Daniel Kind of Lake Highland Preparatory School (FL) continued his recent run of success at the forty-second edition of the Glenbrooks Speech and Debate Tournament, which took place virtually last weekend due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kind vanquished three other competitors who were in the top ten of the National Points Race in the final round to win his second straight National Points Race event and third of the season. However, Kind did not runaway with the tournament as he defeated Dev Ahuja of Solon High School (OH) by one rank in the final round.
Mukta Dharmapurikar of Durham Academy (NC), who won last year’s NSDA International Extemp final round, reached her first National Points Race tournament final of the year and finished third, five ranks behind Kind. That finish will put her into the top ten of the new National Points Race standings, which will be released on Thanksgiving Day.
Peter Alisky of Smoky Hill High School (CO) and Cameron Roberts of Jack C. Hays High School (TX) both reached the final round of a National Points Race event for the third time, finishing fourth and fifth respectively. Like Dharmapurikar, their finishes will help improve their national ranking.
Gabriel Frank-McPheter of Gabrielino High School (CA) rounded out the final round in sixth place. Frank-McPheter could have easily placed higher as one rank separated competitors placing third through sixth.
Other notable finishes beyond the final round included a quarter-final placing for Yale winner McKinley Paltzik of Phoenix Country Day School (AZ). Also, Marc Zavarro of Western High School (FL) and Vikram Sundaram of Solon High School, who are in the top ten of the National Points Race, dropped in semi-finals. And Blue Key finalists Kyle Letterer of Plano West Senior High School (TX) and Michelle Jin of the Harker School (CA) were eliminated in quarter-finals.
Although it did not have any finalists, Bellarmine College Preparatory (CA) had an impressive showing as four of its extempers reached elimination rounds, the most of any other school in attendance.
There were 116 entries at the Glenbrooks, so all competitors who reached the semi-final round will receive a bid to the University of Kentucky Tournament of Champions (TOC) in April. All competitors who reached the quarter-final round will receive a bid to the Extemp TOC at Northwestern University in May. And all of the competitors that reached elimination rounds will earn points in the National Points Race.
Here are the results of the 2021 Glenbrooks (Click here for tab sheet):