For the first time inWJ history, the Mock Trial team will be competing in the Regional Championships. After securing a win at the County Championships, the team advanced to the Circuit 6 Championship where they defeated Frederick County Champions, Urbana High School, securing a spot in regionals.
Mock Trial is a simulation of civil and criminal cases where high schools compete against each other, each arguing for the two different sides of one case, Prosecution or Defense. During the competition, teams are scored based on their legal and case knowledge as well as their performances in the courtroom, not the verdict of the case itself.
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The Defense team shows Ws after becoming county champions for the first time in WJ history. They competed against B-CC at the local Montgomery County Circuit Courthouse.
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The WJ Mock Trial team consists of four positions: lawyers, witnesses, alternates and observers, creating a total of 27 members.
Katherine Simmons
Preparations for counties began in late October when the team first received their case. Since then they have met every Monday after school, preparing for their first trial.
“We started preparing until January when we had our first trial against Walt Whitman High School and ever since then, we’ve just been constantly trying to improve our performance,” senior Mock Trial co-captain Elli Karistinou said.
In previous years, Mock Trial has never made it past the circuit championship, making this team one for the history books. Senior Mock Trial co-captain Liam Barrett offers insight into why he thinks that this team has been able to reach uncharted territory.
“This year I think the reason we’ve done so well is because everyone is willing to spend the hours memorizing and the hours writing questions, and are just willing to put in the time needed to do so well,” Barrett said. “It’s inherently a team effort.”
The hours of work put into these trials have paid off, leading the team to already win eight out of their nine trials this year. Mock Trial coach and history teacher Kathy Simmons expressed how devoted this team is to their craft.
“The amount of dedication and hours that the students put in makes this team so special,” Simmons said. “When we’ve had snow days and missed practice we’d get on Zoom for four hours. It’s an intensive amount of time and dedication to practicing and practicing and practicing.”
If the team takes home a win at regionals, they will advance to the Final Four, determining which two teams will compete in the Maryland State Mock Trial Championship. Regionals will take place on March 11 at the Howard County Circuit Court at 4 p.m.
