[fblike]
Here is day two of our participant capsules for this year’s Montgomery Bell Extemp Round Robin in Nashville, Tennessee. Check back tomorrow for a poll, where you can cast your vote for who you think will win this year’s tournament!
PHOEBE LIN
*School: Plano West Senior High School (Plano, Texas)
*Class: Senior
*Previous Invites to MBA: None
*Top School Finish at MBA: 1st (Tex Dawson-2007)
*National Ranking: 16th
*2014 TOC National Circuit Finishes: Winston Churchill-1st (IX); St. Mark’s-2nd (USX), 3rd (IX); Harvard-Semifinalist; University of Texas-Semifinalist (IX), DNC (USX)
*National Finishes Last Season: CFL-DNA; NSDA-13th (IX)
*Notes: Is the third extemper from Plano West to be invited to the Round Robin in the last four years…The only female extemper in this year’s field…Does not travel the national circuit as much as her other Round Robin competitors, but has established a good reputation on the Texas circuit…Defeated fellow Round Robin competitor Davis Larkin last year in the International Extemp portion of the Winston Churchill Classic…Was the highest placing extemper at St. Mark’s after finishes in both extemp categories were calculated. This has constituted her sole National Points Race finish this year so far…Deep finish at Harvard last year, a tournament that featured 274 extempers, set the stage for her semifinal finish at NSDA Nationals in International Extemp…Finished fourth at last year’s Texas Forensic Association State Tournament in International Extemp.
VISHAL NARAYANASWAMY
*School: James Madison Memorial High School (Madison, Wisconsin)
*Class: Senior
*Previous Invites to MBA: None
*Top School Finish at MBA: First appearance for school
*National Ranking: T19th
*2014 TOC National Circuit Finishes: Yale-7th; Extemp TOC-Quarterfinalist; Glenbrooks-Quarterfinalist
* National Finishes Last Season: NCFL-6th; NSDA-7th (USX)
*Notes: Will be the first extemper from Wisconsin to compete at the Round Robin…Came very close to making the final round at both national tournaments last season, missing the NSDA USX final round by only one rank…Placed third at last year’s Wisconsin Forensic Association State Tournament. James Madison took the top three places at that tournament and Narayanaswamy was defeated by teammates Alekh Kale and Rasika Ramanathan…Was a semi-finalist at the New York City Invitational back in October…Will seek to improve his performance relative to Eitan Sapiro-Gheiler, Josh Wartel, Brian Anderson, Nathaniel Saffran, and Yijia Liang, all of whom bested him in his one final round appearance on the national circuit this season at Yale.
NATHANIEL SAFFRAN
*School: Trinity Preparatory School (Winter Park, Florida)
*Class: Junior
*Previous Invites to MBA: None
*Top School Finish at MBA: 3rd (Miles Saffran – 2014)
*National Ranking: 9th
*2014 TOC National Circuit Finishes: Wake Forest-3rd; Florida Blue Key-4th (USX), Quarterfinalist (IX); Yale-5th; George Mason-Quarterfinalist; Glenbrooks-Quarterfinalist; Sunvitational-Quarterfinalist; Harvard-Double Octofinalist
*National Finishes Last Season: CFL-Quarterfinalist; NSDA-Octofinalist (USX)
*Notes: The brother of two-time MBA competitor, two-time Exhibition Round participant, and NSDA International Extemp National Champion Miles Saffran…Finished behind his brother and teammate Justin Graham en route to a fourth place finish in United States Extemp at last season’s Florida Forensic League State Tournament…One of two Trinity extempers in this year’s field…Has the second highest number of National Points Race final round finishes this season…Looks to get back to a national circuit final round, as he has been eliminated in the early elimination rounds of his last two national circuit competitions at the Glenbrooks and George Mason…Placed sixth at the New York City Invitational in early October. In that final round he squared off with fellow Round Robin competitors Noah Wexler and Graham.
EITAN SAPIRO-GHEILER
*School: Durham Academy (Durham, North Carolina)
*Class: Senior
*Previous Invites to MBA: None
*Top School Finish at MBA: 2nd (Nathaniel Donahue-2011)
*National Ranking: 3rd
*2014 TOC National Circuit Finishes: Florida Blue Key-2nd (USX), Semifinalist (IX); George Mason-2nd (Round Robin), 5th (Patriot Games); Wake Forest-2nd; Yale-2nd; Laird Lewis-Semifinalist; Harvard-Octofinalist
*National Finishes Last Season: CFL-DNA; NSDA-Octofinalist (IX)
*Notes: The only competitor in the top five of the National Points Race that has not won a National Points Race tournament this season. His high standing in the rankings is owed to his high finishes at prestigious national circuit events this year. He is tied with Yijia Liang for most final round appearances at National Points Race competitions this season. Like Liang, he enters the Round Robin twenty-four points behind National Points Race leader Justin Graham…Began the year with back-to-back runner-up finishes at Wake Forest and Yale, the first time that has been done since Nathaniel Donahue, a former Durham Academy extemper, accomplished the feat in the 2010-2011 season…Is the second extemper from Durham Academy to be invited to the Round Robin…Finished fifth at last year’s North Carolina Tarheel Forensic League State Tournament…Rebounded from a disappointing Glenbrooks, where he did not clear to elimination rounds, to place second to Josh Wartel at the George Mason University Extemp Round Robin and fifth in the general tournament.
MARSHALL SLOANE
*School: Milton Academy (Milton, Massachusetts)
*Class: Sophomore
*Previous Invites to MBA: None
*Top School Finish at MBA: 1st (Jay Cox-1999, Josh Bone-2004)
*National Ranking: 12th
*2014 TOC National Circuit Finishes: Glenbrooks-5th; George Mason-Semifinalist; Yale-Quarterfinalist
*National Finishes Last Season: CFL-DNA; NSDA-Quarterfinalist (USX)
*Notes: The first Milton Academy extemper to be invited to the Round Robin since 2008 when Matt Gottesdiener and Henry Litman were given bids…Only one school, Des Moines Roosevelt High School (IA), has won more bids to the Round Robin than Milton. It is also one of three schools to have two extempers win the Round Robin, the other two being Newton South High School (2003, 2008) and Eagan High School (2005, 2006)…Scored one of the biggest upsets in the nation last year when he defeated Jasper Primack by two ranks to win the Massachusetts Speech and Debate League State Tournament as a freshman…Is the lone sophomore in this year’s field. Two sophomores have made the MBA Exhibition Round in the past: Ron Kendler of Newton South High School (2003) and Lily Nellans of Des Moines Roosevelt High School (IA)…Highest finish on the national circuit this season is a fifth place performance at the Glenbrooks, where he was defeated by fellow Round Robin competitor Davis Larkin (who took second). However, he defeated Marshall Webb in that round.
JOSH WARTEL
*School: Lake Braddock Secondary School (Burke, Virginia)
*Class: Senior
*Previous Invites to MBA: Two (2nd-2014, 6th-2013)
*Top School Finish at MBA: 2nd (Josh Wartel – 2014)
*National Ranking: 4th
*2014 TOC National Circuit Finishes: George Mason-1st (Patriot Games), 1st (Round Robin); Villiger-1st; Yale-3rd; Extemp TOC-4th; Florida Blue Key-4th (IX), Quarterfinalist (USX); Harvard-4th
*National Finishes Last Season: CFL-3rd; NSDA-3rd (USX)
*Notes: Along with Jad Hamdan, he is the only competitor in the field to have competed at the Round Robin three times…Led the entire Round Robin last year before ending up in a tie with Lily Nellans after the tenth and final round of the competition. Nellans won the tiebreaker among the MBA alumni panel in the Exhibition Round to win the title…Came very close to winning both national titles last year, as he finished a mere two ranks behind NCFL National Champion Monica Coscia and Nellans and entered last year’s NSDA USX final round in the lead. He was the highest finishing underclassman at both competitions…Enters the tournament with arguably more momentum than any other extemper in the field, having defeated many of his fellow competitors at the George Mason University Patriot Games and in its Round Robin…Became the first extemper to successfully defend a Villiger extemp title since 1987 in November…Is a two-time Virginia state champion, winning Group 6A last year…Placed fifth at NSDA Nationals in United States Extemp as a sophomore.
MARSHALL WEBB
*School: Saint Mary’s Hall (San Antonio, Texas)
*Class: Junior
*Previous Invites to MBA: None
*Top School Finish at MBA: First appearance for school
*National Ranking: T19th
*2014 TOC National Circuit Finishes: University of Texas-4th (USX), Semifinalist (IX); Glenbrooks-6th; Winston Churchill-Semifinalist (IX); Extemp TOC-Quarterfinalist; Harvard-Octofinalist
*National Finishes Last Season: CFL-DNA; NFL-Quarterfinalist (USX)
*Notes: Enters the Round Robin tied for nineteenth with fellow competitor Vishal Narayanaswamy in the National Points Race. All of his present points in the National Points Race were due to his sixth place performance at Glenbrooks in November, where he lost in the final round to Davis Larkin and Marshall Sloane…Will be making the first appearance for Saint Mary’s Hall in the Round Robin…Ended his first semester with a fourth place finish in United States Extemp at the University of Texas-Austin Longhorn Classic, which helped him secure an invitation to the Round Robin…One of seven extempers in the Round Robin field who did United States Extemp at last year’s NSDA National Tournament…The last time Texas had an Exhibition Round participant was 2010, when Dillon Huff of Southlake Carroll High School won the competition.
NOAH WEXLER
*School: Nova Senior High School (Davie, Florida)
*Class: Senior
*Previous Invites to MBA: None
*Top School Finish at MBA: 1st (Rana Yared-2002)
*National Ranking: 10th
*2014 TOC National Circuit Finishes: Florida Blue Key-1st (IX), Semifinalist (USX); Sunvitational-2nd; Barkley Forum-Semifinalist; Glenbrooks-Quarterfinalist; Harvard-Quarterfinalist
*National Finishes Last Season: CFL-DNA; NFL-DNA
*Notes: Becomes the sixth extemper from Nova Senior High School to compete at the Round Robin. Along with Newton South High School (MA) and Milton Academy (MA), Nova has the second-most number of bids to the tournament in its seventeen year history with nine…The only competitor in this year’s field that did not attend either national tournament…One of three Floridians in this year’s field along with Justin Graham and Nathaniel Saffran…Occupies tenth place in the National Points Race due to a third-best placing across both extemp categories at the Florida Blue Key, a runner-up finish at the New York City Invitational, and a quarter-finalist placing at the Glenbrooks…Was runner-up to Miles Saffran at the Sunvitational last year…Won the Crestian Tradition last season.