Meet the Team!

Dev is a rising first-year at Harvard University in Massachusetts who primarily competed in United States Extemp for the last six years. He is a three-time OSDA State Champion, and in 2022, Dev finaled and placed fifth in the nation at the NSDA National Tournament. He is also a two-time invitee to the MBA Round-Robin, a prestigious tournament for which only the top sixteen competitors nationwide in Extemp are invited.

Vikram Sundaram

vikram@ohioextemp.org

Vikram is a rising first year at the University of Pennsylvania who has participated in US Extemp for the last six years. He is a three-time state finalist and national qualifier, placing second in Ohio and seventh in the US in 2022. After succeeding at various national circuit tournaments, Vikram was invited to the 2023 MBA Round-Robin. He also served as the President of Solon Speech and Debate, and was named the 2023 Cleveland District Student of the Year.  

Pinak is a rising second-year at Cornell University and a co-founder of The Ohio Extemp Initiative who competed in International Extemporaneous Speaking for six years. He is a three-time state finalist, achieving consecutive ranks of sixth, fourth, and second in the state, respectively. In addition, Pinak is a two-time National Qualifier and a 2022 National Quarterfinalist (Top 30).

Piyush Chitnis

piyush@ohioextemp.org

Piyush is a rising senior at Solon High School and co-founder of The Ohio Extemp Initiative who has participated in Extemporaneous Speaking for the past five years. He is a three time state qualifier, placing fifth in the state in USX in 2022 and third in the state in IX in 2023. Additionally, he is a two time qualifier to the NSDA National Tournament. He is also President of Solon Speech and Debate Team for the 2023-2024 season.

Judges for OEI 2022

We pride ourselves on having the best possible judges in our tournament to give every student outstanding, useful feedback which will help propel their Extemporaneous Speaking careers! Each judge is an accomplished fellow Extemper, ensuring ballots are tailored for our students. Below is a list of the judges who have kindly volunteered their time for OEI 2022!

Praveen Kumar

Praveen is a rising first-year at Harvard University in Massachusetts and competed in United States Extemporaneous Speaking. In 2022, Praveen placed third in the state and semifinaled at the NSDA National Tournament (placing eleventh), and in 2021, he placed top 30 in the nation, came 4th in the state of Ohio, and earned 6 bids to the Tournament of Champions. Praveen was also the President of the Hawken School Speech and Debate team.  

Michelle Park

Michelle is a rising second-year at Stanford University in California who competed in International Extemporaneous Speaking. She was Solon High School's IX captain for 3 years. In 2021, Michelle became the NSDA National Runner-Up in Prepared Commentary, and in 2022, she became a State Champion and National Octafinalist (top 60) in International Extemporaneous Speaking.

Former Judges

Below is a list of all former outside judges we have brought in as a thank you!

Mo Marks

Mo is a rising second-year at Simpson College in Iowa and primarily competed in Extemporaneous Speaking, although she has dabbled in many other events. She championed the 2020 MBA Round-Robin and finaled in 2019, won Impromptu in 2019 at NSDA Nationals, and is a nine-time Iowa State Champion.

Vishal Sundaram

Vishal is a rising second-year at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. While in high school, Vishal competed in Extemporaneous Speaking and Congressional Debate at the state and national level. By the end of his speech and debate career, Vishal had amassed many awards, including an OSDA State Championship and an NSDA National Final Round appearance. 

Matthew Visco

Matthew competed in United States Extemporaneous Speaking for Jackson High School and will be attending his second year at Carnegie Mellon University in the fall. His accomplishments include finishing 5th at the OSDA state tournament in 2020, winning the 2021 Bethel Park tournament, the 2021 Eastern Ohio District Championship in USX, and qualifying to the national tournament in both World Schools Debate and USX (where he finished top 60 in USX in 2021).