Hillsdale College Mock Trial’s two upperclassmen teams placed third and fourth overall in their respective tournaments Nov. 15–16, with members taking home several individual awards.
Upperclassmen team Mens Rea-lity Stars finished third overall at the University of Texas at Austin with a final ballot record of 8.5-3.5. They swept Boston University 3-0, went 1-2 against Tulane University, beat University of Houston 3-0, and finished with a 1.5-1.5 split against Rhodes College.
Team co-captain and senior Nathan Emslie and sophomore Erin McDonald received attorney awards.
“Nathan had concise, clean objections this weekend, and we saw him shine through as an attorney,” sophomore and Mens Rea-lity Stars member Ianna Chan said. “This was Erin’s first attorney award, and it was so well deserved. She had an amazing closing argument in our final round.”
Upperclassmen team Actors Reus scored fourth place overall at their tournament at the University of South Carolina, with a ballot record of 6-2. Actors Reus swept USC 2-0, split 1-1 with Emory University, split 1-1 with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and ended by sweeping Georgia Tech 2-0 in the final round.
The team also took home multiple individual awards, with co-captain and senior Chloe Noller winning an 18-rank outstanding witness award, junior Gabriel Higbie winning an outstanding witness award, and sophomore Gabriel Zylstra taking home an outstanding attorney award.
“Everyone was fantastic,” team co-captain and junior Ty Tomasoski said. “Gabriel Zylstra in particular had his best performance yet in our last round, and his closing statement was especially excellent.”
Tomasoski also praised Higbie’s performance as the medical examiner witness in the case they were trying.
“Sometimes it’s hard to get judges to pay attention to an expert witness, but Gabe managed to be incredibly interesting while using words like ‘birefringent’ to explain the crystals found in the victim’s kidneys,” Tomasoski said.
Freshmen team New-lo Contestant-ere finished their tournament at the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a final ballot record of 6-6. They lost to Indiana University 0-3, got 2-1 against University of Iowa, swept Northwood University’s B team 3-0, and finished 1-2 against Northwood’s A team.
Team co-captain and junior Brennan Berryhill won an outstanding witness award with 28 ranks.
“Brennan was one of only two witnesses at the tournament to reach 28 ranks, and his performance absolutely warranted that kind of outcome,” said team co-captain and sophomore Zoe Katsaros. “His witness portrayals in these rounds were some of the most compelling I’ve ever seen him deliver, so this award was incredibly well-deserved.”
Tomasoski said the Actors Reus team members faced several challenges, not only including the competition but also the team’s delayed flight back home Monday.
“Our flight was delayed until 2 a.m., meaning we ended up getting back home at around 8 a.m. and no one got any sleep,” Tomasoski said. “It was tough, but the team took it really well, and we ended up having more than a few delirious laughing fits together in the airport.”
Katsaros said she was especially proud of the freshmen in New-lo Contestant-ere after their last tournament of the semester.
“The effort the freshmen put in to improve from tournament to tournament was really apparent, especially at this last invitational,” Katsaros said. “It’s been really exciting to see them go from learning the basics of mock trial to confidently having a command of the material by the end of the season.”
Chan said she appreciated the teamwork and perseverance of Mens Rea-lity Stars in their final tournament, despite feeling discouraged in previous competitions.
“Although everyone on the team experimented with new roles this season, we stayed consistent, played our game, and worked together to push forward and place in the tournament,” Chan said.
Tomasoski said Actors Reus’ endurance in the face of these difficulties reflected their overall quality as a team and their growth throughout the semester.
“Everyone was individually excellent and put in the work for us to take three podiums in a row, but the best part wasn’t individual performance,” Tomasoski said. “It was that we all felt like we were working together to win, whether against other teams or a heinous travel schedule.”
