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Pairings have been released for the first round of this year’s Montgomery Bell Academy Extemp Round Robin.
For those unfamiliar with the tournament, the sixteen competitors are divided into four sections of four for ten rounds with each competitor hitting the other twice. The tournament results are determined by a competitor’s scores across all ten rounds, all of which are adjudicated by three judge panels. The top five competitors compete in an Exhibition Round on Sunday, which serves as its own stand alone round, and the eleven extempers who did not make the Exhibition Round serve as the judges. In case of ties, a panel composed of former Round Robin competitors breaks it. If two extempers tie for first place, coaches have the option of letting the Exhibition Round decide the tournament, with the former Round Robin competitors ballots serving as the tiebreaker. In that situation coaches will be able to strike one of the judges.
The topic area for round one is international relations and organizations.
Competitors National Points Race ranking is indicated in italics next to their name.
Section One
Judges: Robert Sheard, Aaron Lutkowitz, and AK Komanduri
(T19) Vishal Narayanaswamy (James Madison Memorial High School, Wisconsin)
(8) Davis Larkin (The Parish Episcopal School, Texas)
(6) Brian Anderson (LaRue County High School, Kentucky)
(9) Nathaniel Saffran (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
Section Two
Judges: Bill Thompson, Jason Warren, and Meredith Deaton
(3) Eitan Sapiro-Gheiler (Durham Academy, North Carolina)
(T38) Jad Hamdan (Jackson High School, Ohio)
(2) Yijia Liang (Upper Arlington High School, Ohio)
(T19) Marshall Webb (Saint Mary’s Hall, Texas)
Section Three
Judges: Eric Cecil, Colin Malinak, and Rhonda Smith
(14) Vaikunth Balaji (Ridge High School, New Jersey)
(4) Josh Wartel (Lake Braddock Secondary School, Virginia)
(T31) Micah Cash (Booker T. Washington High School, Oklahoma)
(NR) Rohan Dhoopar (Bellarmine College Preparatory, California)
Section Four
Judges: Carly Ann Barnes, Harry Strong, and Lily Nellans
(12) Marshall Sloane (Milton Academy, Massachusetts)
(10) Noah Wexler (Nova Senior High School, Florida)
(16) Phoebe Lin (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
(1) Justin Graham (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)