BP Speech traveled to Philadelphia over the weekend of November 21-22 and saw experienced members of the team leading by example, with seniors Chris Moncrief, Tayshawn Layton and Deborah Allen-Carr all reaching the Semifinals of the nationally-competitive Villiger Invitational at St. Joseph's University.
It was a spirited squad that traipsed around the Gothic architecture of the West Philly campus with the Now-Familiar Student Congress team (Monica Lindsay, Autumwind Spear, Norberto Troncoso), the Active Upstart (Marissa Charlemagne - presenting three different pieces), and the Old Standards (Keegon Robinson, Moncrief, Alenn-Carr and Layton). Nearly every student double-entered for the tournament, competing in two different events, sometimes with two memorized pieces. It was Chris Moncrief who scored big in both his events, reaching the Quarterfinals and then the Semifinals in both Original Oratory and Oral Interpretation - putting him in the top twelve finishers in both competitions, but leaving him one round shy of Finals competitions. Meanwhile, the Duo team of Tayshawn Layton and Deborah Allen-Carr presented their interpretation of the play, Matt and Ben, portraying Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. They played to a packed audience in the Semis round, but also missed out on Finals.
The results are clear indications of the hard work and progress going on after school in the Library and Room 201, as well as an indication of the room for improvement needed to make a Finals push at the upcoming competitions.
Other non-competition related highlights for the team were a raucous evening at IHOP followed by the annual Villiger Dance Party, where the team amazed fellow competitors with mad crazy dance moves.
Huge thanks from the team to Halie Berson and John Aronson for judging, chaperoning - you made the whole trip possible.
Next up is the big, bad Patriot Games tournament all the way down in Fairfax, Virginia. Stay tuned for the full report.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Another Rookie Sensation? BP Speech Expanding in All Directions
The Bronx Prep Speech Team debuted a number of fresh faces at the team's backyard tournament held at Fordham University. Jyeisha Reyes, Marcus Smith, Melanie Nyarko, Marissa Charlemagne, and Monica Lindsay all competed in their first tournament while Matt Alston and Tiffany McLarty made their 09-10 season debuts. Meanwhile, team Manager Chris Moncrief extended his breaking streak by representing the team in the finals of Original Oratory.
Preparing for a speech tournament is hard work and the coach and team officers want to shout out each new competitor for getting up early, getting dressed up, putting it on the line and performing in front of judges and competitors from all over the city. The atmosphere at the tournament was as electric as always and seems to have made an impact on the new speech team members; Marcus, Marissa and Monica have all begun traveling with the team as competition regulars and Jyeisha and Melanie have a coach cutting their own piece for them for next month!
In addition to new faces, the Bronx Prep team added an entire competition event to its repetoire as the Student Congress team also made its debut in the form of Norberto Troncoso, Autumnwind Spear and Monica Linsday. These students became representatives and senators for the day, debating legislation and making speeches. The Congress team learned a lot at Fordham and set some clear goals for themselves as this burgeoning branch of the BP Speech Team continues to grow.
And the hardware? That belonged to Chris Moncrief who surprised no one in the building by appearing in the final round of Oratory. But there's clearly still work to be done - Chris finished out of the top 5 and was recognized as a Finalist.
From humble beginnings and a small squad as recently as last year, this season's Bronx Prep team could regularly be bringing a dozen students to local competitions. If these fresh faces find success like last year's squad... the forensics students in the New York City League may have cause for concern.
Preparing for a speech tournament is hard work and the coach and team officers want to shout out each new competitor for getting up early, getting dressed up, putting it on the line and performing in front of judges and competitors from all over the city. The atmosphere at the tournament was as electric as always and seems to have made an impact on the new speech team members; Marcus, Marissa and Monica have all begun traveling with the team as competition regulars and Jyeisha and Melanie have a coach cutting their own piece for them for next month!
In addition to new faces, the Bronx Prep team added an entire competition event to its repetoire as the Student Congress team also made its debut in the form of Norberto Troncoso, Autumnwind Spear and Monica Linsday. These students became representatives and senators for the day, debating legislation and making speeches. The Congress team learned a lot at Fordham and set some clear goals for themselves as this burgeoning branch of the BP Speech Team continues to grow.
And the hardware? That belonged to Chris Moncrief who surprised no one in the building by appearing in the final round of Oratory. But there's clearly still work to be done - Chris finished out of the top 5 and was recognized as a Finalist.
From humble beginnings and a small squad as recently as last year, this season's Bronx Prep team could regularly be bringing a dozen students to local competitions. If these fresh faces find success like last year's squad... the forensics students in the New York City League may have cause for concern.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Speech Seniors Score with Strong Start
October 24th, 2009
The Bronx Prep Speech team attended its first NYCFL league tournament over the weekend and saw big success from the veterans, while the rest of the squad helped flesh out a team that was represented in nearly every main event offered for competition.
In a stark contrast to last season, in which zero seniors competed for the Bronx Prep team all year, on Saturday five seniors were entered in the tournament, which was held at Regis and Loyola High Schools on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Keegon Robinson (Varsity OI), Chris Moncrief (Original Oratory), Deborah Allen-Carr and Tayshawn Layton (Duo Interpretation) and Ingrid Villafrance all represented the class of 2010, with Mr. Moncrief and the team of Layton/Allen-Carr reaching the final round. The ladies finished tied with the second-best point total on the day, but tiebreakers put them in 5th place, while Chris finished in 2nd place - good enough to earn him a half-qualification for the State Championship tournament in April. Team Captain Keegon Robinson posted a first place finish in his third round and first-time competitor Ingrid may have been bitten by the speech bug - rumors abound that she may compete in Student Congress at an upcoming tournament.
Rounding out the team were Alethea Brown, making her 09-10 debut and showing strong potential playing four Crown Heights residents in the category of Dramatic Performance and rookie sensation Norberto Troncoso who competed in Extemporaneous Speaking - researching, memorizing and performing three seven-minute speeches, each in only a half hour!
With competitors in five different events, this is the most diverse Bronx Prep team to compete locally in several years - a good sign for a team looking to expand its presence and its numbers on the local scene.
Special thanks to Mr. Dude - Matthew Simon - for once again proving his dedication to the team by judging three rounds and to Ms. Halie Berson and Mr. John Aronson, the team's other judge and observer judge, respectively. This pair even showed up with bagels which the team reported were, "really good".
One more league tournament on November 14th, before the showdown in Philly that is the Villiger Tournament the following weekend. Also on the horizon is the Patriot Games Classic - the perenially expanding one-of-a-kind tournament at George Mason University.
Stay tuned for a report on the JV squad's intra-team competition, to be held at the school on October 28th.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
And They're Off
October 4th, 2009
The Bronx Prep Speech team kicked off the 09-10 campaign last weekend at the invitational tournament hosted by Yale University. What can be learned from a tournament so early in the year? Practice, practice, practice.
The team worked hard in the days and hours leading up to the first round, but saw strong competition from powerhouse schools from all over the country. Bronx Prep's scrappy squad managed to get it all together before the tournament, but they were up against students with polished performances - the result of months of hard work at Speech Institutes and on their own over the summer. Although the team was represented on Sunday in the form of Chris Moncrief's Oral Interpretation, the overall experience must be measured as just that - experience for several large and small tournaments to come.
An early tournament is a wild card and this year's Yale Invitational was no exception. Students were able to compete in several events at once - forcing competitors to leave one round early to trek across campus to get to another round in a different event. The campus must have looked pretty bizarre to passersby as teenagers in formal business attire criss-crossed the quadrangles of the Ivy League school. Members of the Bronx Prep team competed in one event each at Yale. The team was made up of Keegon Robinson, Chris Moncrief, Autumnwind Spear, Tayshawn Layton, and rookie sensation Norberto Tronscosco. Each competed in OI (Prose/Poetry) except Ms. Layton who performed as four different Iraqi women, competing in Dramatic Interpretation. Each student gained the valuable experience that comes with competing at a national-level tournament against quality competition for experienced judges. Senior Chris Moncrief's Quarterfinal finish is a testament to the Manager's talent and familiarity in such high-level tournaments.
The team gives mad props and a huge thank you to Mr. So for coaching, chaperoning, and joining the Bronx Prep Speech team.
What comes next? The local tournaments of the NYCFL. On October 24th and November 7th, the team will clash with students in the local New York City league at Regis High School and Fordham Prep, respectively, to see who will establish themselves as the speaker or team to beat this year. Will we see some hardware starting to fill up the BP Library? If the Yale Invitational is any indication, it will all come down to practice.
The Bronx Prep Speech team kicked off the 09-10 campaign last weekend at the invitational tournament hosted by Yale University. What can be learned from a tournament so early in the year? Practice, practice, practice.
The team worked hard in the days and hours leading up to the first round, but saw strong competition from powerhouse schools from all over the country. Bronx Prep's scrappy squad managed to get it all together before the tournament, but they were up against students with polished performances - the result of months of hard work at Speech Institutes and on their own over the summer. Although the team was represented on Sunday in the form of Chris Moncrief's Oral Interpretation, the overall experience must be measured as just that - experience for several large and small tournaments to come.
An early tournament is a wild card and this year's Yale Invitational was no exception. Students were able to compete in several events at once - forcing competitors to leave one round early to trek across campus to get to another round in a different event. The campus must have looked pretty bizarre to passersby as teenagers in formal business attire criss-crossed the quadrangles of the Ivy League school. Members of the Bronx Prep team competed in one event each at Yale. The team was made up of Keegon Robinson, Chris Moncrief, Autumnwind Spear, Tayshawn Layton, and rookie sensation Norberto Tronscosco. Each competed in OI (Prose/Poetry) except Ms. Layton who performed as four different Iraqi women, competing in Dramatic Interpretation. Each student gained the valuable experience that comes with competing at a national-level tournament against quality competition for experienced judges. Senior Chris Moncrief's Quarterfinal finish is a testament to the Manager's talent and familiarity in such high-level tournaments.
The team gives mad props and a huge thank you to Mr. So for coaching, chaperoning, and joining the Bronx Prep Speech team.
What comes next? The local tournaments of the NYCFL. On October 24th and November 7th, the team will clash with students in the local New York City league at Regis High School and Fordham Prep, respectively, to see who will establish themselves as the speaker or team to beat this year. Will we see some hardware starting to fill up the BP Library? If the Yale Invitational is any indication, it will all come down to practice.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Bronx Prep's Stars Fall on Alabama
June 20, 2009
To close out the season, top members of the Bronx Prep speech team headed out to Birmingham, Alabama to match up against the best of the best at the National Championships of the National Forensics League.
The competition was as fierce as expected, although half of the team's results were somewhat surprising.
Tiffany McLarty and Tayshawn Layton, BP's top Duo team, came into the tournament in top form, wowing coaches and competitors alike and drawing praise and acclaim from most everyone that saw them compete... everyone, that is, except several judges, whose less-than-stellar ranks kept the ladies out of the elimination rounds. With a national reputation, a crowd-pleasing introduction, and a fresh take on a familiar story, this team seemed to have all the ingredients to go deep into the tournament. But it's the rankings that matter and these results were as surprising as they were frustrating.
Meanwhile, Chris Moncrief, competing in Original Oratory, went for broke and overhauled his entire speech before the tournament. Despite what many, including this blogger, have called a "dream season", Chris gutted the speech that brought him so much hardware this year, seeking a new way to express himself cleary and genuinely in his speech on scars and healing. The gamble paid off in a big way as Chris competed through to the National Semifinals, missing the National Final Round by a single point. He finished 8th place in the United States. An incredible achievement to cap an incredible season.
The best news? All three of Bronx Prep's National Qualifiers have at least one more year of competition to go. With the experience of competing at this level under their belts, the sky is the limit for what they and their teammates can achieve in 09-10. After watching final rounds on the last day, the goal for the next season was clear: a Bronx Prep student on the stage, competing in Finals for a National Championship. Can the team reach the pinnacle of High School Forensics next year? Keep it tuned here to find out.
Until then, congratulations to the entire team for an extraordinary season. The groundwork is layed and the work begins now for a new season that will truly be something big.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Fat Cats at Cat Nats
May 24, 2009
Albany, NY - Bronx Prep brought a formidable squad to the National Championships of the Catholic Forensics League this year and came away with some hardware. BP students Jamej Lawton, Matthew Alston, Tiffany McLarty, Tayshawn Layton (Duo Interpretation), Keegon Robinson (Oral Interpretation), and Chris Moncrief (Original Oratory) all represented not only their school, but the entire district of New York City as national qualifiers.
The competition was stiff; students qualified from nearly every state in the country and they descended on Albany, New York to test their mettle against one another. But after four rounds of preliminary competition, half of Bronx Prep's four entries were still in the game.
Chris Moncrief performed his oratory early Sunday morning in the octofinal round while the Duo team of Layton/McLarty competed in octos in another part of the capital. Disaster struck for the Duo team when McLarty's voice failed her due to a case of laryngitis and the team did not advance to the next round. However, Moncrief's performance in octos was enough to get him through to the quarterfinal round. This impressive achievement means that Chris was amongst the top 25 student orators amongst thousands of students competing in the CFL throughout the country. He performed admirably in quarters, but, surprisingly, did not advance to the semifinals.
Despite the frustrations, the team can take several positives away from the experience. The first is the size of the squad at the tournament. A remarkable seven Bronx Prep students qualified for CFL nationals this year. In order to qualify, a student must place in the top six of their event at the national qualifier, which was held in Manhattan in March (see blog post: Nationals II; BP Seech Straight Up OD's With It). Secondly, CFL nationals, despite being an unpredictable tournament, provides competitors with the opportunity to meet and see students perform from all over the country, giving a sense of what speech is like in every other region in the US. And finally, the ballots from the tournament also reflect the geographic diversity of the tournament. BP students received critiques from coaches with years of experience, hailing from every corner of America. Often, the best way to improve is to find the common thread of criticism from a variety of judges in order to adjust one's performance to make it impressive to every single person that sees it. Here's hoping the experience at the catholic nationals or "cat nats" provided such opportunities to each of the seven talented Bronx students that competed.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
States
April 26, 2009
Albany, New York - The Bronx Prep Speech Team competed at the 2009 New York State Championships in April and began the postseason with a bang. Jamej Lawton filled in for an unavailable Tiffany McLarty, teaming up with Tayshawn Layton for big results. Their Duo team reached the semifinals of competition, making them one of 2009's top ten duo teams in New York state. In addition, Chris Moncrief, competing in Original Oratory, reached the final round of the State Championships, finishing in second place.
The accomplishments are doubly impressive given the fact that these students needed to qualify just to compete at this tournament. Students qualify for states by placing at at least two tournaments during the year. Chris, Tayshawn and her Duo partner for the season, Tiffany, posted strong finishes over the course of the year and earned the opportunity to compete against New York's finest forensic students.
Tiffany was unable to compete at States, but Jamej Lawton filled in admirably, learning an entire piece in under a week to wind up in the semifinals of the state championships.
Meanwhile, Chris's achievement is nothing short of stellar, yet hardly surprising, as he has proven himself as one of the state's top orators throughout the year.
Congratulations to all; here's hoping next year we crown a Bronx Prep State Champion.
Albany, New York - The Bronx Prep Speech Team competed at the 2009 New York State Championships in April and began the postseason with a bang. Jamej Lawton filled in for an unavailable Tiffany McLarty, teaming up with Tayshawn Layton for big results. Their Duo team reached the semifinals of competition, making them one of 2009's top ten duo teams in New York state. In addition, Chris Moncrief, competing in Original Oratory, reached the final round of the State Championships, finishing in second place.
The accomplishments are doubly impressive given the fact that these students needed to qualify just to compete at this tournament. Students qualify for states by placing at at least two tournaments during the year. Chris, Tayshawn and her Duo partner for the season, Tiffany, posted strong finishes over the course of the year and earned the opportunity to compete against New York's finest forensic students.
Tiffany was unable to compete at States, but Jamej Lawton filled in admirably, learning an entire piece in under a week to wind up in the semifinals of the state championships.
Meanwhile, Chris's achievement is nothing short of stellar, yet hardly surprising, as he has proven himself as one of the state's top orators throughout the year.
Congratulations to all; here's hoping next year we crown a Bronx Prep State Champion.
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