While most students spent the Halloween weekend (Oct. 29-30) dressing up in costumes, Hamilton’s Mock Trial team spent the weekend in suits at the University of Rochester’s 9th annual “Yellowjacket Invitational.” Hamilton’s team has won this tournament for the past three years consecutively, and continued the streak this weekend. Hamilton’s two teams swept away the competition yet again, placing first and second at the tournament.
Although the winning streak is impressive, it is by no means easy to maintain. Both of Hamilton’s teams went head to head with some of the toughest teams in the competition including both of Syracuse University’s teams, Drexel University, and the University of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. With the exception of one round in which Hamilton Team 2 tied with the competitor, both Hamilton teams won every other round unanimously and unambiguously.
Additionally, two team members collected individual awards for their stand-out performances: Co-Captain Caroline Reppert ’17 won an outstanding attorney award for her role as a Plaintiff attorney, and Jonathan Stanhope ’18 received an outstanding witness award for his role as a psychiatrist specializing in PTSD.
This was also the first competition for two new members: Ian Hohm’20, who took on both a Plaintiff attorney role and a Defense witness role, and Isabelle Mosbarger ‘’20), who portrayed witnesses on both sides of the case.
Invitational tournaments such as this one not only provide meaningful and instructional opportunities for team members, but they also help create long-lasting relationships with other schools’ programs. It is through tournaments such as this one that the Hamilton team has forged lasting competitive yet friendly relationships with other programs such as the University of Rochester’s, and that it is able to reach out to other teams to schedule scrimmages and tournaments in the future.
The team is anxious to continue with the season, and is preparing for another invitational tournament at Cornell University mid-November.
Other competing members include: Co-Captain Andrew Fischer ’17, Silvia Radulescu ’17, Ryan Bloom ’18, Rachel Dawson ’19, Ram Franqui ’19, Samantha Gordon ’19, Patrick McConnell ’19 and Brad Marston ’19.
