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This year’s International Extemp final round at the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) National Tournament will feature the top three competitors in the National Points Race, one of whom is attempting to become just the fourth extemper in history to win the NCFL and NSDA national championships in the same calendar year. The round also features the winners of two of the year’s major tournaments and four state champions. Whereas United States Extemp is dominated by Southwestern states this year, International Extemp is heavily populated by extempers from the East Coast.
The International Extemp final round will follow the U.S. Extemp final, scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. EST tomorrow. The NSDA will live stream the competition and Logan Scisco and Josh Wartel will break down the round after it concludes. Extempers are also invited to make their comments about the round when tomorrow’s post-round commentary is posted.
VAIKUNTH BALAJI
*School: Ridge High School, New Jersey
*Class: Senior
*Notable 2015-2016 Finishes: MBA Extemp Round Robin-1st; New Jersey Forensic League State Tourament-1st (IX); Yale-1st; Harvard-3rd; New York City Invitational-7th; University of Kentucky TOC-Semifinalist; George Mason-Quarterfinalist; NCFL Nationals-Quarterfinalist
*Previous NSDA Nationals Finishes: 2015-Quarterfinalist (IX); 2014-7th (IX); 2013-Quarterfinalist (USX)
*What’s at Stake: Balaji rebounded after a disappointing showing at last year’s NSDA Nationals, where his attempt to move from the semi-final round into the final round ended in round ten. He has put together a great season, winning a major at the MBA Extemp Round Robin and winning a third straight New Jersey Forensic League state championship in International Extemp. Although he cannot mathematically win the National Points Race, Balaji would win his second major by taking the IX title tomorrow, joining a very elite group of extempers, and he would be the first Ridge extemper to win an extemporaneous speaking national championship. The last time that a New Jersey extemper won IX was sixteen years ago, when Gilbert Lee of Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School punned his way to a national championship.
CHARLIE BARTON
*School: Regis High School, New York
*Class: Senior
*Notable 2015-2016 Finishes: New York Forensic League State Tournament-2nd; New York City Invitational-4th; Harvard-Semifinalist; Yale-Semifinalist; Barkley Forum-Quarterfinalist; NCFL Nationals-Quarterfinalist
*Previous NSDA Nationals Finishes: 2015-Quarterfinalist (IX); 2014-Octofinalist (IX)
*What’s at Stake: A former New York extemp state champion – he won the title in 2015 – Barton’s arrival in this year’s final round is part of a graduated series of showings at NSDA Nationals that last few seasons. Although Barton has only one final round placing at a National Points Race event this year, he does have elimination round appearances at other venues such as Yale, the Barkley Forum, and NCFL Nationals. It has been twenty years since Regis High School had an extemper win IX at NSDA Nationals, so Barton will attempt to end his career by putting Regis on top of the extemp world once again.
JUSTIN GRAHAM
*School: Trinity Preparatory School, Florida
*Class: Senior
*Notable 2015-2016 Finishes: Florida Blue Key-1st (IX), 1st (USX); Florida Forensic League State Tournament-1st (IX); NCFL Nationals-1st; Wake Forest-1st; University of Kentucky TOC-1st; Extemp TOC-2nd; MBA Extemp Round Robin-2nd; New York City Invitational-2nd; Yale-2nd; Barkley Forum-3rd; Glenbrooks-4th; George Mason-Quarterfinalist, 1st (Round Robin)
*Previous NSDA Nationals Finishes: 2015-2nd (IX); 2014-Quarterfinalist (IX)
*What’s at Stake: Having clinched the National Points Race on Tuesday, Graham is looking to end a great season by winning a second national championship. If he wins, Graham will become only the fourth extemper in history – and the first non-Minnesotan – to win NCFL and NSDA Nationals in the same season. A victory would be the second time in three years that Trinity Preparatory has won the NSDA IX national title and Graham would also “bookend” the National Points Race season by winning the season’s first tournament (Wake Forest) and NSDA. The last thing that can be said of Graham is that a top finish is expected, solely because Graham has finished in the top two at the last five major tournaments.
NIKHIL RAMASWAMY
*School: Jasper High School, Texas
*Class: Sophomore
*Notable 2015-2016 Finishes: Texas Forensic Association State Tournament-4th (IX)
*Previous NSDA Nationals Finishes: 2015-Did Not Break (Oratory)
*What’s at Stake: Ramaswamy enters this year’s final round as the biggest unknown, having no National Points Race finishes up to this point. However, Ramaswamy is not unknown in Texas, having placed fourth in International Extemp at this year’s Texas Forensic Association State Tournament. What makes Ramaswamy’s appearance in the final round most surprising is that he is only a sophomore. A sophomore has never won NSDA in the modern era, although Ashesh Rambachan of Eastview High School came close in IX in 2011. Therefore, Ramaswamy is seeking to set a benchmark that would be very tough to match tomorrow.
SHREETIKA SINGH
*School: Seven Lakes High School, Texas
*Class: Senior
*Notable 2015-2016 Finishes: George Mason-Semifinalist; Texas Forensic Association State Tournament-Semifinalist; University of Kentucky TOC-Semifinalist
*Previous NSDA Nationals Finishes: 2015-7th (IX); 2014-Octofinalist (IX)
*What’s at Stake: Singh successfully moved up at least one spot to get into this year’s NSDA final round, having placed seventh in International Extemp at last year’s national tournament. She does not have a final round appearance in a National Points Race tournament this year, but she does have elimination round experience at George Mason and the University of Kentucky Tournament of Champions. Singh is the sole female extemper in this year’s IX final round and will try to be the first female winner of IX since 2009 when Stacey Chen won the title in Birmingham, Alabama. Seven Lakes has never had an NSDA extemp champion.
MARSHALL SLOANE
*School: Milton Academy, Massachusetts
*Class: Junior
*Notable 2015-2016 Finishes: Massachusetts Speech and Debate League State Tournament-1st; Harvard-2nd; MBA Extemp Round Robin-3rd; University of Kentucky TOC-3rd; George Mason-6th; Glenbrooks-Quarterfinalist; NCFL Nationals-Quarterfinalist; Yale-Quarterfinalist
*Previous NSDA Nationals Finishes: 2014-Quarterfinalist (USX)
*What’s at Stake: Overcoming early season frustrations, which featured early eliminations at several major circuit events, Sloane has gone on a tear since George Mason. He came close to winning the MBA Extemp Round Robin, finished runner-up at Harvard, recaptured the Massachusetts state championship that he lost last season (Sloane won it as a freshman in 2014), and reached the final round of the University of Kentucky Tournament of Champions. Sloane is arguably Milton Academy’s best chance of winning an IX title since Josh Bone competed at the 2003 and 2004 NSDA national tournaments. Milton Academy had an IX winner in 1987 so if Sloane wins it will be the first time in twenty-nine years that the school has carried home an overall extemp championship from NSDA.