Hillsdale College Mock Trial

So far this year, the Hillsdale College Mock Trial program’s three teams have made five appearances at invitational tournaments with impressive results. Additionally, program students have won seven outstanding attorney awards and three outstanding witness awards. Tournaments generally consist of around 20 teams.

Team 1299 placed second at Penn State’s Happy Valley Invitational, 6-2 win record.
Team 1300 placed fourth at Michigan State’s Red Cedar Invitational, 5-2-1 win record.
Team 1298 placed first at the University of Iowa’s Cornshucker Invitational, a perfect 8-0 record.
Team 1300 placed third at Case Western Reserve University’s Spartan Throwdown, 6-2 win record. Team 1299 had a winning record but did not place.

Time for an HCMT spring update!

On the last weekend of January, all three teams competed at their last invitational tournaments. Team 1213 went 8-0 and took second place at the Arizona Cactus Classic Invitational, hosted by the University of Arizona. Senior witness Liesl Ragner also won an outstanding witness award with 19 ranks on the Plaintiff.

The next weekend, Teams 1213 and 1215 competed at their Regional tournaments. On 1213, senior Andrew Shaffer and junior Jean-Luc Belloncle both earned outstanding attorney awards, and senior Connor Daniels earned an outstanding witness award.

Team 1215 placed at their regional tournament and earned HCMT a bid to the Opening Round Championship Series. 1215 went 6-1-1 to take the first bid out. Sophomore Johannah Freyenhagen and freshman Curtis Herbert both won outstanding attorney awards, and freshman Nathan Butler earned an outstanding witness award.

At the end of the month, 1214 earned HCMT's second bid to ORCS, taking five ballots with a CS of 18. This record earned a bid to ORCS off of the open bid list. Congratulations to sophomore Ethan Tong for earning the top outstanding witness award with 19 ranks.

Check back next week as we compete at ORCS and earn a bid to the NCT!

This past weekend was a huge success for Hillsdale College Mock Trial as all three teams competed against quality programs and won several awards.

Team 1213, captained by senior Andrew Shaffer, participated in the William and Mary Colonial Classic and took third place with a 6-2 record. Senior Andrew Shaffer won an attorney award and Junior Stephen Edleblut won a witness award.

Team 1214, captained by sophomores Abbee Elwell and Ethan Tong, competed at the Case Western Reserve University Spartan Throwdown. They competed against top teams, earned 5 ballots out of 8, and received an honorable mention during closing ceremonies.

Team 1215, captained by senior Sophia Klomparens, also competed at the Spartan Throwdown. This was almost every member’s first ever mock trial tournament, and they won 6 ballots to take second place at the tournament.

As we celebrate the weekend's successes, we're also looking forward to the rest of the season. Stay tuned for updates as we continue preparing for the competitive season.

The new season is upon us! In less than two weeks, Hillsdale College Mock Trial will be holding tryouts for its mock trial program.

HCMT competes in the American Mock Trial Association, the only competitive college mock trial league in the nation. At every tournament, Hillsdale competes against high quality programs while preparing for Regionals, the Opening Round Championship Series, and eventually the National Championship Tournament. Our program is highly competitive, and we work hard all season to perfect our performance and public speaking skills.

As we look forward to the new challenge of competing in online tournaments, we are dedicated to adapting our skills to the environment of online competition. We’re developing procedures, testing equipment, and learning how to compete to a camera. Despite the strange circumstances, we’re excited about our plans for this year.

This season, HCMT is taking our competitive spirit online, and we hope you’ll join us as we embark on this unusual season. For more information on how to try out, email [email protected] or [email protected].

As we get ready for tryouts on September 1st, let's take a look back at what HCMT competitors have been doing over the summer.

Abigail Elwell, a rising sophomore, spent the summer working as a research assistant on a book that, among other topics, explored the classic nature vs. nurture debate in psychology. She enjoyed all the new and interesting facts she learned as she scoured research articles, and is working on ways to implement some of her research on confidence and language into her mock trial performance for this year.

Ethan Tong, another rising sophomore, created an organization called Blackstone Moot Court, which hosted its first online camp in July. There were 24 students and five coaches, and the students both enjoyed the camp and learned about Moot Court, constitutional law, and public speaking skills.

We're looking forward to seeing how Ethan and Abigail apply their skills as the new mock trial season kicks off! If you're an incoming freshman at Hillsdale College, be sure to visit our booth at the Source, attend our informational meeting, and come try out on September 1st.

HCMT leadership has been working hard all summer to prepare for this upcoming season and to make the most of our current situation. Let’s introduce the people that help make this team possible!

Our teams will be coached by Jon and Lindsey Church. Captaining our squad are seniors and fourth year returners Andrew Shaffer and Sophia Klomparens, alongside sophomores Abigail Elwell and Ethan Tong. Ethan is also spearheading the recruitment process this fall and working with our Social Chair, Cassidee Smidt. Finally, Sophia Klomparens and Megan Williams will work together as our Media Team.

We are all so excited to return and compete in this historic season of Mock Trial. If you are interested in joining or have any questions, please message our page or email Ethan Tong at [email protected]

Lauren Eicher, one of HCMT’s graduated 2020 seniors, competed in mock trial for all of her four years as a student at Hillsdale. Although she was a talented competitor and an amazing witness, Lauren brought much more to Hillsdale Mock Trial than her acting skills. Ever since her freshman year, Lauren’s caring heart has earned her the title of “Team Mom.” Whether she was encouraging younger competitors, picking just the right pump-up songs for the van rides, or hunting her teammates down with a lint roller, Lauren always knew how to keep her children in line.

From the traumatized Riley Winter to the grieving Jordan Ryder—both roles for which Lauren won individual awards—Lauren had a knack for playing heartfelt and emotional witnesses. She is also the first HCMT competitor ever to have competed at ORCS in all four years as a competitor.

This fall, Lauren will be attending Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach. We’ll miss you, Lauren, but we’re so excited to hear about your new adventures in the legal field. Congratulations, and good luck!

As we take one more look back at HCMT’s 2019-2020 season, we’d like to take a moment to congratulate our competitors who won program awards. At the end of every year, Hillsdale’s coaches compile scores, awards, and statistics for each competitor in order to determine an Attorney of the Year, a Witness of the Year, and a Rookie of the Year.

This year, captain and rising senior Andrew Shaffer earned the Attorney of the Year award with four outstanding attorney awards over the course of the season, as well as a position as one of HCMT’s A-Team captains at ORCS. Rising senior Connor Daniels earned the Witness of the Year award for his hilarious season-long performance as Rick Mouchard, the charmingly southern owner of Café Du Foret. And the Rookie of the Year award goes to rising sophomore Megan Williams, who earned two outstanding witness awards as a freshman for her performances as medical examiner Dr. Quincy and police detective J. Chesney.

Congratulations to our season award winners! Check back soon for our final Senior Spotlight, an update on next year’s team leaders, and a few surprises as we start our countdown to tryouts and the 2020-2021 season.

Andrew Simpson and Lucas O’Hanian, two of our graduated 2020 seniors, competed in mock trial throughout all four years at Hillsdale. During their years of competition, both contributed immeasurably to HCMT culture, in and out of the courtroom.

Andrew, affectionately known as Simpson by his friends in mock trial, is the only HCMT competitor ever to have captained throughout all four years of competition. Joining mock trial as a freshman attorney in the 2016-2017 season, he became the captain of team 1411 during the competitive season. Over the next three years, he captained three teams that earned ORCS bids in three consecutive years. Aside from his competitive success and powerful courtroom presence, Andrew will be remembered and missed for his natural teaching ability, organized checklists, and legendary pretrial.

Lucas also joined in the 2016-2017 season as a freshman. Throughout his four years of competition, Lucas solidified his role as one of HCMT’s most successful all-time witnesses, earning six total witness awards, including All-Region and All-National awards. As a junior, Lucas won 2019 Witness of the Year with performances as Hunter Cooper, Tony Gomes, and Dr. Willoughby Hawkins. Lucas leaves behind a legacy of contagious enthusiasm and unshakeable love for mock trial.

This next year, both Andrew and Lucas will be teaching high school classes in history and math respectively at Benjamin Franklin Charter School in Gilbert, Arizona. We’ll miss them next year, but we wish them all the best as they apply their public speaking skills to the important work of teaching. Good luck to both of you!

As this school year draws to a close, Hillsdale College Mock Trial is celebrating the successes of its 2019-2020 season. This year the program fielded three teams that placed at seven tournaments across both semesters, including two first place finishes, while HCMT competitors won eighteen separate individual awards throughout the season.

Across two semesters, 1149 placed at three invitational tournaments, including a first place finish in January at the Hoosier Hoedown, hosted by Mock Trial at Indiana University. Meanwhile, 1150 placed at four different tournaments, including a first place trophy at University of Arizona Mock Trial’s Cactus Classic last November, as well as a bid to the Geneva ORCS out of the Indianapolis Regionals. The members of 1151 competed at four tournaments throughout the season, many of them for their first year of mock trial, and earned two individual awards.

As we reflect on the 2019-2020 season in this strange and unprecedented time, we’re reminded of what has united us throughout these past months: desire for excellence, and love for one another. We’re proud of how every HCMT competitor has exemplified those values this season, and we’re looking forward to next year when we can all celebrate together.

Over the last two weekends, all three HCMT teams competed in AMTA Regionals for a bid to the Opening Round Series Championship. Last weekend, 1151 had an incredible showing in Dayton, and one week earlier, 1149 and 1150 competed at the regional tournament in Indianapolis. After a hard-fought weekend, 1150 took 5.5 ballots out of 8 with a combined strength of 19 to earn the fifth direct bid to the Opening Round Series Championship in Geneva. Congratulations to Ethan Tong of 1150 for earning an outstanding witness award with seventeen ranks on the Prosecution, Liesl Ragner, also of 1150, for her outstanding witness award with fifteen ranks on the Defense, as well as Mattis Belloncle for earning an outstanding attorney award with seventeen ranks on the Defense. Special congratulations to Andrew Shaffer of 1149 for winning an outstanding attorney award with eighteen ranks on the Prosecution AND seventeen ranks on the Defense!

Over the next two weeks, we'll be working hard and getting ready to earn HCMT a bid to the National Championship Tournament.

HCMT kicked off the spring season at the Hoosier Hoedown over the weekend of January 25-26, hosted by Indiana University Mock Trial in Bloomington, Indiana. Team 1149, captained by Andrew Shaffer and Sophie Klomparens, won 8 ballots to take first place at the tournament. Congratulations to Megan Williams for her outstanding witness award with eighteen ranks on the Prosecution, and Andrew Shaffer, who earned an outstanding attorney award, also with eighteen ranks on the Defense.

The following weekend, 1151 scrimmaged against 1149 and 1150 to prepare for regionals. As you can probably tell from the pictures, 1151's counsel table had way too much fun. Stay tuned for updates on regional results in the next few days!