NATIONALS II - BP SPEECH STRAIGHT UP OD'S WITH IT

March 7, 2009

Battery Park City, New York - The Bronx Prep speech team came through with a dominant performance over the weekend as every single BP student competing on Saturday not only reached the final round, but finished in the top six and qualified for the CFL National tournament in May.

The results are, quite simply, remarkable. Chris Moncrief (Original Oratory) and Tiffany McLarty and Tayshawn Layton (Duo Interpretation) were nearly perfect as they marched through the tournament and finished in first place. Chris and Tiff and Tay were each judged by nine judges on the day and in both cases, eight of the nine judges ranked them first in their rounds.

Matthew Alston and Jamej Lawton provided a success story of their own. The team is not incredibly well-known on the circuit, as they have only competed three times this year, but they snuck through to finals and a fifth place finish, putting them in the company of the other Bronx Prep duo team as qualifiers for the CFL National Tournament, to be held in Albany, NY in May.
Bronx Prep was the only school at the tournament to qualify two duo teams for nationals.

Bronx Prep's fourth entry was Keegon Robinson, competing in Oral Interpretation (Prose/Poetry). OI had the most students competing on Saturday of any event, but Keegon still managed to narrowly reach the semi-final round, only to post a stellar performance, win the round, and come from behind to earn his ticket to nationals. His hard work this year is truly paying off in the form of an opportunity to compete at a national level.

The team finished 10th in the overall team sweepstakes - a strong showing considering they brought only four entries (compared to Stuyvesant's sixteen and Regis's eighteen).

As the speech "post-season" approaches, here's a re-cap of the Bronx Prep qualifiers:

Already qualified for the New York State Championships (Albany, April) are Chris Moncrief and Tiffany McLarty and Tayshawn Layton. Half-qualified are Keegon Robinson and Deborah Allen-Carr (OI). Jamej Lawton and Matt Alston have no half-quals for states as of yet, but, along with Deborah and Keegon, they will have the opportunity to join Chris, Tiff and Tay by qualifying in one of the next two weekends.

Qualified for the NFL National tournament (Montgomery, Alabama, June) are Chris, Tiffany and Tayshawn and this past weekend's qualifiers for the CFL National tournament (Albany, May) are: Chris, Tiffany, Tayshawn, Matt, Jamej and Keegon.

It was an historic success for the program; congratulations to all of you.

NATIONALS!

March 1, 2009

Syosset, NY - Last night, three Bronx Prep students earned their spots at this year's NFL National Championship tournament by outlasting the competition in a dramatic day of competition at Syosset High School in Long Island. Chris Moncrief, Tiffany McLarty and Tayshawn Lawton will all be representing the New York City NFL district in June at the National Championships in Mongomery, Alabama.

Competing in Original Oratory, Chris Moncrief's first place finish at this tournament was never really a surprise. Chris has finished ahead of all but two student orators in 2009, competing against hundreds of students at several tournaments on both sides of the country. He brought his usual poised, relaxed demeanor to the competition and walked away with a first place trophy and a coveted plaque indicating his second qualification for the NFL nationals in as many years.

Tiffany and Tayshawn, competing in Duo Interpretation, also came into the tournament as front-runners to qualify, but they're finish was hardly a foregone conclusion. They brought the house down with a smashing semi-final round performance of their creative, high-energy interpretation of the Disney classic, The Lion King. However, the final round was a very different enterprise. They worked through their piece with conviction, clarity and passion as a subdued audience seemed to find far more drama in the piece than comedy. Tiff and Tay finished in second place - good enough for their very own slot at nationals as the top three competitors in each event qualify for the national competition.

Also posting strong marks were Keegon Robinson and Jamej Lawton, competing in Dramatic Interpretation and Humorous Interpretation, respectively. Although they were not able to reach the semi-final rounds, both young men capitalized on their recent hard work and earned praise from judges and competitors alike.

Next weekend brings the CFL National Qualifier and a second opportunity to qualify for a national forensics championship. In the CFL qualifier, the top six competitors in each event qualify, opening up the field and creating an opportunity for several more Bronx Prep students to qualify. The tournament is in the afternoon at Stuyvesant High School in Battery Park City. Come on down and support the team!

JV Squad Scores in Boston

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

JV SQUAD SCORES IN BOSTON - 2/8/09

JV Squad Scores in Boston

2/8/09

Watertown, MA - The Bronx Prep Middle School Speech Team showed some serious promise for the HS team's future, bringing home hardware from their own tournament at the Jewish Community Day School outside of Boston. The small team was made up of the duo team of Kadeem Penny and Edison Hines and a hard-working Emmanuel Cruz, double-entered in Prose and Poetry. After a day of competition, all the boys wound up with trophies as Emmanuel took second place in Poetry and Edison and Kadeem tore it up in the duo final round and came home as champions in their event.

The JV Squad's accomplishments over the weekend were the culmination of a great deal of hard work over the course of the week leading up to the competition. The Hines/Penny combination came together at just the right moment, posting strong ranks in the final round of the speech world's most popular event - Duo Interpretation. The round prompted the brash, young Kadeem Penny to predict a championship - minutes later his called shot came through. Meanwhile, Emmanuel Cruz missed his Prose final round, but rode three first place rankings in Poetry to within a hair of first place, settling for a stirring silver in Poetry Interpretation.

Overall, an accomplished and encouraging weekend from the young guns, who couldn't have asked for much more - save company, as a series of unfortunate events kept other competitors at home. Here's hoping a full-strength team follows suit with twice as many trophies next time.

Moncrief 2nd in California; Lion King to Semis

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.

Bronx Prep Post 1/18/09

BRONX PREP SPEECH COLLECTS HARDWARE AT REGIS

January 17, 2009





E. 84th ST., NEW YORK, NY - The Bronx Prep Speech team saw an all-star result yesterday as seven of the eight BP students at the Regis tournament competed in the final round of their events. Deborah Allen-Carr, Matt Alston, Jamej Lawton, Tayshawn Layton, Tiffany McLarty, Chris Moncrief, and Keegon Robinson all performed well enough to earn spots in finals and an overall 9th place finish in the team competition.

In the individual events, Moncrief brought his championship tally on the year to three with another first place victory in Original Oratory while Keegon Robinson impressed all, but surprised none with a second place finish during which he was ranked first place by five out of the six judges to see him perform on the day. Keegon represented Bronx Prep along with rising star Deborah Allen-Carr in the Varsity Oral Interpretation final round while the two Bronx Prep Duo teams - McLarty/Layton and Alston/Lawton competed in a final round of their own. They finished in 5th place and as finalists, respectively.

In the end, an exceptionally successful day for a team that continues to excel and expand in its breadth of success. The ninth place finish in the team sweepstakes competition is an indicator of the success that this small, scrappy team is having, in competition against teams several times their own size such as Regis High School, Stuyvesant and Bronx Science. Special recognition is due to Keegon Robinson who broke through yesterday after logging far and away the most practice hours after school. A playful workhorse, Keegon proved the value of consistent practice as his hours paid off in the form of a coveted half-qualification for the state championships, held in Albany in April.

At a crucial time in the season, it appears that the team may be hitting its stride. Matt Alston and Jamej Lawton emerged as the possible duo team of the (immediate) future, performing a raunchy comedy/drama and landing in the final round after a short week of practice. With more work, they could see real results at either of the two tournaments still to come in January.

No rest for the weary. The loaded winter speech schedule means the team will divide and conquer this weekend at two very competitive national tournaments held in Atlanta and New York. Chris, Keegon, Tiff and Tay head to the dirty dirty to compete in what many consider to be the most competitive speech tournament of the year - the Barkeley Forum Competition, held at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. They'll fly to Atlanta to clash with many of the top students in the nation while the team upstarts: Matt, Jamej, Deborah, Alethea Brown, Nina Robinson, Taylor Blackford, and wild card Myles Miller head cross-town for the other major speech tournament in this country next weeked, held at Columbia University in the upper west side.



Congratulations to all and best of luck at the national tournaments coming up.

Bronx Prep Post - 1/28/09

CHRIS MONCRIEF TAKES SECOND AT BIG-TIME EMORY TOURNAMENT WHILE DEBORAH ALLEN-CARR TEARS IT UP CROSS-TOWN

1/28/09

Atlanta, GA - Chris Moncrief led by example over the weekend as the speech team's President posted a 2nd place finish in Original Oratory at the Barkley Forum Tournament at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Meanwhile, his teammate Deborah Allen-Carr represented the team back in New York with a very strong showing in Oral Interpretation at the Columbia tournament in the Upper West Side. Chris's accomplishment establishes him as one of the top student orators in the nation. Chris competed against students from some of the best programs in the country, including powerhouse high school Apple Valley, in Minneapolis, MN, which was represented by an impressive three students in the final round. Yet it was Bronx Prep's own, Mr. Moncrief, finishing in this prestigous tournament ahead of all but one of the country's best.

The Barkley Forum tournament has long been the best opportunity of the year for the top speech and debate students in each region of the country to meet in Atlanta and test their mettle against one another. The tournament's rules allow each school only eight entries in the entire tournament. This results in a competition stacked with only the best of the best going head to head. Chris improved on last year's semifinal finish by marching through the tournament to the final round, during which he competed on stage in front of an audience of over one hundred. After a bizarre "snafu" from the tabulation room, during which the finalists in original oratory were announced in the wrong order, the dust settled and Chris went home with an impressive piece of hardware: a large hollow mahogany book with a silver key affixed to the front. But the intagibles of a second place finish at Emory are what will surely leave the more lasting impression.

Chris was joined in Atlanta by Keegon Robinson (who posted a strong showing in his first time ever competing in DI) and Tiffany McLarty and Tayshawn Layton. At the same time, the rest of the Bronx Prep speech team was competing at Columbia University, the country's other major forensics competition over the weekend. It was here that Deborah Allen-Carr continued to impress by streaking all the way to the semifinal round of Oral Interpration (also known as Prose/Poetry), only to miss finals by a single point. She finished in 7th place and earned a coveted half-qualification for the New York State Championships.

At this point, Bronx Prep has two entries qualified for States: Chris Moncrief in OO and the Duo team of Tiffany McLarty and Tayshawn Layton. In Oral Interpretation, Keegon Robinson and Deborah Allen-Carr are each half-qualified for states and will compete against one another and students from all over the metropolitan area this Saturday at Sacred Heart High School in Greenwich, CT. If either of them finishes in the top four, they should qualify for the State Championships. They will be joined by Jamej Lawton and Matthew Alston who will try to build off of their finals finish at the Regis tournament and look to pick up a half-qual of their own in Duo Interp. Alethea Brown rounds out the field as the team's lone entry in JV OI.

Congratulations to all and here's looking ahead to another successful local tournament at Sacred Heart on Saturday.