When senior Andrew Shaffer heard that the mock trial team would conduct their season over Zoom, he wasn’t sure how the semester would pan out.
“There was definitely hesitation between myself and other people who were disappointed over the fact that COVID-19 limitations were happening,” Shaffer said.
Despite Shaffer’s fears, and the virtual courtroom setting, all three of Hillsdale’s mock trial teams performed remarkably well at their first tournaments.
Two weekends ago, team 1213 participated in the William and Mary Colonial Classic and took third place with a 6-2 record. Teams 1214, captained by sophomores Ethan Tong and Abbee Elwell, and 1215, captained by senior Sophia Klomparens, competed at the Case Western Reserve University Spartan Throwdown. Team 1214 had a 5-3 record and won an honorable mention while team 1215 went 6-2 and won a second place award.
Its team 1213 captain Shaffer’s fourth year competing on the mock trial team. He said the transition online was undesirable at first, but provided the team with unique opportunities for advancement. In the past, Hillsdale’s mock trial team hasn’t attended William and Mary’s invitational, but this year, Hillsdale was extended an invitation because of the tournament’s virtual nature.
“Given COVID-19 and schools that either aren’t doing mock trial this year, or because Zoom allows schools to host so many more people, it allows for a lot greater diversity and competition,” Shaffer said. “I think just based on the amount of people that can fit into a tournament, being online allows for better competition.
Although more tournament opportunities opened up this semester, there were some drawbacks to online competitions. Mock trial, Shaffer said, is heavily reliant on courtroom attitude. Virtual communication puts the team at a slight disadvantage.
“When you’re in a courtroom, there’s a certain energy that you get not only from members of your own team but for members of the other team. It’s almost this tangible thing that you can feel when they’re speaking,” Shaffer said. “You almost feel whether they’re confident or whether they’re not. So, that has been difficult because it’s harder to tell going into the rounds the types of people that you’re dealing with, and same thing goes for witnesses, it’s harder to tell if the witness is going to be really aggressive or if the witness is going to go along with what you say.”
Given the virtual format of tournaments this season, Shaffer said the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) has cut back on time limits, which puts the team at another disadvantage.
“Opening and closing statements are 12 minutes total, and they used to be 14,” Shaffer said. “So that has been further cut down and you just don’t have as much time to develop the case or your character.”
Despite setbacks, the team outperformed expectations this past weekend. Most notably, Shaffer added, the team’s newest members are thriving.
“This was definitely the most competitive tryout season we’ve ever had,” Shaffer said. “The new members are so fantastic. They bring a lot of energy to the team. All these new people came in who’d never experienced Hillsdale mock trial and what it’s done before, so they were still really excited to make it happen. I think that kind of sparked everybody to keep going.”
It’s freshman Maggie Wackenhut’s first year on the mock trial team. Wackenhut’s first tournament was the Case Western Spartan Throwdown, where she witnessed for team 1215. She said her experience hasn’t been dulled by online procedure and that she’s excited to see what the rest of the season has in store.
“I feel really supported by the team. I’ve joined a whole new community and a family of really great people, really smart people, that want to love you and hope you do well,” Wackenhut said.
Senior Sophie Klomparens also competed at the Spartan throwdown. Klomparens, team 1215’s captain, said she was impressed by their second place win, as it was almost every member’s first mock trial tournament.
“They’re all really talented,” Klomparens said. “Most came in with public speaking experience, but they all have lots of raw talent when it comes to forensics and speaking. Team 1215 went six-and-two which is incredible. I’m really proud of how dedicated they’ve been and how hard they worked, it’s not just talent it’s lots of skill and dedication to getting things right and practicing a lot.”
There’s only been one downside for Wackenhut.
“Usually we get to travel,” Wackenhut said. “And so we’re missing that a little bit but we’ve been accommodating to doing the Zoom trials and it’s been kind of funky figuring stuff out logistically online, but it’s been a good time regardless of COVID-19 restrictions.”
Klomparens said that while the negative effects of COVID-19 presents interesting challenges, it didn’t inhibit the team’s skill in any way.
“It’s less intense over the internet but there are lots of new challenges like tech things and making sure we don’t have weird feedback loops,” Klomparens said. “Obviously there’s not quite so much adrenaline, it’s not quite so intense because you’ll have a judge literally staring at you, they’re not actually there and you’re not in the room with the other competitors, but overall, the virtual procedure is shockingly less different than I thought it would be.”
The teams will head into the competitive season in January. Klomparens said she’s hopeful and excited for upcoming tournaments.
“I’m so proud of all the new people, they’ve gone way above and beyond,” Klomparens said. And given the success of that team, I’m really excited to see how we do as we go to more tournaments and hit bigger and better competition.”