Hillsdale’s Mock Trial C Team, Team 1051, became the third Hillsdale team this season to earn a bid to the American Mock Trial Association’s Opening Round Championship Series, marking the first time that all three of Hillsdale’s teams have bid to ORCS.
Team 1051 placed fourth overall at a tournament on Feb. 28-March 1, with two students taking home outstanding attorney awards.
The team at the Notre Dame tournament earned Hillsdale’s third bid to ORCS, with the A and B Teams, Teams 1049 and 1050, having won bids to ORCS last month in Dayton.
“Six teams won ORCS bids, and when the first team got called, then the second, then the third, we started to get a little nervous,” sophomore and Team 1051 member Ethan Scroggins said. “The moment they announced Hillsdale College we all jumped out of our seats full of excitement and maybe a little bit of disbelief.”
At ORCS later this month, 192 teams from across the nation will compete for 48 spots at the National Championship Tournament.
Since a school can only send two of its teams to ORCS, Team 1051’s bid will become an “open bid” and will be passed to another high-scoring team at a different school.
Hillsdale’s Teams 1049 and 1050 will compete at ORCS on March 21-22, which will be cohosted by North Central College and Northern Illinois University in Geneva, Illinois.
“It’s wonderful to place at any tournament, a joy to win a bid, but this time, for most of us our first ever positive tournament record, we got to literally make history with HCMT’s first ever 3-bid season,” team co-captain and freshman William Adkison said.
At the Notre Dame tournament, Team 1051 came in at a final ballot score of 6.5-1.5. They split the first round against Purdue University 1-1, swept Notre Dame University 2-0 in the second round, finished 1.5-0.5 against Northwood University, and swept Illinois State University 2-0.
Adkison, along with freshman Ella Schuberg, took home 17-rank all-regionals attorney awards.
“Ella was the opener on the defense, and did a great job connecting with the judges in both her rounds, maintaining a calm demeanor and communicating clearly,” Adkison said.
Scroggins attributed the team’s success to Adkison’s work and leadership.
“Will works harder than anyone else on the team,” Scroggins said. “Because of that, his performance is always super clean. He knows what to do and has practiced doing it repeatedly. He was an integral part to our counsel table as well. Whenever I was considering an objection or adding something to cross examination, I usually conferred with him. He was a huge reason why we got the win at regionals.”
Junior and team member Hershey Hackberry said having the support of team’s coach, Justin Lee, and the support of other members helped pull the team together to compete well.
“Our coach, Justin, who’s amazing, was really supportive and would always tell us to stay clean, stay calm, and to do what we know,” Hackberry said. “Having competed on Mock Trial for the past three years made this team really special, because our chemistry was really good. We were really supportive and uplifting, and I truly felt so happy to compete alongside them.”
Hackberry said she is leaving the Mock Trial program next year, and Team 1051 will not compete anymore this season because the third bid will be given to another team, so the tournament was bittersweet for her.
“This program has given me so much, and Mock Trial has been a big part of my time at Hillsdale,” Hackberry said. “I’ve made the deepest friendships on campus here, and I think that it’s a hard thing to say goodbye to.”
Scroggins said that although Team 1051 will not be able to compete at ORCS, he considers the third bid a win for the entire Hillsdale Mock Trial program.
“Not many teams get open bids,” Scroggins said. “So, to be able to put Hillsdale into that elite caliber gives me great joy. The truth is that our ability to place is more a reflection of everything the program, our coaches, and our upperclassmen teammates have done for us. To be able to win for them is what made it mean something.”
