The National Points Race moved to the West Coast for last weekend’s James Logan MLK Invitational, hosted by James Logan High School in Union City, California. This year’s tournament was hosted virtually due to ongoing concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic and offered split extemp categories, with thirty-three competitors clashing in International Extemp and fifty-three in United States Extemp.
In International Extemp the winner was Francis Olakangil of Bellarmine College Preparatory (CA). Olakangil, a quarter-finalist earlier this season at Glenbrooks, defeated Vansh Mathur of Cupertino High School (CA) by three ranks in the cumulative tournament. #21 Michelle Jin of the Harker School (CA), the only ranked extemper in the field, placed third, just one rank behind Mathur.
The United States Extemp category was not as close as Gabriel Frank-McPheter of Gabrielino High School (CA), a finalist earlier in the year at Glenbrooks, cruised to an eleven-rank victory over Swadesh Sistla of ModernBrain (CA). Third place finisher William Chien of the Harker School (CA) finished seven ranks behind Sistla.
Nathan Tamkin of George Washington High School (CO) and Luccia Yacoub of Gabrielino High School (CA) made finals in both extemp categories. Tamkin placed seventh in IX and fifth in USX, while Yacoub finished sixth in IX and seventh in USX.
The MLK Invitational was a fifth tier event in the National Points Race, so Olakangil and Frank-McPheter will earn forty points for their victories and the top six in each category will receive points. Tamkin and Yacoub will receive credit for their highest finish.
All extempers who reached semi-finals in each category earn a bid to this year’s Extemp TOC at Northwestern University. The top seven finishers in each category receive a qualifying bid to the University of Kentucky TOC.
Here are the results of the 2022 James Logan MLK Invitational (Click here for tab sheet):
International Extemp
Champion: Francis Olakangil (Bellarmine College Preparatory, California)
2nd: Vansh Mathur (Cupertino High School, California)
3rd: Michelle Jin (The Harker School, California)
4th: Arnav Sunil (Bellarmine College Preparatory, California)
5th: Abby Wallach (Miramonte High School, California)
6th: Luccia Yacoub (Gabrielino High School, California)
7th: Nathan Tamkin (George Washington High School, Colorado)
Semi-Finalists
*Michelle Giovinazzo (Miramonte High School, California)
*Brennan Lee (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Rudy Mahajan (Davis Senior High School, California)
*Atmaja Patil (Monta Vista High School, California)
*Majid Shabeer (Bellarmine College Preparatory, California)
*Joseph Thomas (Bellarmine College Preparatory, California)
*Thomas Vandenburg (Flintridge Preparatory School, California)
Quarter-Finalists
*Shreya Anand (Los Altos High School, California)
*Rohan Bharadwaj (Archbishop Mitty High School, California)
*Ethan Chen (Monte Vista High School, California)
*Reece Christian (George Washington High School, Colorado)
*Jack D’Angelo (Flintridge Preparatory School, California)
*Ethan Guan (The Harker School, California)
*Layla Hoffman (Westridge High School, California)
*Celine Li (Westridge High School, California)
*Andrew Park (Archbishop Mitty High School, California)
*Sruti Peddi (BASIS Scottsdale, Arizona)
*Sahil Sud (BASIS Scottsdale, Arizona)
*Gatik Trivedi (Doughterty Valley High School, California)
*Nirja Trivedi (Westview High School, California)
*Jessica Zhou (The Harker School, California)
United States Extemp
Champion: Gabriel Frank-McPheter (Gabrielino High School, California)
2nd: Swadesh Sistla (ModernBrain, California)
3rd: William Chien (The Harker School, California)
4th: Alex Ali (Archbishop Mitty High School, California)
5th: Nathan Tamkin (George Washington High School, Colorado)
6th: Theodore Gercken (College Preparatory, California)
7th: Luccia Yacoub (Gabrielino High School, California)
Semi-Finalists
*Reece Christian (George Washington High School, California)
*Tyler Ly (Monte Vista High School, California)
*Anirudh Mani (Bellarmine College Preparatory, California)
*Eshaan Rawat (James Logan High School, California)
*Isaiah Sohn (Redlands High School, California)
*Evelyn Tsoi (Velasquez High School, California)
*Rohit Vakkalagadda (Bellarmine College Preparatory, California)
Quarter-Finalists
*Oliver Bock (Bentley High School, California)
*Ethan Chen (Monte Vista High School, California)
*Mark Davis (Davis Senior High School, California)
*Alex Fu (The Harker School, California)
*Surya Krishnapillai (Bellarmine College Preparatory, California)
*Rohan Lingam (Bellarmine College Preparatory, California)
*Akul Murthy (Lynbrook High School, California)
*Emily Parastie (Archbishop Mitty High School, California)
*Anthony Reynolds (Bellarmine College Preparatory, Califonria)
*Casey Scheiner (Miramonte High School, California)
*Fiona Yan (The Harker School, California)
Extemp Central thanks James Logan High School for putting the results of the tournament online.