Hillsdale College’s mock trial program won its last tournament of the season this past weekend.
Only one of Hillsdale’s three teams flew to American University in Washington, D.C., for the tournament on Nov. 16-17, but that team, under the leadership of senior Abby Loxton and sophomore Ryan Ahrens, took first place in a tournament that Loxton said included several big name schools that have made it to nationals in the past.
“It blew me away. I knew we had been improving, and I knew the talent was there, but we got to see it realized,” Loxton said. “That’s an accomplishment we can all be proud of.”
Since two of the teams’ eight members were unable to make the trip, juniors Philip Hammersley and Bailey Pritchett joined the ranks just for this tournament. Hammersley and Pritchett both competed last year, but are currently studying at the Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship for the fall semester.
Sophomore Jon Church, a new member of the team, learned a new part and offered closing arguments as an attorney for the first time, but Loxton said he did well.
“To be able to win, even with all of that, I think says a lot about our program as a whole,” Loxton said, adding that Hammersley and Pritchett both incorporated themselves into the team seamlessly.
For each round, two judges give decisions. In three matches, both judges voted for Hillsdale. In a fourth, the ballots were split, giving the team a record of 7-1. Freshman Luke Lechtenberg won an outstanding witness award at the tournament.
“We won because we did the best performance we possibly could have and the results reflected that,” Loxton said.
The speech and debate teams also traveled last weekend to Bowling Green State University for a tournament. Despite the fact that the tournament did not focus on Lincoln-Douglas debate but parliamentary — a style some of Hillsdale’s debaters are less familiar with — junior Kevin Ambrose and senior Ian Hanchett still made it to the semifinal round. Freshman Graham Deese and sophomore Taylor Wessel made it to the same level in the novice division.
Wessel said the format of debate was significantly different than what she is used to and that she prefers LD to parliamentary.
“You have to be a lot more persuasive [in parliamentary],” Wessel said. “It’s more based on how you sound speaking.”
On the forensics side, sophomore Chris Landers won the tournament in the persuasive speaking category, and freshman Graceanne Warburton broke to semifinals in novice impromptu and dramatic interpretation.
“She’s been working very hard. So basically, all her hard work over the semester has paid off,” said team captain and junior Brandon Butz.
The forensics and debate teams will travel to Michigan State University this weekend.