The Hillsdale Mock Trial B team swept the Hoosier Hoedown with a perfect record of 8-0 at University of Indiana last weekend.

According to sophomore Miriam Ahern and junior Chloe Noller, Hillsdale won all four of the weekend’s rounds 2-0 against the University of Illinois-Chicago, the University of Dayton, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the Wheaton College A Team.

“If this is our baseline, we’re just really excited about what it can mean for us in the future,” Noller said. “The team performs really well together. They’re very cohesive. They all seem very cool and calm under pressure, which is essential to mock trial.”

Sophomore and team captain Ty Tomasoski said the team put out an excellent performance under an unusually short deadline.

“I think we had a week of writing and then a week to memorize, which was short even by very competitive standards,” Tomasoski said. “So it was really neat to see that everyone had their material down and it was performed well in the round. I think that really sets us up to do well at regionals.”

According to Ahern and Tomasoski, Noller won a 16-rank outstanding witness award, while junior and team captain Valerie Check received both a 16-rank outstanding witness award and a 19-rank outstanding attorney award. Both were first-time award winners.

“Their awards were absolutely deserved,” Tomasoski said. “There were a lot of times when both of them have been just so close to an award, so it’s awesome to see them finally get the recognition they deserve, because they’re fantastic competitors.”

According to Tomasoski, the B team now has two weeks until competing at regionals, the first round of competitions whose winners advance to the Opening Round Championship Series. The top six teams from each ORCS across the nation will compete at nationals.

“The 8-0 sweep is important because it means that we were able to put every judge in the round on our side in every round,” Tomasoski said. “That’s crucial, because one ballot can often be the difference between receiving a bid to advance and not getting a bid. ”

The Hillsdale Mock Trial C team also competed over the weekend at the Hoosier Hoedown. The team lost three rounds and won one round, according to sophomore and team captain Ella Lovins.

Lovins said sophomore Hershey Athysivam won a 17-rank outstanding witness award.

“We all saw some amazing things from Hershey, as shown by her award,” Lovins said. “My co-captain Brennan Berryhill had an exceptional weekend, and we have a lot of talented people on this team. I’m really excited to see what they do at regionals.”