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by Logan Scisco

The 2013-2014 season ended several weeks ago in Overland Park, Kansas.  The season yielded some record breaking moments, surprising upsets, and unusual situations.  Extemp Central compiled the top fifteen stories of the national circuit season as part of its review of 2013-2014, with stories chosen for their historical value, newsworthiness, and controversial nature.

This first part of our review will cover stories ranked #8-#15.  Check back tomorrow to see which stories cracked the top seven.

#15: Young Guns Emerge in California

California has been a consistent extemp power since the advent of the IX/USX split in the mid-1980s and based on this year’s nationals, they will continue that trend. Rohan Dhoopar of Bellarmine College Preparatory, who was invited to this season’s Montgomery Bell Academy Extemp Round Robin after semi-finaling at the 2013 NSDA National Tournament and winning California’s IX state championship as a sophomore, rebounded from a semi-final performance at this year’s California state tournament to place third in IX at this year’s NSDA Nationals. This made Dhoopar the highest finish underclassmen in the field. Brian Yu of Monte Vista High School, a two-time California USX state champion, won the California Invitational in February and placed fifth at NSDA Nationals in USX. The other California extemper to watch in 2014-2015 is Alexander Ye of Gabrielino High School. Ye is the younger brother of Kevin Ye, the 2011 NSDA USX runner-up, and he placed fourteenth in IX at this year’s NSDA. Dhoopar, Yu, and Ye form an accomplished triumvirate of California extemporaneous speakers as the 2014-2015 season dawns and they give California a great chance to win both national titles in Dallas, Texas next June.

#14: Harry Strong Announces He is Leaving Des Moines Roosevelt

Big coaching changes are rare on the national circuit, but when they do happen they can have a lasting impact. Near the end of this season Harry Strong, the coach of Des Moines Roosevelt High School (IA), whose students have dominated Iowa extemp in recent years and been a staple of the national circuit, announced that he would be leaving Des Moines to take the reigns at Battle Ground Academy in Franklin, Tennessee. During his time at Roosevelt, Strong coached eight consecutive IX and six consecutive USX Iowa state tournament winners, twenty-one national circuit champions, a NCFL national champion, and a NSDA IX national champion. The Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions (TOC) at Northwestern University named him Coach of the Year in 2010 and gave him the tournament’s service award this season. Strong was named the NSDA Coach of the Year at this year’s national tournament. It will be interesting to see how Strong’s departure affects the Iowa forensic circuit and if he can rejuvenate Battle Ground’s program. Since Strong has helped Extemp Central assemble results over the years, we wish him well in his future endeavors.

#13: Younger Extempers Shine at State Tournaments

Conventional wisdom holds that senior extempers should do well at their state tournaments based on their experience in the event and their familiarity with the competitive norms of their states. While this pattern held true in some states, such as New Jersey where Chase Harrison of Millburn High School finally won a state championship, thirty-three underclassmen extempers managed to win state championships in 2014. Several of the extempers that did so were freshman and sophomores. In Massachusetts, freshman Marshall Sloane of Milton Academy upset George Mason champion Jasper Primack to win the state championship. Sophomores Jane Tullis of Valparaiso High School (IN-USX), Omar Qureshi of Green Valley High School (NV-IX), Vaikunth Balaji of Ridge High School (NJ-IX), and Alekh Kale of James Madison Memorial High School (WI) also walked away with state championships. Brian Yu of Monte Vista High School (CA-USX), Brian Anderson of LaRue County High School (KY), Gavin Muscha of Richland High School (SD-Class B), and Josh Wartel of Lake Braddock Secondary School (VA-Class 6A) successfully defended their state championships this season.

The following underclassmen won state championships in 2014:

*Brian Anderson (LaRue County High School, Kentucky)
*Vaikunth Balaji (Ridge High School, New Jersey)
*Alex Barrett (Juan Diego High School, Utah)
*Ian Descamps (Loyola Sacred Heart High School, Montana)
*Matt Greydanus (Grand Rapids Christian High School, Michigan)
*Skyler Hektner (South Anchorage High School, Alaska)
*Kari Marie Jahhsen (South Anchorage High School, Alaska)
*Vinesh Kannan (Illinois Math & Science Academy, Illinois)
*Alekh Kale (James Madison Memorial High School, Wisconsin)
*Elizabeth Liu (Madison Central High School, Mississippi)
*Siriana Lundgren (Skyview High School, Montana)
*Josh Mansfield (Highland High School, Idaho)
*Katlyn Martin (Marian High School, Nebraska)
*Gavin Muscha (Richland High School, North Dakota)
*Parth Patel (Huntley High School, Illinois)
*Maxell Pilcher (Des Moines Roosevelt High School, Iowa)
*Omar Qureshi (Green Valley High School, Nevada)
*Akash Raje (Midlothian High School, Virginia)
*Shyanne Redlin (Watertown High School, South Dakota)
*Sean Robinson (Karl G. Measer Preparatory Academy, Utah)
*Evan Segal (Denver East High School, Colorado)
*Suyash Sharma (Westview High School, Oregon)
*Neil Shimer (Merrol Hyde Magnet High School)
*Ben Simonds-Malamud (Henry W. Grady High School, Georgia)
*Sasha Espirit Sloan (Woods Cross High School, Utah)
*Marshall Sloane (Milton Academy, Massachusetts)
*Abhinav Sridharan (Plano Senior High School, Texas)
*Jane Tullis (Valparaiso High School, Indiana)
*Rebecca Ullom-Minnich (Moundridge High School, Kansas)
*Josh Wartel (Lake Braddock Secondary School, Virginia)
*Sierra Weaver (Madison County High School, Virginia)
*Patrick Wilson (Booker T. Washington High School, Oklahoma)
*Josh Yoo (Metro Christian Academy, Oklahoma)
*Brian Yu (Monte Vista High School, California)

#12: Minnesota Beats Back the Nellans Invasion

In late January and early February, Lily Nellans of Des Moines Roosevelt (IA) headed to Minnesota to compete in a series of TOC qualifying tournaments. Minnesota is a respected extemp power, having won thirteen national championships at NCFL and NSDA since 2003, and the state lived up to its reputation by serving Nellans three consecutive defeats in as many weeks. What made Nellans odyssey into Minnesota so unusual is that at each of the three tournaments – The Chanhassen High School Speech Tournament, The Schwan’s Speech Spectacular, and The Apple Valley Minneapple – Nellans was beaten by a different extemper by a one rank margin. At Chanhassen, Nellans was edged out by hometown favorite Haley Brahmbhatt. The next week at Schwan’s, Adam Stromme of Eagan High School defeated her. And in the final week of the trip in Apple Valley, Dylan Adelman of Lakeville High School, the eventual 2A Minnesota state champion and NSDA IX final round winner, emerged victorious. Making the trip even more unusual, Nellans beat the extemper who had defeated her the previous week. For example, at Schwan’s she defeated Brahmbhatt and at Apple Valley she defeated Stromme. The bottom line from the trip? It’s awfully hard for a non-Minnesota extemper to claim a championship in the Gopher State.

#11: University of Kentucky TOC Issues Challenge to Northwestern’s Extemp TOC

Since 2003, Northwestern University’s Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions (TOC) has made up one of the legs of the Extemp Grand Slam. The tournament is revered for its hospitality and has an impressive list of past champions, including three NSDA national winners. Unfortunately, the 2008 economic collapse tightened the budgets of many programs, and the tournament has struggled to get a large percentage of those that qualify to attend despite inducements such as free entry fees for state extemp champions. The University of Kentucky, which holds TOC competitions for debate and Congress, announced plans in May to include individual events at its tournament next season. For the last few years, UK has held an invitation-based extemporaneous speaking round robin, which NSDA IX national champion Miles Saffran won this year. It is unclear whether UK’s TOC will weaken Northwestern’s tournament or eventually supplant it as the fourth leg of the Grand Slam. In the short-term, the extemp community faces the prospect of having two different TOC extemp winners in 2015.

#10: A Wild Final in Cambridge

In February, Harvard hosted 274 extempers at its annual forensic invitational tournament. The field featured twleve TOC qualifying tournament champions and several national finalists. Five of the six finalists at the tournament went on to final at the NSDA National Tournament and four of the six were in the Exhibition Round at this year’s Montgomery Bell Academy Extemp Round Robin. The tournament’s top three finishers included both NSDA national champions and, if a rank ended up going differently at the NCFL Grand National Tournament in May, would have also featured the CFL national champion. The final round was a wild affair with Arel Rende, Lily Nellans, and Miles Saffran trading ranks among the five judges. Saffran took three first place ranks, but also took two sixth place ranks, which gave him a composite score of fifteen. Nellans took the other two first place ranks, but went 2-4-5, to end up with a composite score of thirteen. Rende, who did not acquire a first place rank, illustrated why consistency matters in final rounds as his ranks of 2-2-2-3-3 yielded a composite score of twelve, which made him the winner. The Harvard champion traditionally makes the final round at NSDA Nationals, and Rende did one better this year by becoming the fifth extemper in the last ten years to win Harvard and a national championship in the same season.

#9: Illinois Has a Three Way Tie for its State Championship

Extemp Central has an extensive listing of state champions, but prior to this season it had never found a case where competitors shared a state extemp championship. That changed in February when Saumya Jain of Neuqua Valley High School, Vinesh Kannan of Illinois Math and Science Academy, and Parth Patel of Huntley High School shared the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) state extemporaneous speaking title. Jain, Kannan, and Patel all ended up with a cumulative score of eighteen at the conclusion of the tournament. The judges preference tiebreaker could not decide a winner, so all three competitors ended up being declared co-champions. It in unclear whether Illinois has changed its procedures for next year’s tournament, but since Kannan and Patel are underclassmen we will get a quasi-rematch in 2015. Hopefully the next encounter will produce a clear winner.

#8: Saffran Sweeps the Early Stage of the Season

In his first four tournaments of the 2013-2014 campaign, Miles Saffran of Trinity Preparatory School (FL) made a statement that he was going to be a force on the national circuit. At Wake Forest, Saffran, the winner of the 2013 Barkley Forum, beat Josh Wartel of Lake Braddock Secondary School (VA). A week later at Yale, Saffran defeated Chase Harrison of Millburn High School (NJ) by eleven ranks. This made Saffran the first extemper since at least 2001 to win Wake Forest and Yale in the same season.  In his third tournament, the New York City Invitational, he emerged victorious over 2013 NSDA USX finalist Adam Stromme of Eagan High School (MN). Saffran’s run finally came to an end at the Florida Blue Key, when Lily Nellans of Des Moines Roosevelt High School (IA) beat him in the USX half of the tournament (Saffran won the IX half over Nellans, though). After this point, Saffran would continue to final at several prominent tournaments, but he would not win another TOC qualifier until the Sunvitational in January. However, he got the last laugh on the doubters by winning the 2014 NSDA International Extemp National Championship and became the first extemper to bookend a season since David Kumbroch accomplished the feat in 2006-2007.

Check back tomorrow for the second part of our Year in Review, where we will reveal stories #1-#7.