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st. marksLast weekend, the St. Mark’s Heart of Texas Invitational featured its unique extemporaneous speaking tournament that allows extempers to compete in International and United States Extemp.  The tournament typically features the best students from Texas and a few Midwestern states and the final rounds tend to have some overlap between them.  In this year’s event, Oliver Sherren of the Parish Episcopal School (TX) won the International Extemp title by posting straight 1’s in his final round and Arel Rende of Booker T. Washington High School (OK) secured a four rank victory in United States Extemp.  Rende was last year’s NFL United States Extemp national champion and he is the first Oklahoma extemper to win a championship at St. Mark’s since at least the year 2000.  Lily Nellans of Des Moines Roosevelt High School (IA) finished second in each category.  Nellans won both categories last year, so Dillon Huff of Southlake Carroll High School (TX) remains the last extemper to attend St. Mark’s and win consecutive titles.  Huff accomplished this feat in 2008 and 2009 by winning the International Extemp category.  Aside from Rende and Nellans, the only other extemper who made both final rounds was Ash Maholtra of Plano Senior High School (TX), who finished 4th in both categories.  Booker T. Washington High School had four finalists across both extemp categories at the tournament, the highest of any school in attendance.

International Extemp featured fifty-three competitors, meaning that all competitors who made the semi-final round and beyond earned a qualifying leg to this year’s Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions (TOC) at Northwestern University.  United States Extemp featured sixty-two competitors, so all extempers who made the quarter-final round and beyond earned a qualifying leg.  In total, twenty extempers earned qualifying legs and five extempers, Sherren, Grant Bumgarner of Booker T. Washington High School (OK), Phoebe Lin of Plano West High School (TX), and Sydney Walter and Rachel Evans of Salado High School (TX), earned both qualifying legs at the tournament to earn a tentative qualification to this year’s TOC.  All extempers that earned a qualifying leg for this finish are indicated in italics.

This weekend, the Florida Blue Key Tournament, which allows extempers to double up in both extemp categories, will take place at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.

Here are the results from St. Mark’s (Click here for tab sheet):

International Extemp

Champion: Oliver Sherren (Parish Episcopal School, Texas)
2nd: Lily Nellans (Des Moines Roosevelt High School, Iowa)
3rd: Arel Rende (Booker T. Washington High School, Oklahoma)
4th: Ash Maholtra (Plano Senior High School, Texas)
5th: Phoebe Lin (Plano West High School, Texas)
6th: Jan Soto (Harlingen South High School, Texas)
7th: Rachel Evans (Salado High School, Texas)
8th: Hayden Cavanaugh (Saint James School, Alabama)

Semi-Finalists

*Grant Bumgarner (Booker T. Washington High School, Oklahoma)
*Giancarlo Musetti (Cypress Bay High School, Florida)
*Sydney Walter (Salado High School, Texas)
*Bobby Wang (Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, Texas)

United States Extemp

Champion: Arel Rende (Booker T. Washington High School, Oklahoma)
2nd: Lily Nellans (Des Moines Roosevelt High School, Iowa)
3rd: Grant Bumgarner (Booker T. Washington High School, Oklahoma)
4th: Ash Maholtra (Plano Senior High School, Texas)
5th: Patrick Wilson (Booker T. Washington High School, Oklahoma)
6th: Abhinav Sridharan (Plano Senior High School, Texas)
7th: Kishan Srikanth (Plano Senior High School, Texas)
8th: Kevin O’Brien (Southlake Carroll High School, Texas)

Semi-Finalists

*Phoebe Lin (Plano West High School, Texas)
*Oliver Sherren (Parish Episcopal School, Texas)
*Sydney Walter (Salado High School, Texas)
*Bobby Wang (Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, Texas)

Quarter-Finalists

*Cosmo Albrecht (Robert E. Lee High School, Texas)
*Daniella Cohen (Southlake Carroll High School, Texas)
*William Cook (Southlake Carroll High School, Texas)
*Joseph Depump (Southlake Carroll High School, Texas)
*Tony Ding (Montgomery Bell Academy, Tennessee)
*Rachel Evans (Salado High School, Texas)
*Azhar Hussain (Southlake Carroll High School, Texas)
*Davis Larkin (Parish Episcopal School, Texas)
*Michael Lupher (L.C. Anderson High School, Texas)
*Hasan Syed (Plano West High School, Texas)
*Karna Visqaprabakaran (A&M Consolidated High School, Texas)
*Raj Visqaprabakaran (Plano Senior High School, Texas)
*Henry Zelenka (Kent Denver School, Colorado)