Mock trial goes 8-0

Home Campus Mock trial goes 8-0

A Hillsdale College mock trial team went undefeated and brought home the first place trophy, after competing Saturday and Sunday at the University of Illinois Invitational.

Because of practice and frequently updating team strategies, Hillsdale’s Team 1180 scored a perfect 8-0 record, beating teams from the University of Chicago and Indiana, Northwestern, Notre Dame, and Pennsylvania State universities, mock trial students said. The college also took home four other awards, including one for its civility in the courtroom. Hillsdale’s two other teams did not place.

“This is the second year in a row that Hillsdale College has had an 8-0 record at this tournament,” sophomore Rachel Umaña said.

But the competition in the overall season shows Hillsdale is outpacing itself, Team 1180 captain senior Jon Church said.

“Before this year, Hillsdale won maybe three wins total, but this season we are easily surpassing past years with three early wins in the invitational season,” Church said.

Even with Team 1180’s success, its members showed good sportsmanship, according to the students’ peers. The team received the Spirit of American Mock Trial Association award.

“This was a big deal,” Church said. “The competitors vote on who was most civil in trial, and they gave it to us.”

On Team 1180, junior Anna Fair Matthes won an outstanding witness award, and Church was recognized as an outstanding attorney. Junior Laurel Nitzel, Team 1181 co-captain, also won an outstanding attorney award.

Mock trial’s continued success doesn’t come easy, though, Church said.

“We update our case theory and strategy throughout the season,” he said. “Our competitors try to poke holes in our theory, and it’s our job to fine-tune our case theory.”

And that’s after spending hours at the beginning of the semester determining which evidence to use in the courtroom and which witness to call upon, captain of Team 1411 senior Kristiana Mork said.

Additionally, team members focus on witness answers to best suit their team’s needs. Freshman Carson Waites is Team 1180’s defendant and plays an employer who is being sued for age discrimination.

“It’s the job of our competitors to paint him like the devil, and Carson plays him like a saint,” Church said.

The first time another team cross examined him, Waites said it was frightening and challenging.

“Basicly, I remember thinking, ‘This is a person from another school who just wants to make me look like an idiot,’” Waites said. “And that is nerve-racking, when they keep attacking you.”

Looking toward the final competitions of the semester and the spring, members will be assigned to A, B, and C teams, based on their scores so far.

“For the first part of the season, we split the teams pretty evenly with freshman and experienced members on each team,” Mork said. “But going into second semester, we put all the best-scoring on a team, so we have the best shot at qualifying for nationals.”

And that is the ultimate goal for the 2016-2017 season, Mork said.

“Hillsdale has never qualified for nationals before,” she said, “but this is our year.”