Since you're just handling what a single operator can do in a single contest*, I don't know that performance is ever going to be an issue. But since you've sorted the callsign list, might as well avoid a full scan through the list each time. If nothing else, stop when the entered callsign gt the last one you compared it to.
Howard AE0Z
* YMMV. My personal best is well short of 200 activating 2 POTA sites in a day. I log with a laptop as my handwriting is terrible!
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (NASB)