After a successful weekend competing at the Regional tournament in Joliet, Illinois, Mock trial is headed to the Opening Round Championship Series.
Team 1106 and 1107 each won five and 5.5 rounds, respectively, granting Team 1106 an honorable mention and Team 1107 a guaranteed bid to the Opening Round Championship Series which will be held in Hamilton, Ohio, at the end of March.
With one secured bid to ORCS, the coaches said they will focus on putting together the most competitively strong team as they go forward. Mock trial could have the opportunity to send two teams to ORCS, based on how other teams perform at their regional competitions this coming weekend.
“Our ultimate goal is to be able to send a team to Nationals, so whether or not we have one or two teams going to ORCS, we are going to try to put together our strongest possible roster or rosters to have our best chance at going to nationals,” Coach Lindsey Church said. “And then we are going to keep polishing.”
Moving forward to prepare for ORCS, the team will adjust their case according to changes that will be required for the tournament, focusing on their confidence, smoothness, and ability to sound naturally, Lindsey Church said.
“Going forward, ORCS is a really exciting tournament,” Coach Jon Church said. “It tends to be chuck full of all national caliber teams, so I think the competition is more enjoyable.”
This past weekend, Team 1107 performed well, Lindsey Church said, particularly against Northwood University’s A team, who ended up winning the entire tournament.
“I was really proud of my team and how they stuck in the round,” she said. “They ended up tying a ballot in that round, which is what pushed us over the edge and we were able to get a bid. If we had won five instead of 5.5 then we would not have a bid right now.”
Sophomore Lucas O’Hanian, a member of Team 1107, received an Outstanding Witness award for his performance as a lead investigator for his team. This was the second time O’Hanian won this award this year, previously landing one at their first tournament of the year at Michigan State.
“We started right off the bat on Saturday with two wins, and then two more. So we had four wins going into the second day,” O’Hanian said. “We felt really good about our chances. “
O’Hanian is the lead detective of their case.
“I played it pretty straightforward,” O’Hanian said. “I spoke and I tried to sound helpful. We have a really airtight case on prosecution, we talk about a lot of really cool stuff. I think the judges really like that I did a decent amount of improvisation on the stand.”
Jon Church said last year Hillsdale’s team at ORCS missed a bid to natinals by a single point and a half.
“We’re really looking forward to the increased quality of opponent at ORCS and we’re looking forward to trying to get our first national bid,” Jon Church said.
As far as securing a second bid for ORCS, “We’re going to be praying,” Jon Church said.
