Top 53 Oratorical contestants announced
(Photo by Eldon Lindsay)

Top 53 Oratorical contestants announced

The American Legion

The American Legion’s 2014 High School Oratorical Scholarship Program, "A Constitutional Speech Contest," will be held April 4-6 in Indianapolis at the Wyndham Indianapolis West hotel.

The contest will begin April 5 at 9:45 a.m. (EDT) with 53 high school students from across the country competing in the quarterfinals. The top nine contestants from the quarterfinals will advance to the semifinals at 3:15 p.m. During both sessions, the participants will present a rehearsed eight- to 10-minute oration on an aspect of the U.S. Constitution in front of judges, as well as a three- to five-minute speech on an assigned topic discourse — a phase of the Constitution selected from its Articles and Sections.

The top three semifinal winners will advance to the national championship finals on April 6 at 10 a.m. (EDT) for a chance to win first place and an $18,000 scholarship. Second place receives a $16,000 scholarship, and third place receives a $14,000 scholarship. Watch a live streaming of the championship finals on www.legiontv.org.

The following is a list of the 53 students competing in The American Legion's National Oratorical Contest:

  • Abigail Hagel of Wetumpka, Ala.

  • Sierra Smith of Anchorage, Alaska

  • Chetan Bafna of Somerton, Ariz.

  • Caitlyn Crowder of Heber Springs, Ark.

  • Isaac Taylor of El Cajon, Calif.

  • Ellen Densmore of Denver

  • Phoebe Petrovic of Centerbrook, Conn.

  • Naman Patel of Bear, Del.

  • Emmanuel Lee of Washington, D.C.

  • Elizabeth Barahona of Orlando, Fla.

  • Ruth Alvarez of France

  • Renee Dodson of Fayetteville, Ga.

  • Jianwu Huang of Honolulu

  • Esther Frederick of Meridian, Idaho

  • Sarvasva Raghuvanshi of Naperville, Ill.

  • Jana Minich of Lafayette, Ind.

  • Emma Skahill of Earlham, Iowa

  • James Davis of Newton, Kan.

  • Megan Armstrong of Morehead, Ky.

  • Gabrielle Lewis of Opclousas, La.

  • Emma Schalk of Sabattus, Maine

  • Alla Abdelwahab of Salisbury, Md.

  • Nicholas Terranova of North Andover, Mass.

  • Kaylee Tegethoff of Bloomingdale, Mich.

  • Caroline Donaldson of Eden Prairie, Minn.

  • Solomon Brown of Greenwood, Miss.

  • Ashwath Kumar of Columbia, Mo.

  • Jackson Smith of Missoula, Mont.

  • Allegra Hardin of David City, Neb.

  • Ross Hatley of Gardnerville, Nev.

  • Zachary Letourneau of Dublin, N.H.

  • Andrew Bambrick of Hammonton, N.J.

  • Daniel Ahrens of Los Alamos, N.M.

  • Andrew Hartnett of Cobleskill, N.Y.

  • Jacob McHugh of Charlotte, N.C.

  • Samantha Goerger of Wyndmere, N.D.

  • Jakob Puckett of Blanchester, Ohio

  • Jornell Whigham of Lawton, Okla.

  • Sarah Aldrich of Mulino, Ore.

  • Brandon Posner of Doylestown, Penn.

  • Abigail Matthew of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico

  • Gabrielle Viens of Barrington, R.I.

  • Sarah Foster of Goose Creek, S.C.

  • Esther Swift of Burke, S.D.

  • Rachel Tuck of Lafayette, Tenn.

  • Amber Bell of Austin, Texas

  • Morgan Ewing of Salt Lake City

  • Hannah Hatch of Vergennes, Vt.

  • Hayley Snowden of McLean, Va.

  • Cady Crosby of Burlington, Wash.

  • Lauren Spears of Elkins, W.Va.

  • Astha Berry of Franklin, Wis.

  • Zariah Tolman of Otto, Wyo.

Tags: Oratorical Contest