(During the holiday, Extemp Central will be catching up on the action that has taken place on the national circuit as LSAT preparation kept these results from being posted)
On September 8-10, fifteen extempers competed at the University of Kentucky National Speech and Debate Season Opener on UK’s campus in Lexington, Kentucky. The tournament was not a National Points Race event due to its small size relative to the Wake Forest National Early Bird, which used to kick off the national circuit season. Nevertheless, the tournament did begin the 2018-2019 competitive year.
In a close tournament, Mo (Jocelyn) Marks of Des Moines Roosevelt High School (IA) triumphed over Juliette Reyes of American Heritage School (FL) and Jose Quinones of Cypress Bay High School (FL). All three competitors tied in the final round with a cumulative score of seven but the tournament was cumulative through prelims, and Marks had a four-rank differential that separated her from Reyes and ensured her victory.
The final round featured competitors from five states, with Iowa, Florida, Virginia, Tennesse, and West Virginia included.
Here are the results of the 2018 Unviersity of Kentucky National Speech and Debate Season Opener: