Mock Trial places second at Yale

Cornell College’s Mock Trial team won accolades at two tournaments during the weekend of Nov. 30-Dec. 2.

One squad took second place at a tournament at Yale University. Squad 1178, consisting of Tim Bingham, James Hoeffgen, Claire McGuire, Tom Kirk, Thomas Cooke, Maria Goodfellow and Sarah Bertschy, finished second at Yale in a strong field consisting of Harvard, Yale, University of Pennsylvania, Wellesley, Princeton, and the University of Georgia.  With a record of 10 wins and 2 losses, they finished second only to Harvard in the “varsity” division, due to a tie-breaking procedure. The squad ran the table the last three rounds, taking 9 ballots in a row from Yale, Wellesley, and the University of Rochester.

Another squad took tenth place at Macalester College. Squad 1180, consisting of David Miller, Tim Wiley, Chris Machold, Evan Andersson, Eric Andow, Gwen Morrison, Micah Hawker-Boehnke, Katelynn Raney, and Yolanda Jones took tenth place at Macalester with a record of 5 wins and 3 losses.  This finish is made even more impressive by the fact that 8 of the 9 members of the squad are in their first season of collegiate mock trial and that the team was forced to carry on despite several members falling ill.

The tournaments were the last for the team until after the winter holiday break.

The Cornell College Mock Trial Team is a project of the college’s Center for Law and Society. Now in its seventh year, the team has been to the national championship tournament three out of the past four years. In 2010 the team placed sixth in the nation.