Hillsdale’s Mock Trial team failed to advance in the Opening Round Championship tournament this past weekend, bringing their season to an end.
The tournament, held outside of Chicago, included only successful teams from regional tournaments. One of Hillsdale’s two teams had won third place in their regional tournament last month, giving Hillsdale its first opportunity ever to compete at the ORC level.
The competition was tough on every front.
“You always know a good team from a not-so-good team pretty quickly, and for this tournament, we never saw teams in the middle,” freshman Ryan Ahrens said.
At the tournament, Hillsdale won two rounds, lost five, and tied in one. However, junior Abby Loxton, the captain of the team that competed, said the record doesn’t reflect the team’s actual performance.
“We went up against some of the best teams in the country,” she said. “We took ballots from some of them, and lost by only a few points to others, so even though we didn’t advance I think we had a pretty good showing.”
Freshman Jack Shannon earned an Outstanding Witness Award at the tournament with a personal score of 17 out of 20.
The season as a whole, Ahrens said, was “phenomenal.” Between the two teams, Hillsdale took first at one practice tournament, second at another, and third at regionals.
“All of my teammates have impressed me on a daily basis,” Loxton said, “and I feel really blessed to have gotten to know them and have been a part of their success.”
At the beginning of this semester, Keith Miller, assistant director of career services, replaced Trent Harris, lecturer in speech, as coach.
Loxton said it was a bit of a challenge bringing in a new coach halfway through the season, but it worked well.
“Our first tournament of the semester was only two weeks away, so he had to get to know the case, all the people on the team, and learn how mock trial worked all within a very short time span,” she said, “but I think he did an excellent job. He fit into the team beautifully from the start, and his support and encouragement has really been instrumental this past semester.”
Freshman Ryan Ahrens, who argued as an attorney, agreed.
“The transition was really smooth,” he said. “Mr. Miller joined second semester with a clear vision in mind for what he wanted with the team, and was and is an extreme asset for the team.”
Loxton said her favorite part of the season was finding out that her team had taken third at regionals.
“I almost cried,” she said. “It was so surreal. It was really the moment I’d been working toward for three whole years, so I’m glad I got to witness it.”
