Mock Trial Season in Review

By Grace Gallacher and Noah Frankel, Opinion Copy Editor and Staff Writer

Photos by Aya O’Neal

   As the third quarter came to an end, Acalanes Mock Trial ended a memorable season full of challenges and successes.

   The season started strong, with a 4-0 record in the preliminary rounds followed by continued wins into the quarterfinals.

   “Not only did we go 4-0, but we won every single judge's scorecard. So, each judge who watched us gave the match to us, so I thought that was pretty impressive. Then we went to the quarterfinals and beat Campo in the quarterfinals. Again, we won all three judges in the quarterfinal match. And then in the semifinal match, that's where we lost to Cal High,” Mock Trial coach Joseph Schottland said.

   Their success was not due to mere luck, as it was a combination of both hard work and learning from mistakes.

   “At the beginning of the season, I think there was a bit of a discrepancy between the quality and state of our performances, and our coaches' expectations for us. However, our coaches did an excellent job of communicating their expectations in a clear and amiable way, and we all expended the effort to make any necessary improvements. Ultimately, I think it was a positive experience, because we all improved our performance from the experience, and overall became a stronger team because of it,” Pre-Trial Attorney and senior Julia Kinion said.

   This year, Mock Trial had such a grand participation that they had both a varsity and a junior varsity (JV) team, which allowed more students to participate in matches.

   “My favorite memory was our match in Martinez. We went against a city team SRV and both me and Max [Kaufman] got chosen as MVPs, so I think that was really memorable. I think I had a lot of fun and it was nice to get a real court match in a court with an actual judge and scorekeeper,” sophomore Reina Dekel said.

   The JV team serves as a route for underclassmen to participate by helping prepare them for varsity-level competition.

   “I think next year, given our improvements and learning from the challenges that we faced this year, we can probably overcome and improve in certain areas where we initially struggled and build off from there. At least we set the foundation this year and then hopefully next year we can build off and at least move up further in terms of ranking,” Dekel said.

   Some members observed significant individual and team improvement across the course of the season that was a result of many hours of rehearsing.

   “I feel like the season went really well. I'm incredibly proud of the effort that I and all of my team members—both varsity and JV—expended into creating, rehearsing, and polishing our arguments and performances. We worked incredibly hard, and I think that was reflected in all of our performances. I think that each member of the team grew immensely as a public speaker and a competitor,” Kinion said.

   While their season came to an end in the semifinals against Cal High, the Dons put up a fight with a 2-2 tie, the only match and two scorecards the Dons lost. The tie, however, meant that the judges would determine the match result by total points.

   “We won the presiding judge. She was the one who actually makes rulings on evidence and so forth, she's an actual judge, and she gave the match to us. But the rules say that in such a situation where it's tied, the next step is total points, and when they calculated the total points, it was 733 to 731. So we lost by a whisker,” Schottland said.

   Even though the season is over for most, team members recall positive memories from their Mock Trial experience this season.

   “I think my favorite memories come from the connections I've made with others in the program. Our team dinners after competitions are always fun and provide ample opportunities for bonding. I loved all the moments spent with my fellow Pretrial attorneys, rehearsing in a small group together,” Kinion said.

   Yet, the season is not over for everyone. In addition to many participants winning awards, seniors *Sadie Poole and *Hannah Geraghty will advance individually to the state competition.

   Ultimately, many coaches and students look forward to the excitement that next season has in store.

   “I'm looking forward to next year. And next year will be a murder, so they're gonna be very excited. This year it was a kidnapping, a politically motivated kidnapping. But next year, a murder, and everyone loves a murder,” Schottland said.  

*Blueprint would like to acknowledge that Sadie Poole declined to interview.

*Blueprint would also like to acknowledge that Hannah Geraghty is a member of Blueprint staff.