Mock trial misses nationals by half a ballot

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Mock trial misses nationals by half a ballot
Hillsdale College’s mock trial A team earned five-and-a-half ballots at the Opening Round Championship Series tournament on Saturday and Sunday, missing qualifications for the national tournament by half a ballot. Jon Church | Courtesy

Hillsdale College Mock Trial’s A and B teams came short of advancing to nationals, on Sunday at the Opening Round Championship Series tournament in Hamilton, Ohio.

The A team came a half ballot short of the six needed to advance. Hilldale won five-and-a-half ballots in the four rounds of competition at the tournament that included ranked opponents of Miami University, Ohio State University, and others. The B team also fell short and ended the season with a 3-5 score at the tournament.

“This was Hillsdale’s best showing at ORCS, and normally we would have made it with that score, but this group of teams scored higher than normal,” A team captain senior Jon Church said.

Other colleges not in the same region advanced to nationals with lower scores than Hillsdale, because their region’s top competition scored lower than the opening round in Ohio, Church said.

“We gave it our best, but sometimes the judges like different tactics even though ours were good,” senior Lindsey Redfern said.

In every round in the tournament, two judges award one ballot each to the team they independently thought won the round.

The A team lost one of its ballots in its opening round against the University of Alabama, Birmingham, Church said.

“I was confident we were going to win and was shocked when I checked the score after the round,” he said.

The A team worked extra hard in the next rounds, the students knowing they needed every ballot they could get to advance, Church said.

“We went into our last round knowing we had to get at least five and a half to go to nationals,” Redfern said. “We got that, but it ended up not being enough to advance.”

The tournament officials acknowledged the abnormally high scores and congratulated everyone for competing, Church said.

But the team did have individuals honors to celebrate. Freshman Carson Waites won an Outstanding Witness award with a nearly perfect score.

“Carson has always been a rockstar from the very beginning,” Church said.

Church also won an Outstanding Attorney award at the tournament. He has won an attorney award at nearly every tournament his senior year.

B team co-captain sophomore Nathanael Cheng said despite the tough competition, the tournament provided valuable experience to the team.

“The competition was very strong, but I was happy to see the program work hard and score better than it’s ever done,” Cheng said.

Cheng said while the loss is disappointing, the mock trial team needs to look toward next year to rebuild since many of its members are graduating seniors.

“It is tough to see it all end like this, after we’ve worked so hard to perfect our teams,” Church said. “But it’s been a lot of fun to do so well and get as far as we did this season.”