As everyone knows Lily Nellans will break the All Time NFL National Points mark this season. That weekend has come. This weekend at Patriot Games, likely in her 2nd, 3rd or 4th prelim of Saturday morning, the record will fall. We will be tracking her progress in tab so we can call the round and I can be present with a the tournament photographer. I'm asking a couple things of the team that is traveling to DC regarding this event:
1. When you see her after the record falls on Saturday please congratulate her but at the same time don't make a huge deal out of it. She wants to be focused on what she wants to accomplish this weekend.
2. If asked by others about the record simply tell them what you know.
3. George Mason University is planning to recognize the event at their awards on Sunday evening.
4. The team will celebrate the milestone in the hotel either Saturday or Sunday night.
Finally it is a BIG deal.
The NFL is planning on some publicity about the record in the Des Moines Register during the Paradigm. There will also be a basketball game/student body recognition at some point in the next month or so at Roosevelt. We will be asking for the entire team to be present as you all will all be recognized.
Younger kids please understand that you never have to produce points in the manner that Lily has over the past four years. That is not the goal of the program at all. It just so happens Lily got an opportunity that no one else got and she maximized the opportunity. So if you are sitting on say 100 points and wondering how you would ever get to 5000 points-don't worry about it. 750 points is a good solid NFL career-1500 is special-2000 is amazing. There are no descriptive words for 5000 points or the likely 6000 she might post before her career ends.
Records are set and someone, somewhere tries to break it. But it is hard to imagine a day in the near future where the new points record (whatever it may be) will fall dropping Lily to second All Time.
Lily will beat the record of Allison McKibban of Rice University (debated for El Dorado,KS). Alli is a former extemp camp student of mine and a friend of Lily's. Allison knew her record wouldn't make a year and is thrilled for Lily. Both of these students had something in their favor that most students don't. They win virtually every round they in which they compete -thus maximizing their points.
Amazing Facts about Lily's career thus far:
Debate: Lily has won 82% of her rounds over all four seasons
Speech: She has had 673 rounds of speech (not counting nationals or qualifiers)
358 times she got the 1--142 times she got the 2 and only 8 times did she get last over all four seasons.
That is a 53% rate of being first in round-another 21% of the time she has been 2nd and only .012% of the time was she last. Throw out her freshman year and the percentages increase noticeably of the percentage of rounds that were a 1 or 2.
Five times she has won a State Championship, she is an individual national champion, has won Extemp TOC twice, won MBA Extemp twice and been on the NFL finals stage twice.
Pretty amazing stuff! Congratulations to Lily Nellans!
