month: June 2011 Page 1 of 2

In Nationals Results

The 2010-2011 extemporaneous speaking season has come to a conclusion and at tonight’s 2011 NFL National Tournament awards ceremony, Jared Odessky of Nova High School was crowned as this year’s NFL national champion in United States Extemp and Dylan Slinger of Lakeville South High School in Minnesota became this year’s NFL national champion in International Extemp. Slinger’s victory gives him a “double crown” of CFL and NFL national championships, making him the third extemper to accomplish the feat. It is also Slinger’s third major championship. Odessky becomes the first extemper from Nova High School to win an extemporaneous speaking national championship at NFL and is the first extemper from Florida to win a national championship since Jay Ward won U.S. Extemp in 2002. Slinger and Odessky each won their respective final rounds and Slinger becomes the first extemper in NFL history to win the final rounds of U.S. and International Extemp in a career. Ashesh Rambachan of Eastview High School in Minnesota was the highest placing underclassmen in either category, finishing one spot behind Slinger in International Extemp.

2011 NFL National Tournament: Semi-Finalist Placings Are Announced

In National Circuit Results

At the conclusion of the United States and International Extemporaneous Speaking final rounds, the National Forensic League recognized the semi-finalists in both categories. Semi-finalists earn National Points Race points relative to how they placed, unlike other National Points Race tournament, which do not recognize the placings of students who do not reach the final round.

Here are the announced placings:

2011 NFL National Tournament: International Extemp Final Round Analysis

In Final Round Analysis

The International Extemp final round has just concluded. Here is Extemp Central’s analysis of the final round. Extemp Central provides a quick breakdown of the speeches and ranks the round. A video will be posted this afternoon where more detail will be provided on the rounds and why they were ranked as such. Awards will take place tonight and when the results are made official, we will bring them to you here at Extemp Central.

2011 NFL National Tournament: United States Extemp Final Round Analysis

In Final Round Analysis

The final round of United States Extemporaneous Speaking has just concluded at the 2011 National Forensic League National Tournament. Extemp Central provides a quick breakdown of the speeches and ranks the round. A video will be posted this afternoon where more detail will be provided on the rounds and why they were ranked as such. This was posted in haste, so I apologize for any grammatical errors.

2011 NFL National Tournament: Livestream

NFL has disabled our embedding of the national final stream, so you can access it by clicking here. U.S. Extemp starts at 9:30 a.m. CST and International Extemp follows at 11:00.

2011 NFL Nationals: “The Saturday Six” Are Set

On June 16, 2011

The “Saturday Six” for International and United States Extemp have been selected. These twelve extempers will compete on Saturday morning for the right to become an NFL champion in their respective extemporaneous speaking category.

If NFL streams the final rounds like last year, Extemp Central will provide a summary of the rounds after they have concluded. Extemp Central will provide a video preview of the final rounds tomorrow evening.

2011 NFL Nationals: Semi-Finals Have Been Set

On June 16, 2011

The top fourteen in International and United States Extemp have been announced at the 2011 NFL National Tournament. Of these fourteen, only six will advance to Saturday and compete for the national championship. Semi-finals start at 2 p.m. CST and we should know by early this evening who our “Saturday Six” should be.

The biggest news is that Nathaniel Donahue, who has led the National Points Race for much of the year, is out of the tournament. However, Donahue will still win this year’s National Points Race because of the wide lead he opened before the tournament. This is the second year in a row that the #1 ranked extemper in the National Points Race has fallen in the quarter-final round at NFL. The biggest National Points Race competitor to fall in IX was Isabelle Taft, who entered NFL in seventh place in the points race and had secured two victories on the national circuit this season. Other known competitors to fall in the quarter-finals of IX included Pennsylvania extempers Matt Rauen and Sam Reynolds. United States Extemp, which saw most of its notable competitors advance in octofinals, saw the departure notable competitors in rounds nine and ten, such as Shikha Garg, Samantha Karas, Jason Kim, Jason Singh, and Forrest Richardson, who placed seventh in USX last year.

2011 NFL Nationals: Quarter-Finalists Are Announced

On June 15, 2011

Quarter-finalists have been posted at the 2011 NFL National Tournament. The thirty-one extempers who have advanced in International Extemp and the thirty that have advanced in United States Extemp will fight it out tomorrow morning and by late tomorrow we will know the names of the six extempers who will be in Saturday’s final rounds.

As per usual, the octofinal round claimed several notable names in this year’s National Points Race and from around the national circuit. Ben Constine, the winner of this year’s Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions, was the highest ranked National Points Race competitor to fall. Alessandro Pauri, who was the combined winner of St. Mark’s this year in the National Points Race, was also eliminated in IX. Paavan Gami, who was in the top twenty-five heading into NFL, was eliminated and Justin Kieran, who won the Liberty Bell Classic this year, were also knocked out in IX. The octofinal round was also unkind to many of this year’s participants of the Montgomery Bell Academy Extemp Round Robin, as Pauri, Matthew Yasuoka, and Susan Czaikowski were eliminated. Czaikowski was the biggest name to fall in USX, as she had been a semi-finalist last year in Kansas City.

2011 NFL Nationals: Octofinalists Are Announced

On June 15, 2011

Octofinalists for this year’s NFL National Tournament have been released. Octofinals conclude this afternoon and quarter-finals and semi-finals will be held tomorrow. All of these participants will earn National Points Race points and all have earned an automatic qualification to next year’s Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions at Northwestern University. We appreciate the National Forensic League for releasing the names of all elimination round participants.

Each extempers rank in this year’s National Points Race, if applicable, has been included next to their name.

State Results: 2011 North Dakota High School Activities Association State Speech Tournament (Class A)

On June 14, 2011

In State Results

Here are the results of the Class A section of the 2011 North Dakota High School Activities Association State Speech Tournament, held on May 14th at Jamestown High School. All finalists earned an automatic qualification to the 2012 Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions at Northwestern University.

Champion: Brett Johnson (Fargo Shanley High School)
2nd: Maneesh Apte (Fargo South High School)
3rd: Shelby Wood (Bismarck St. Mary’s High School)
4th: Bryce Heustis (Devils Lake High School)
5th: Eli Voight (Bismarck Century High School)
6th: Hannah Fishbeck (Mandan High School)
7th: Joey Schaefbauer (Fargo Shanley High School)
8th: Lucas Wakefield (Devils Lake High School)

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2011 NFL National Tournament: Six Questions About this Year’s Event

On June 13, 2011

Tomorrow, the 2011 National Forensic League (NFL) National Tournament kicks off in Dallas, Texas. Saturday evening the tournament will conclude and we will have our International and United States Extemp national champions and this year’s National Points Race standings will be finalized.

Extemp Central weighs in on six questions that surround this year’s national tournament.

R&D: The Turkish Election