Over Memorial Day weekend, over 200 extempers gathered in Baltimore, Maryland for the 2012 National Catholic Forensic League Grand National Tournament. In the final round, National Points Race leader Lily Nellans of Des Moines Roosevelt High School continued her winning streak at major tournaments on the national level and notched her third consecutive Grand Slam victory. It is also Nellans third major extemp championship, all of which she has won this year and it is her fifth victory in a National Points Race tournament this season. Nellans entered the final round trailing the runner-up, Ashesh Rambachan of Eastview High School in Minnesota, who was the runner-up to Dylan Slinger at last year’s NFL National Tournament in International Extemp, but rallied by taking four of the five available first place ranks. Nellans becomes the first sophomore to win the CFL Grand National championship and the first sophomore to win a national championship since Kevin Troy accomplished that feat ten years ago in Atlanta, Georgia at the 2003 NFL National Tournament in United States Extemp. Nellans becomes the first female extemper to win CFL Nationals since 2004, when Courtney Otto of Kentucky Country Day School in Kentucky won the tournament. Isabelle Taft of Henry W. Grady High School in Georgia, who was this year’s George Mason winner and who finished behind Nellans at the Montgomery Bell Extemp Round Robin, placed third. Allison McKibban of El Dorado High School in Kansas also deserves an honorable mention for making the final round, as she also made the finals of the Extemp TOC two weeks ago.
All of the extempers that made elimination rounds at this year’s CFL have automatically qualified for the 2013 Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions at Northwestern University. All of the extempers that made the quarter-final round and beyond will earn National Points Race points.
Here are the full results of the 2012 NCFL Grand National Tournament (the tab sheet can be accessed by clicking here):
Champion: Lily Nellans (Des Moines Roosevelt High School, Iowa)
2nd: Ashesh Rambachan (Eastview High School, Minnesota)
3rd: Isabelle Taft (Henry W. Grady High School, Georgia)
4th: Allison McKibban (El Dorado High School, Kansas)
5th: Robert McDonough (Holy Ghost Preparatory, Pennsylvania)
6th: Gabe Ferrante (Iona Preparatory, New York)
Semi-Finalists
*Sarah Allen (Ladue Horton Watkins High School, Missouri)
*Jake Ethe (Half Hollow Hills East High School, New York)
*Nick Hansen (Ridge High School, New Jersey)
*Eryn Hughes (St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Florida)
*Arjun Murthy (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
*Chris Roland (Pine View School, Florida)
Quarter-Finalists
*Tony Bigelow (Eastview High School, Minnesota)
*Cameron Bonnewell (Lake Highland Preparatory, Florida)
*Mark Cohen (Durham Academy, NOrth Carolina)
*Jon Cook (Sheboyan North High School, Wisconsin)
*Chris Grillo (Regis High School, New York)
*AK Komanduri (Dominion High School, Virginia)
*Catherine Lan (Notre Dame-San Jose, California)
*Camille Petersen (Villa Walsh Academy, New Jersey)
*Gregory Ross (Lamar High School-Houston, Texas)
*Miles Saffran (Trinity Preparatory, Florida)
*Nishwant Swami (Delbarton High School, New Jersey)
*Joe Weston (Danville High School, Kentucky)
Octo-Finalists
*Dylan Adelman (Lakeville South High School, Minnesota)
*Gil Avramovich (Newton South High School, Massachusetts)
*Jamis Barcott (Snohomish High School, Washington)
*Christine Cahill (Milton Academy, Massachusetts)
*Rachel Cusick (Salina High Central, Kansas)
*James DeMarshall (St. Joseph’s Preparatory School, Pennsylvania)
*Gia Farooqi (Ridge High School, New Jersey)
*Evan Garnick (Milton Academy, Massachusetts)
*Taylor Hanigosky (Boardman High School, Ohio
*Chase Harrison (Millburn High School, New Jersey)
*David Kubancik (Howland High School, Ohio)
*Germaine Mariaselvaraj (Rosemount Senior High School, Minnesota)
*Caitlin Murphy (Ridge High School, New Jersey)
*Joseph Quintana (G. Holmes Braddock High School, Florida)
*Cassidy Peretin (Chesterton High School, Indiana)
*Chuck Richardson (Montville High School, New Jersey)
*Nicole Rubin (Syosset High School, New York)
*Alex Sapadin (Snohomish High School, Washington)
*Lavanya Sunder (Lamar High School-Houston, Texas)
*Muneeba Syed (Shrewbury High School, Massachusetts)
*Matt Tyson (Chanhassen High School, Minnesota)
*Dalton Willey (Salina High Central, Kansas)
*Michael Xu (James Logan High School, California)
*Steven Zhang (Danville Area High School, Pennsylvania)
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