(Note: This is a corrected write up because Blue Key had a tabulation error in IX that altered the original placings)
The University of Florida played host to the 2018 Florida Blue Key Speech and Debate Tournament, a fifth tier event in the National Points Race, on October 26-28, 2018. The tournament attracted its usual bevy of Florida extempers, with Kay Rollins of the Potomac School (VA) and Tristan Wertanzl of Cypress Bay High School (FL) winning the United States extemp and international extemp categories, respectively.
Wertanzl was initially announced the tournament’s sixth place finisher in international extemp, but a tabulation error was later uncovered that made him the winner. Rollins ended up winning U.S. Extemp by one rank over Wertanzl’s teammate, Jose Quinones.
Rollins performance was the second time that she reached the final round of a National Points Race event this season, having made the finals of the Yale Invitational in September. The same was true of Brian Zheng of Naperville North High School (IL), who placed fifth in international extemp and third in United States extemp and moved into a tie for second place in the National Points Race with Rollins after this event (although Rollins owned a tiebreaker for having a victory).
Due to the fact that Blue Key had an international and United States extemp portion, competitors were awarded points based on a formula that calculates how well they did across both halves of the competition. This prevents an extemper from earning double points at one tournament. Rollins had the best performance across both categories of any extemper at the tournament and received the forty National Points Race points for the event. Quinones and Zheng were awarded second and third place points. Fourth place points were given to Mo Marks of Theodore Roosevelt High School (IA), who was a semi-finalist in the United States extemp half and was a fourth place finisher in the international extemp portion. Wertanzl got fifth place points as he was a quarter-finalist in the U.S. Extemp portion. Finally, sixth place points ended up as a three way tie between Max Pinkiert of NSU University School (FL), New York City Invitational winner Juliette Reyes of American Heritage School (FL), and Rehan Rupawalla of Tompkins High School (TX). All three of these competitors were semi-finalists in each category.
Here are the results of the 2018 Florida Blue Key Speech and Debate Tournament (Click here for tab sheet):
International Extemp
Champion: Tristan Wertanzl (Cypress Bay High School, Florida)
2nd: Kay Rollins (The Potomac School, Virginia)
3rd: Jose Quinones (Cypress Bay High School, Florida)
4th: Mo Marks (Theodore Roosevelt High School, Iowa)
5th: Brian Zheng (Naperville North High School, Illinois)
6th: Josh Bernstein (NSU University School, Florida)
Semi-Finalists
*Alex Dray (Ransom Everglades High School, Florida)
*Sinan Kassim (NSU University School, Florida)
*Marco Munoz (A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Florida)
*Max Pinkiert (NSU University School, Florida)
*Juliette Reyes (American Heritage School-Plantation, Florida)
*Rehan Rupawalla (Tompkins High School, Texas)
Quarter-Finalists
*Veronica Bloomberg (NSU University School, Florida)
*Angelica Boyette (South Plantation High School, Florida)
*Carlton zum Brunnen (Durham Academy, North Carolina)
*Avah Dickinson (NSU University School, Florida)
*Gus Lanz (Cypress Bay High School, Florida)
*Tyler Loring (Western High School, Florida)
*Lucas Miner (Ransom Everglades High School, Florida)
*Joseph Mullen (Cypress Bay High School, Florida)
*Allen Park (Trinity Preparatory SChool, Florida)
*Emma Pereda (NSU University School, Florida)
*Bhrajit Thakur (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
*Alissa Vuillier (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
Octo-Finalists
*Michael Anise (St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Florida)
*Gabriel Bit-Babik (Nova Senior High School, Florida)
*Dominic Chiappone (Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, Florida)
*Rohan Chiravuri (NSU University School, Florida)
*Marius DeMartino (Lake Highland Preparatory, Florida)
*Eli Finkelstein (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
*Zach Fotiadis (Miami Beach Senior High School, Florida)
*Matias Galguera (Wellington High School, Florida)
*Julia Gerson (Ft. Lauderdale High School, Florida)
*Natalija Grkovic (Timber Creek High School, Florida)
*Grace Kim (Pine View School, Florida)
*Danny Kind (Lake Highland Preparatory, Florida)
*Jose Leon (St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Florida)
*Sabrina Lyn (West Broward High School, Florida)
*Veronica Macias (Cypress Bay High School, Florida)
*Ella Marshall (NSU University School, Florida)
*Savannah Montoya (West Broward High School, Florida)
*Matthew Moy (Nova Senior High School, Florida)
*Quentin Powell (C. Leon King High School, Florida)
*Jacqueline Sanchez (West Broward High School, Florida)
*Max Schaed (Lake Highland Preparatory, Florida)
*Brendan Sossoman (Western High School, Florida)
*John Sullivan (Northeast High School, Florida)
*Kevin Valido (Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, Florida)
*Jonah Wexler (Nova Senior High School, Florida)
United States Extemp
Champion: Kay Rollins (The Potomac School, Virginia)
2nd: Jose Quinones (Cypress Bay High School, Florida)
3rd: Brian Zheng (Naperville North High School, Illinois)
4th: Byron Xu (Tompkins High School, Texas)
5th: Veronica Bloomberg (NSU University School, Florida)
6th: Emma Pereda (NSU University School, Florida)
Semi-Finalists
*Gus Lanz (Cypress Bay High School, Florida)
*Jose Leon (St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Florida)
*Mo Marks (Theodore Roosevelt High School, Iowa)
*Max Pinkiert (NSU University School, Florida)
*Juliette Reyes (American Heritage School-Plantation, Florida)
*Rehan Rupawalla (Tompkins High School, Texas)
Quarter-Finalists
*Eli Finkelstein (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
*Tyler Loring (Western High School, Florida)
*Matthew Moy (Nova Senior High School, Florida)
*Michael Moy (Nova Senior High School, Florida)
*Marco Munoz (A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Florida)
*Joseph Mullen (Cypress Bay High School, Florida)
*Valerik Roumi (Pine View School, Florida)
*John Sullivan (Northeast High School, Florida)
*Jason Tache (Cypress Bay High School, Florida)
*Bhrajit Thakur (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
*Alissa Vuillier (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
*Tristan Wertanzl (Cypress Bay High School, Florida)
Octo-Finalists
*Josh Bernstein (NSU University School, Florida)
*Carlton zum Brunnen (Durham Academy, North Carolina)
*William Bussey (Wellington High School, Florida)
*Marius DeMartino (Lake Highland Preparatory, Florida)
*Alex Dray (Ransom Everglades High School, Florida)
*Zach Fotiadis (Miami Beach Senior High School, Florida)
*Matias Galguera (Wellington High School, Florida)
*Julia Gerson (Ft. Lauderdale High School, Florida)
*Sinan Kassim (NSU University School, Florida)
*Chloe Kauffman (Gulf Breeze High School, Florida)
*Danny Kind (Lake Highland Preparatory, Florida)
*Sabrina Lyn (West Broward High School, Florida)
*Veronica Macias (Cypress Bay High School, Florida)
*Ella Marshall (NSU University School, Florida)
*Teagan Mayr (Timber Creek High School, Florida)
*Matthew McGann (Wellington High School, Florida)
*Maggie Messer (Gulf Breeze High School, Florida)
*Savannah Montoya (West Broward High School, Florida)
*Allen Park (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
*Quentin Powell (C. Leon King High School, Florida)
*Jacqueline Sanchez (West Broward High School, Florida)
*Brendan Sossoman (Western High School, Florida)
*Heather Touby (Ransom Everglades High School, Florida)
*Kevin Valido (Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, Florida)
*Jonah Wexler (Nova Senior High School, Florida)
*Ye Zhang (C. Leon King High School, Florida)
*Kevin Zhu (Pine View School, Florida)
Here is how points were calculated for the National Points Race for finishes at the tournament in each half:
1st place = 1 pt.
2nd place = 3 pts.
3rd place = 5 pts.
4th place = 7 pts.
5th place = 9 pts.
6th place = 10 pts.
Semi-Finalist = 15 pts.
Quarter-Finalist = 25 pts.
Octo-Finalist = 35 pts.
Non-Finalist = 45 pts.
National Points Race Totals from Blue Key:
Rollins = 3(I) + 1(U) = 4 pts.
Quinones = 5(I) + 3(U) = 8 pts.
Zheng = 9(I) + 5(U) = 14 pts.
Marks – 15(U) + 7(I) = 22 pts.
Wertanzal – 25(U) + 1(I) = 26
6th: Pinkiert – 15(U) + 15(I) = 30
Reyes – 15(U) + 15(I) = 30
Rupawalla – 15(U) + 15(I) = 30
———–
Bloomberg- 9(U) + 25(I) = 34
Pereda – 10(U) + 25(I) = 34
Lanz – 15 (U) + 25(I) = 34
Bernstein – 35(U) + 9(I) = 44
Extemp Central thanks the University of Florida for putting the results of the tournament online.