February 17, 2009
The Bronx Prep Speech team flexed its muscles on both coasts last month with a strong showing against some first-class competition at the California Invitation tournament at the University of California, Berkeley and the Harvard Invitational in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In California, Bronx Prep was represented by only a pair of entries - Tiffany McLarty and Tayshawn Layton in Duo Interpretation and Chris Moncrief in Original Oratory.
After a weekend of preliminary competition, all three students found themselves in the semifinals, competing on the last day of competition. Against nearly one hundred other teams, Tayshawn and Tiffany finished in the top ten amongst some seriously talented duo teams, many of which are likely to be seen in the elimination rounds at this year's NFL National Championships. Chris Moncrief streaked all the way to finals and finished in 2nd place - another spectacular showing in what is becoming something of a dream season for Mr. Moncrief.
After the competition, Chris, Tiffany and Tayshawn all traveled to Los Angeles for visits to college campuses. They reported having a "good" time.
The same weekend, the Bronx Prep speech team was represented on the east coast at the speech world's biggest tournament of the year - the Harvard Invitational. Jamej Lawton and Keegon Robinson were chaperoned by Ms. Denise Moncrief and competed against many of the best high school speech students in the country. Although Jamej and Keegon did not finish in the elimation rounds, they each received strong marks with Jamej taking first place in one of his rounds.
Stay tuned for a post reporting the dramatic events of the NFL national qualifier over the weekend.
