Last Friday, two teams from Hillsdale’s Mock Trial Program attended the Queen City Invitational at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. One of the teams led by senior Dylan Hoover and junior Jack Shannon placed third out of 20 teams in the overall tournament.
Hoover, sophomore Hannah Blazek, and senior Philip Hammersley won awards for placing among the top 10 attorneys in the tournament. Senior Shaun Lichti and freshman Anna Fair Matthes won awards for placing among the top 10 witnesses at the tournament.
“All told, we took one-fourth of all awards given out, so I, along with the other coaches — Zack Reynolds and Nicholas Sauma, graduate students at Hillsdale — am very proud of the program,” coach Lecturer in Speech Jon Weigle said.
Each team had a total of four trials over the weekend, two on Saturday and two on Sunday. They competed against schools like Cornell College, the University of Iowa, and Miami University. Their record for the weekend was 6-2.
“This was my third and last tournament with my current team, and I couldn’t ask for a better note to end on,” Shannon said. “This is the first time in the history of Hillsdale mock trial that we’ve had a team that placed at three consecutive tournaments. But more importantly, this is the most cohesive and dedicated the program has ever been, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can achieve moving forward.”
The teams will be reorganized for second semester and to gain a competitive edge for their upcoming invitational at American University in Washington, D.C., Nov. 22-23.
“We won this whole tournament last year so we hope to do well again!” sophomore Gwendolyn Hodge said.
The invitational at American University will have 24 teams from universities across the country competing against each other. Hillsdale will be one of the smallest schools among them.
The team has been strong this year, though, placing at least one team in the top five at each invitational they’ve attended. At the first two tournaments, both teams placed in the top five.
“This is, to my knowledge, the highest consistent performance by Hillsdale mock trial since the program started five years ago,” sophomore Jennifer Matthes said.
