And just like at the Montgomery Bell Academy Extemp Round Robin at the beginning of the month, #1 McKinley Paltzik of Phoenix Country Day School (AZ) kept her season-long unbeaten streak intact, defeating #21 Jack Ververis of Trinity Preparatory School (FL) by seven ranks in the final round. It marks Paltzik’s fifth victory at a National Points Race event this season.
It would not be a national circuit extemp event without Plano West Senior High School (TX) getting some of its competitors through to the final round. This time, it got two extempers through to the last round and #6 Gabriel Bo took third and #3 Kyle Letterer took fourth.
#2 Theodore Gercken of the College Preparatory School (CA) notched his fifth final round at a National Points Race event of the year. He finished in fifth place.
Faye Zhang of Eastview High School (MN), an MBA invitee last season, was the sixth place finisher.
Notable extempers that were eliminated in semi-finals included #8 Pierce McDade of the University School (IL) and #13 Charlotte Reitman of the University School (FL). Notables that went out in quarter-finalists included #4 Phoena Lin of Plano West, #5 Sruti Peddi of BASIS Scottsdale (AZ), and #12 Sydney Carroll of Battle Ground Academy (TN).
Paltzik is the first extemper from Arizona to win the Barkley Forum at least as far back as 2000, which is how far Extemp Central’s history of the tournament goes.
All of the extempers who reached the semi-final round and beyond earn National Points Race points. Paltzik earns 70 points for her victory.
All of the semi-finalists at the tournament earned a bid leg to this year’s Extemp TOC at Northwestern University. They also earn a bid leg to the University of Kentucky TOC.
Here are the results from the 2023 Barkley Forum (Click here for tab sheet):’
Champion: McKinley Paltzik (Phoenix Country Day School, Arizona)
2nd: Jack Ververis (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
3rd: Gabriel Bo (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
4th: Kyle Letterer (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
5th: Theodore Gercken (The College Preparatory School, California)
6th: Faye Zhang (Eastview High School, Minnesota)
Semi-Finalists
*Evelyn Ding (Jasper High School, Texas)
*Pierce McDade (The University School, Illinois)
*Gabriel Paz (Collierville High School, Tennessee)
*Charlotte Reitman (The University School, Florida)
*Sumedh Seetharam (Scottsdale Preparatory Academy, Arizona)
*Elizabeth Wong (Durham Academy, North Carolina)
Quarter-Finalists
*Sydney Carroll (Battle Ground Academy, Tennessee)
*Jonah Downs (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
*Sofia Esteban (Seven Lakes High School, Texas)
*Ben Hoffman (L.C. Anderson High School, Texas)
*Phoena Lin (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Sruti Peddi (BASIS Scottsdale, Arizona)
*Kashish Priyam (The Harker School, California)
*Jude Roast (Oak Grove High School, Mississippi)
*Michael Singleton (Cary Academy, North Carolina)
*Sven Stumbauer (Christopher Columbus High School, Florida)
*Madeline Tsao (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Sophia Wei (Jasper High School, Texas)
*Nicholas Zylstra (Eastview High School, Minnesota)
Extemp Central thanks Emory University for putting the results of the tournament online.