BEST Regional Tournament at Geo Milev ELHS, Ruse – November 21-22, 2015

150 students from 13 schools in central and northeast Bulgaria competed in BEST’s second regional tournament of the academic year on 21-22 November. Hosted by Geo Milev English Language High School in Ruse, the tournament featured various speech events as well as World Schools Debate.

Representatives of the Bulgarian Fulbright Commission attended as judges and special guests, including Executive Director Angela Rodel and ETA Program Officers Iliana Dimitrova and Rada Kaneva; Scott Righetti of the U.S. State Department was also a special guest. The tournament ended on Sunday afternoon with folk dancing, a chalga (pop-folk) performance by our Student Ambassador Program Coordinator Jason Syphrett to benefit BEST, and an awards ceremony hosted by Angela Rodel and BEST founders Athena Lao and Tatiana Rostovtseva.

Team BEST thanks everyone who supports our community, including the Bulgarian Fulbright Commission and the U.S. Embassy, generous BEST sponsors; the administrators and staff of ELHS Geo Milev who were such gracious hosts; and the numerous judges, chaperones, and coaches who make this community possible.

Below are the names of participating teams, with teams participating for the first time underlined, and the list of awards; you can view results on Speechwire, as well.

Aprilov National High School – Gabrovo
Atanas Burov School of Economics – Silistra
Baba Tonka Maths High School – Ruse
Ekzarh Yosif I Foreign Language High School – Lovech
Yoan Ekzarh Fifth Foreign Language High School – Varna
Geo Milev English Language High School – Ruse
Geo Milev Foreign Language High School – Dobrich
Nancho Popovich Maths and Science High School – Shumen
Nikola Vaptsarov Foreign Language High School – Shumen
Peyo Yavorov Foreign Language High School – Silistra
Pleven Foreign Language High School
Elias Canetti Professional School of Economics and Management – Ruse
St. Konstantin Cyril European Language School – Ruse

AWARDS

POETRY INTERPRETATION

Finalists

  1. Kristina Lyutskancheva – Ekzarh Yosif I FLHS, Lovech

  2. Stoyana Tomova – Geo Milev FLHS, Dobrich

  3. Boryana Todorova – Aprilov National High School, Gabrovo

  4. Velina Dimitrova – Aprilov National High School, Gabrovo

  5. Simona Stefanova – Ekzarh Yosif I FLHS, Lovech

  6. Eva Ilieva – Peyo Yavorov FLHS, Silistra

Highest-ranked novice performer
Yoanna Stefanova – St. Konstantin Cyril ELS, Ruse

PROSE INTERPRETATION

Semifinalists

  • Hristina Moncheva – Ekzarh Yosif I FLHS, Lovech

  • Kristiyana Dimitrova – Geo Milev ELHS, Ruse

  • Sarah Busari – Geo Milev FLHS, Dobrich

  • Kristina Vitanova – Ekzarh Yosif I FLHS, Lovech

  • Denitsa Hristova – Ekzarh Yosif I FLHS, Lovech

  • Mirela Georgieva – Ekzarh Yosif I FLHS, Lovech

Finalists

  1. Zdravko Nunev – Geo Milev ELHS, Ruse

  2. Ana-Maria Bulgarova – Aprilov National High School, Gabrovo

  3. Joan Popov – Aprilov National High School, Gabrovo

  4. Ani Mkrtchyan – Atanas Burov School of Economics, Silistra

  5. Radost Petrova – Geo Milev FLHS, Dobrich

  6. Mirela Petrova – Aprilov National High School, Gabrovo

Highest-ranked novice performer
Polly Yoveva – Geo Milev FLHS, Dobrich

ORIGINAL ORATORY

Semifinalists

  • Viktoriya Dimova – Yoan Ekzarh Fifth FLHS, Varna

  • Magdalena Tasheva – Yoan Ekzarh Fifth FLHS, Varna

  • Rukiye-Ayshe Egeli – Nancho Popovich MSHS, Shumen

  • Sechil Mehmed – Nancho Popovich MSHS, Shumen

  • Martin Dimitrov – Geo Milev FLHS, Dobrich

  • Ilina Ilieva – Ekzarh Yosif I FLHS, Lovech

Finalists

  1. Shebnem Niazi – Geo Milev ELHS, Ruse

  2. Dayana Baleva – Pleven FLHS

  3. Sevastian Petkov – Nikola Vaptsarov FLHS, Shumen

  4. Christian Tsenov – Pleven FLHS

  5. Maria Koleva – Aprilov National High School, Gabrovo

  6. Yoana Dimitrova – Atanas Burov School of Economics, Silistra

Highest-ranked novice performer
Eva Tsaneva – Ekzarh Yosif I FLHS, Lovech

DUO INTERPRETATION

Finalists

  1. Simona Stefanova and Denitsa Hristova – Ekzarh Yosif I FLHS, Lovech

  2. Teodora Ivanova and Kristina Lyutskancheva – Ekzarh Yosif I FLHS, Lovech

  3. Radost Petrova and Stoyana Tomova – Geo Milev FLHS, Dobrich

  4. Margarita Bozhilova and Steliyana Yordanova – Geo Milev ELHS, Ruse

  5. Valentin Velkov and Nikola Dragomirov – Nikola Vaptsarov FLHS, Shumen

Highest-ranked novice performers
Kristina Petrova and Daniela Hvarchilkova – St. Konstantin Cyril ELS, Ruse

WORLD SCHOOLS DEBATE

Finalists

1. Kristiyan Peev, Kristiyan Tsonevski and Kasiana Angelova – Geo Milev ELHS, Ruse

2. Ivaylo Velikov, Viktor Stefanov and Soner Yusein – St. Konstantin Cyril ELS, Ruse

Runners-up

3. Ralitsa Belcheva, Rumen Marinov and Krasimir Kirilov – Nikola Vaptsarov FLHS, Shumen

4. Lora Lyubenova, Ekaterina Gruchko and Victor Velkov – St. Konstantin Cyril ELS, Ruse

Highest-ranked novice team
Maksim Zangov, Kameliya Yordanova and Kristiyan Nedyalkov – Geo Milev ELHS, Ruse

Individual Speaker Award
Sechil Mehmed – Nancho Popovich MSHS, Shumen

Sportsmanship Award
Velina Pencheva, Iveta Ivanova and Stiliyan Gadzhev – Baba Tonka Maths High School, Ruse

TEAM AWARDS

Small School Division (11 and fewer participants)
Yoan Ekzarh Fifth FLHS – Varna

Large School Division (more than 11 participants)
Ekzarh Yosif I FLHS – Lovech

BEST Foundation