This year was the silver anniversary of the University of Texas-Austin’s Longhorn Classic. Held on December 1-3, the tournament drew a wide field of extempers from Texas, Louisana, Utah, California, and Florida.
In International Extemp, Katherine Lee retained the title for Plano West Senior High School (TX), beating #6 Brandon Cheng of Flintridge Preparatory School (CA) by three ranks. Lee’s is the fourth Plano West extemper to win the Longhorn Classic’s International Extemp title since 2019. She was also the only extemper at the tournament to final in both extemp categories, taking fifth in United States Extemp.
Cheng was appearing in his third National Points Race final round of the season. He last appeared in a National Points Race final at the New York City Invitational in October.
Plano East Senior High School (TX) had two finalists in the International Extemp category. Kate Liu took third and Ishika Kothari took fourth.
Two ranks behind Kothari was Daniel Rupawalla of Tompkins High School (TX). The sixth place finisher was Pranav Kalakuntla of Plano West.
Waleed Haider of Hendrickson High School (TX) won the United States Extemp category. Haider tied #4 Robert Zhang of Elkins High School (TX) with a composite of seven at the end of the final round and was awarded the title via judges’ preference 2-1. It was Zhang’s third final round appearance at a National Points Race tournament that he has attended.
Haider’s win broke a three-year winning streak by Plano West Senior High School in the category.
#8 Tyler Crivella of Seven Lakes High School (TX) finished third, two ranks behind Haider and Zhang. Crivella had a path to win with two judges awarding him second place ranks but a fifth place rank from the third final round judge doomed his title hopes. It is the second time that Crivella finished behind Zhang in a National Points Race contest as the two also clashed at the Glenbrooks.
Glenbrooks winner #2 Lishore Kumar of Tomball Memorial High School (TX) placed fourth. Kumar has made three National Points Race final rounds this season.
Sophia Wei of Plano West Senior High School (TX) reached her first National Points Race final round of the season, taking sixth.
#11 Ronak Patel of American Heritage School – Broward (FL) was in the field as well. He was a semi-finalist in United States Extemp and a quarter-finalist in International Extemp
All of the elimination round participants will earn National Points Race points because the Longhorn Classic was a third tier event for the first time. Lee and Haider will be awarded 100 points for their victories. To avoid double counting, an extemper’s highest finish will be credited for points, so Lee will not receive points for her finish in United States Extemp.
Here are the results of the 2023 University of Texas-Austin Longhorn Classic (Click here for tab sheet):
International Extemp
Champion: Katherine Lee (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
2nd: Brandon Cheng (Flintridge Preparatory School, California)
3rd: Kate Liu (Plano East Senior High School, Texas)
4th: Ishika Kothari (Plano East Senior High School, Texas)
5th: Daniel Rupawalla (Tompkins High School, Texas)
6th: Pranav Kalakuntla (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
Semi-Finalists
*Rehan Buvvaji (Shepton High School, Texas)
*Waleed Haider (Hendrickson High School, Texas)
*Manhua Kim (Plano Senior High School, Texas)
*Andrew Nager (Melissa High School, Texas)
*Lexie Toshav (Isidore Newman School, Louisiana)
*Robert Zhang (Elkins High School, Texas)
Quarter-Finalists
*Jack Aaron (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
*Margaux Brutin (Westlake High School, Texas)
*Noah Chao-detiveaux (Winston Churchill High School, Texas)
*Evelyn Ding (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Max Goldberg (Park City High School, Utah)
*Anushka Gupta (Westwood High School, Texas)
*Anshul Khandekar (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Cooper Kinnune (Winston Churchill High School, Texas)
*Lishore Kumar (Tomball Memorial High School, Texas)
*Arnav Maskey (Westwood High School, Texas)
*Sasha Morel (Plano Senior High School, Texas)
*Kate Njeru (Seven Lakes High School, Texas)
*Ronak Patel (American Heritage School – Broward, Florida)
*Srihan Poludasu (Hebron High School, Texas)
*Kaaviya Shenbaharaman (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Roshan Shivnani (Shepton High School, Texas)
*Sophia Wei (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Charlotte Williams (Jordan High School, Texas)
*Abraham Zhang (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
United States Extemp
Champion: Waleed Haider (Hendrickson High School, Texas)
2nd: Robert Zhang (Elkins High School, Texas)
3rd: Tyler Crivella (Seven Lakes High School, Texas)
4th: Lishore Kumar (Tomball Memorial High School, Texas)
5th: Katherine Lee (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
6th: Sophia Wei (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
Semi-Finalists
*Sanjana Arulkumaran (Plano East Senior High School, Texas)
*Kate Liu (Plano East Senior High School, Texas)
*Sasha Morel (Plano Senior High School, Texas)
*Ronak Patel (American Heritage School – Broward, Florida)
*Sebastian Perez-Navarro (Eastwood High School, Texas)
*Abraham Zhang (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
Quarter-Finalists
*Dorothy Adams (Jack C. Hays High School, Texas)
*Daniel Book (Jordan High School, Texas)
*Evelyn Ding (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Juan Pablo Garcia (Cypress Ranch High School, Texas)
*Anushka Gupta (Westwood High School, Texas)
*Kendall Meachum (L.C. Anderson High School, Texas)
*Srihan Poludasu (Hebron High School, Texas)
*Paul Robinson (Stratford High School, Texas)
*Kaaviya Shenbaharaman (Plano West Senior High School, Texas)
*Lexie Toshav (Isidore Newman School, Louisiana)
*Akash Vukoti (San Angelo Central Freshman Campus, Texas)
*Emily Zhang (Flower Mound High School, Texas)
Extemp Central thanks the University of Texas-Austin for posting the results online.