During the first weekend in December, the University of Texas-Austin hosted its 24th annual Longhorn Classic. The tournament featured the typical Texas division of extemp into International and United States sections. 99 extempers entered International Extemp and 100 entered United States Extemp.
In International Extemp, #11 Kyle Letterer of Plano West Senior High School (TX) earned a two-rank victory over #2 Sruti Peddi of BASIS Scottsdale (AZ) in a tournament final that had remarkable consistency across judges’ ballots. Letterer took two of the three available first place ranks and the judges were uniform in ranking the fourth, fifth, and sixth place speakers. His win marks the third straight year an extemper from Plano West has won IX at the Longhorn.
Letterer’s victory gives him wins in both categories at the Longhorn, as he won United States Extemp at last year’s competition.
Letterer’s teammate, Gabriel Bo, took third place, following by #10 Brandon Cheng of Flintridge Preparatory School (CA), who reached his second National Points Race final round of the year, having placed third at Florida Blue Key earlier in the season.
Fifth place in IX went to Lance Brightmire of Booker T. Washington High School (OK) and sixth was earned by Suhawni Narang of W.B. Ray High School (TX). The final round appearance was the first for each competitor this season.
Other notables in International Extemp included #5 Theodore Gercken, who was eliminated in semi-finals, and National Season Opener winner #3 Charlotte Reitman of the University School (FL), who was eliminated in quarter-finals.
The United States Extemp portion of the tournament was also won by Plano West as Bo took the title over Peddi by one rank in a split tournament final where three different speakers earned a first place rank. Bo earned one, Peddi earned another, and Phoena Lin of Plano West took the other. Lin placed fourth after earning a fourth and sixth place rank from the other two judges.
Bo’s win also made him the best performing extemper at the tournament across both categories.
Gercken improved his performance from International Extemp, earning third, and ending up three ranks behind Bo.
The other finalists in USX were Abraham Zhang of Jasper High School (TX), who finished fifth, and #8 Katherine Lee of Plano West, who was sixth.
National Points Race competitors who did not clear to finals included Cheng, whose run ended in semi-finals. Reitman was eliminated in quarters, as was #4 Tyler Crivella of Seven Lakes High School (TX).
For National Points Race tabulations, all extempers who reached the semi-final round of their respective category were eligible to receive points. To avoid double counting, an extemper’s highest finish will count for this year’s standings.
In terms of TOC bids, all extempers who reached the quarter-final round of their respective extemp category earned a bid leg to the 2023 TOC of Extemp at Northwestern University. Due to the sizeable number of entries in this year’s field, all of the extempers who reached semi-finals receive a bd leg to the UK TOC.
Here are the results of the 2022 University of Texas-Austin Longhorn Classic (Click here for tab sheet):
In early December, George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia hosted its annual Patriot Games Tournament. After spending the last few years online because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Patriot Games returned to being an in-person event and forty-one extempers gathered for a fourth tier tournament in the National Points Race.
Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
Note: These will be the last questions for the next two weeks because of the winter holiday. Check back on Monday, January 2 for new questions to kick off 2023!
Earlier this evening Montgomery Bell Academy Extemp Round Robin tournament director Adam Johnson released the list of competitors who will participate in this year’s tournament.
