With three competitions down and months stretching ahead, the Cornell College Mock Trial team is stepping into a season full of promise and potential.
The mock trial season started with the Scot Free Scrimmages, hosted by Macalester College. All three self-named teams–team “Ate (9),” team “Impractical Mockers,” and team “The Real Housewives of the Midlands”–competed. Despite competing earlier than in past seasons, all teams performed well, having memorized the information in just two weeks.
The second competition was the Arch Invitational on Oct. 18 and 19. Hosted by Washington University in St. Louis, the team faced some stiff competition.
“This is the strongest invitational we will attend during our unstacked season. Eight of the teams at the tournament were at Nationals last year,” Mock Trial Head Coach Max Handler said.
Although the teams at the Arch Invitational were unstacked, including a mix of first-year and experienced members, all 23 teams made it to the national qualifying competition, or Opening Round Championship Series (ORCS), last year. Despite this, the Cornell team in attendance, team “Ate (9),” improved over last year’s performance, earning one winning ballot and one tied ballot.
This year’s growth has been evident across all teams as the other two carried the momentum forward into the Richard Calkins Invitational at Drake University the following weekend. The two teams, “Impractical Mockers” and “The Real Housewives of the Midlands”, took home team awards and multiple individual awards. These are the best results of Cornell’s unstacked teams in several years.
“We continue to show improvement with our unstacked results, which portends positive things for our stacked season to come,” Handler said.
Once the teams are stacked later this fall–or placed into an A, B, and C team based on individual strengths and building cohesive units–the mock trial team will attend several more invitationals before attending regionals in February. They will also act as judges at the Regional Middle School Tournament at Cornell on Nov. 13 and 14.
Up next, though, is the King of the Hill Invitational, right here on the Hilltop. The mock trial team will host approximately 16 college teams on Nov. 1 and 2. Students are encouraged to attend and support this year’s three Cornell teams. Each round is three hours long and has multiple breaks for arriving late or leaving early. If interested, please contact Handler for times and specific room assignments, and remember that mock trial rules forbid school colors and branding in the audience.
Cornell's mock trial team was founded in 2006. Mock trial is an intercollegiate activity that combines speech, theatre, and debate. New in-coming students interested in participating in mock trial, whether they are first-year or transfer students, may also qualify for $1,000-$5,000 in extra financial assistance on top of the merit scholarships, renewable each year you’re part of the program.
*Pictured above is team "The Real Housewives of Midlands" with their second place trophy. Front row (from left): Agatha Doloksaribu '29, Captain Kapua Vanterpool '28, Captain Daniele Ebert '27, and Tram Nguyen '29. Second row (from left): Beatrice Byondo '29, Sirius Barnett '28, and Levi Thompson '27.