What's Happening in McLean, VA…

Kay Rollins of The Potomac School in McLean won a couple of individual national championships remotely in the 2020 Tournament of Champions (TOC).

Rollins, a junior on the speech and debate team of her school, took part in the virtual competition hosted by the University of Kentucky as part of the tournament’s 1,100-strong field of competing students. A prerequisite for competing in the TOC is placement in the final rounds of two qualifying events on the national circuit during the regular season.

The Potomac School had eight students that met these requirements and competed in nine of the events.

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Rollins took first place in the country for original oratory and extemporaneous speaking. This was the second year in a row that she was ranked first in this same tournament for extemporaneous speaking. In the eighth grade, Rollins competed in the NSDA Middle School Championship and won first for extemporaneous speaking and pulled off two first places in the TOC Middle School Championship.

She is the only person to have won national championships two years running in the same event (extemporaneous speaking) and she is only the second person ever to win two TOC championships within a year.