2026 Poetry Out Loud National Semifinals (Region 3)

Reciting poetry from an anthology that celebrates historic American voices, state and jurisdictional champions competed for the national champion title and a $20,000 cash prize. Region 3 included champions from Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Poetry Out Loud is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with participating state and jurisdictional arts agencies and administered by Mid Atlantic Arts. It has reached more than 4.5 million students since it began in 2005. This year’s state and jurisdictional champions advanced from more than 130,000 students nationwide. Learn more at poetryoutloud.org. Mari Basaca Fuentes 0:06:07 Aspen Geist 0:08:22 Liam McLaughlin 0:10:18 Ellette Whitcomb 0:16:31 Johnson Ailima 0:19:50 DB Henderson 0:23:28 Sofia Skuza Rivera 0:25:12 Dovelynn Martinson 0:28:41 James Ware 0:31:39 Almaz Clawson 0:33:56 Damien Andre Deen 0:35:40 Lillian Braly 0:37:36 Hadas Frish 0:42:36 Jade Terriss Talamo 0:45:56 Brielle Brandon 0:51:04 Emma Keen 0:54:46 Monroe Williams 0:57:01 Kai Gammarino 0:59:33 Cassie Lumba 1:03:08 Mari Basaca Fuentes 1:06:45 Aspen Geist 1:09:53 Liam McLaughlin 1:11:28 Ellette Whitcomb 1:14:31 Johnson Ailima 1:15:54 DB Henderson 1:19:25 Sofia Skuza Rivera 1:21:16 Dovelynn Martinson 1:23:29 James Ware 1:25:04 Almaz Clawson 1:29:17 Damien Andre Deen 1:31:42 Lillian Braly 1:36:24 Hadas Frish 1:38:11 Jade Terriss Talamo 1:40:04 Brielle Brandon 1:42:59 Emma Keen 1:45:30 Monroe Williams 1:47:16 Kai Gammarino 1:48:53 Cassie Lumba 1:51:27 Liam McLaughlin 2:04:32 DB Henderson 2:06:38 Sofia Skuza Rivera 2:08:40 Almaz Clawson 2:10:26 Damien Andre Deen 2:11:48 Lillian Braly 2:14:03 Hadas Frish 2:16:27 Cassie Lumba 2:18:30