Nope, speed at which a plane is flown up, down or horizontally is not a criteria to be judged by...this also applies to roll rates unless stipulated i.e. slow roll for instance....

The following was clipped from the current AMA rules:

The principles of judging an RC model shall be based on the perfection with which the model executes the maneuvers. The main criteria used to judge the degree of perfection are:

1.Precision of the maneuver.
2.Smoothness and gracefulness of the maneuver.
3.Positioning or display of the maneuver.
4.Size or dimensions of the maneuver relative to the maneuvering area, distance from the judges, and other maneuvers in the flight.

The above criteria are listed in order of importance; however, all of them must be met for a maneuver to be rated perfect.

Hope this helps...