American Legion High School Oratorical Scholarship Program contestants await their turn for the quarterfinals. Photo by James V. Carroll

Three Oratorical finalists compete Sunday

Saturday's 2011 American Legion High School Oratorical Scholarship Program showed 53 strong competitors speaking on the U.S. Constitution for a chance to win a spot in Sunday's championship finals.

The three competitors advancing on tomorrow are Anisha Gururaj of Chesterfield, Mo., Anastasia Kaiser of Orinda, Calif., and Grace Pyo of Powell, Ohio.

Each contestant participated in Saturday morning's quarterfinals but only the top nine advanced to the afternoon semifinals, which resulted in three finalists for tomorrow's championship round. The championship finals will begin at 10:00 a.m. (EDT) and will be aired live via www.legion.org.

One 2011 Oratorical champion will be crowned, winning an $18,000 scholarship. Second- and third-place finishers will receive a $16,000 and $14,000 scholarship.