Hillsdale College’s mock trial teams dominated among some of the best competitors in the country Saturday and Sunday, sweeping three of the top four positions.
Hillsdale placed first, second, and fourth at the fourth annual Red Cedar Classic Invitational at Michigan State University. Hillsdale beat nationally acclaimed schools, including Pennsylvania State University, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and others, providing hope for Hillsdale to qualify for nationals in the spring, team captain senior Jon Church said.
“This speaks very well for how we are growing as a program and for how we are preparing our teams for trials,” Church said.
Team 1181, captained by senior Hannah Norman and junior Laurel Nitzel, won with a 7-1 record. Team 1180 placed second with a score of 6-2, and Team 1411 also scored 6-2 for fourth. Indiana University snuck in at third.
Both Church and Norman won outstanding attorney awards. Senior Gwen Hodge also won an outstanding witness award for her role as a plaintiff for Team 1181.
The performance of freshmen on the teams are particularly noteworthy, Church said.
“Team 1181’s win is especially impressive, due to the fact that two-thirds of the team are composed of freshman or new team members,” Church said.
Freshman Philip Berntson on Team 1181 said he was nervous to “square off” against the experienced teams, but through practice he and his teammates all performed their roles well enough to win the tournament, he said.
“When the host announced that my team won, most of us didn’t know how to react,” Bernston said. “We ended up just screaming and hugging. I felt a huge confidence boost knowing that despite being a rookie team, we are capable of great things, if we only work together.”
Norman and Nitzel said they are proud of their young team.
“It was beautiful watching the freshmen’s joy and exuberance, as we heard our names called for first place,” Nitzel said. “Just having all three Hillsdale teams place was an awesome feeling. It brought recognition and respect to Hillsdale’s name and made us even more proud of our school.”
