Students on the Hillsdale College Mock Trial team have been reviewing case materials and developing legal strategies in preparation for the first tournaments of the season this month.

“We’re all excited for the competitive season, especially with our stellar group of new freshmen,” sophomore Nathan Emslie said.

Emslie said Hillsdale College gave him his first opportunity to try mock trial. 

“I enjoy the competition, the teamwork, the creativity, the subject matter, and the art of telling a single narrative, all of which make mock trial great,” he said.

The program has developed significantly during the past 13 years, according to Emslie. 

“In our first season, HCMT’s one team only won two and a half out of eight ballots at regionals, the lowest level of competition during the competitive season,” Emslie said.

Emslie said it took nine years before a Hillsdale team went to nationals. 

“This last year was our program’s best,” Emslie said. “We were one of seven programs to send not one but two teams to nationals.”

Junior and team captain Abigail Davis said the team wants to represent Hillsdale well this season. 

“I am looking forward to traveling to tournaments and seeing teams that we have competed with before,” she said. “It’s really fun to bond with other schools over this bizarre, wonderful activity, and it teaches us to be professional as well as zealous advocates.”

Davis said she is excited to see how the team deals with this season’s challenges. 

“In this year’s case, the prosecution can choose from two different defendants and 10 different charges, so on our defense, we have to be ready to respond to several different trial scenarios,” she said. “We prepare for the season by deciding the story we want to tell about the case for prosecution and for the defense, writing examinations for our witnesses and attorneys, and scrimmaging each other.”

Senior and team social chair Konrad Verbaarschott said he appreciates the variety of mock trial. 

“Mock trial is kind of the perfect blend of debate and theater — it’s intellectually demanding, makes you think on your feet, and demands top-tier forensic skills,” he said.

Verbaarschott said what he likes most about mock trial is the community. 

“I do mock trial because the team is kind of my family,” he said. “Our coaches were former competitors, and there’s a sense of legacy there: every new tournament we get invited to, every time we clear regionals or get a bid to nationals, they’re celebrating too.”

Emslie agreed that community is a major draw of the team. 

“Some of my best friends and biggest role models are my teammates,” he said. “From top to bottom, the rosters are full of ambitious yet caring people who want to lift each other up more than anything.”

Verbaarschott said he wants the team to remain gratitude-focused. 

“I want to make sure we stay thankful to God for how bountifully he’s dealt with us, crazy opportunities, and incredible support from the rhetoric department,” he said. “We’re so blessed.”