Hamilton College’s Mock Trial teams traveled to Lancaster, Pa., on March 23-25 to compete in the Opening Round Championships Series (ORCS), the second round of the American Mock Trial Association’s (AMTA) annual national tournament. This tournament was hosted by Elizabethtown College in the Lancaster County Courthouse, with 24 teams competing.
The A-Team competed against four schools, including University of Rochester, Cornell University, George Washington University, and Pennsylvania State University. On Friday evening the team successfully won one ballot against the University of Rochester and on Saturday morning, against Cornell University. On Saturday afternoon the team took both ballots from George Washington University, but unfortunately fell to Penn State on Sunday morning.
The B-Team competed against four schools as well: Lafayette College, Penn State, St. Bonaventure University, and Columbia University. The team won both ballots against St. Bonaventure, but fell to all the other teams. However, they lost every ballot by less than nine points.
Three members of the Mock Trial program won individual awards. Conor O’Shea ’18 and Ryan Stewart ’21 both won Outstanding Attorney awards, and Bryce Murdick ’20 received an Outstanding Witness award.
Although neither team made it to the National Championships, it was a successful year for the Hamilton College Mock Trial program. This was the first year where the program decided to compete with two teams and both made it to ORCS. While the A-team was made up of Mock Trial veterans, all but one member of the B-team was new this year to Mock Trial. Looking ahead, the program hopes to continue developing the two-team competitive program and have two teams at the National Championship next year.
Other members currently on Hamilton’s competing roster include: Ryan Bloom ’18, Thomas Duda ’18, Samantha Gordon ’19, Brad Marston ’19, Jordan D’Addio ’20, Isabelle Mosbarger ’20, Grecia Santos ’20, Mohammad Umar ’20, Gianni Hill ’21, and Emma Liles ’21.
