Rekt Judicata, one of Hillsdale’s three mock trial teams, won honorable mention in Harvard University’s invitational tournament last weekend. The team placed sixth overall and netted two individual awards. 

The Boston Tea Party was the last tournament of the team’s fall season. Senior Caleb Sampson and junior Njomeza Pema, Rekt Judicata’s captains, each won outstanding witness awards, Pema with a perfect score. 

According to Sampson, the Harvard invitational tournament, which had around 30 teams in attendance, presented the team with plenty of excellent competition from the American Mock Trial Association. 

“Harvard is one of the most difficult invitational tournaments that AMTA competitors can go to, and we had the pleasure to compete with the best programs in America,” Sampson said. 

Rekt Judicata faced off against four of the top teams in the nation: Tufts University, Yale University, Northwestern University, and Fordham College at Lincoln Center. The team finished with a final score of 6-2, splitting ballots 1-1 in its rounds against Tufts and Yale, defeating Northwestern and Fordham 2-0. 

Pema said the team’s cohesion helped them compete well in the tournament. 

“By this third tournament, I think, we knew our case theory super well,” Pema said.. “We’d all gotten super close as a team, so it was really enjoyable to run all our cases one last time at Harvard of all places.”  

Sampson agreed the team performed well.

“This was Rekt Judicata’s best tournament of the fall semester,” he said. 

According to Pema and Sampson, Rekt Judicata has both new and returning mock trial competitors. Sampson said the progress of the team’s new talent has been very impressive, and they performed well in the Harvard tournament. 

“To see people like Ms. Lovins, Ms. Perez, and Ms. Morey doing such a good job against top talent has been very encouraging to see as a captain of the team,” Sampson said.

Freshman Ella Lovins, a defense attorney for Rekt Judicata, said she particularly enjoyed the round against Northwestern. 

“The whole team went in having a lot of fun and it made a good run,” Lovins said. 

Lovins also said she felt she had grown over the course of the semester and that she enjoyed the difficult competition. 

“This tournament, I walked in and we were going against very difficult, very talented teams,” she said. “But I definitely had a better grasp of what was going on, and I felt much more confident arguing the case.” 

Pema said the team was excited for the spring competition season.

“Hillsdale mock trial has historically had a really good work ethic. I think at this point we also have really great team chemistry and everyone is really dedicated to making sure that we put in the type of work that took us to nationals for the last two years,” Pema said. “I’m really looking forward to what the spring holds.” 

Sampson was similarly optimistic about next semester’s prospects. 

“We’re looking forward to future progress and future wins in the spring semester,” he said.