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Extempers from the Southwest competed against each other last week at the aptly named Southwest Championship, hosted by the Arizona State University Forensic Team. Tristan Brown of Brophy College Preparatory (AZ) was the tournament champion, securing a one rank win over Brecken Denler of Mountain View High School (AZ). Brown won two of the three available first place ranks in the final round, but an errant six place rank nearly cost him the title. Clayton Jacobs of Torrey Pines High School (CA) finished in third place.
The final round was also very close, as the top four competitors were separated by only two ranks.
The top three finishers at the tournament received legs for the 2015 Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions (TOC) at Northwestern University. Jacobs finalized his TOC qualification, while Brown and Denler earned their first TOC qualifying leg of the season.
All of the finalists at the tournament earned an automatic qualification to the University of Kentucky TOC in April.
Tempe Preparatory Academy had three outround participants, the most of any other school at the tournament. The school’s highest finisher was Yegor Znkov, who placed sixth.
Here are the results of the 2014 Southwestern Championship (Click here for tab sheet):
Champion: Tristan Brown (Brophy College Preparatory, Arizona)
2nd: Brecken Denler (Mountain View High School, Arizona)
3rd: Clayton Jacobs (Torrey Pines High School, California)
4th: Stephanie Miller (Desert Vista High School, Arizona)
5th: Michelle Huang (Irvington High School, California)
6th: Yegor Znkov (Tempe Preparatory Academy, Arizona)
Semi-Finalists
*Che Favaro (Tempe Preparatory Academy, Arizona)
*Yaseen Hashmi (Carlsbad High School, California)
*Vincent Jasso (North Pointe Preparatory, Arizona)
*Gavin McCarthy (Carlsbad High School, California)
*Arjun Narayan (The Harker School, California)
*Rachel Neglia (Tempe Preparatory Academy, Arizona)
*Bridges Sayers (Copper Hills High School, Utah)
*Troy Tauscher (North Pointe Preparatory, Arizona)
Extemp Central thanks Arizona State University for posting the results of the tournament online.