Four Chapel Hill mock trial students won individual awards while competing in the state championship in Raleigh on March 8–9.
Senior Rachel Broun won the Best Attorney recognition twice in the state competition, and seniors Lillian Rountree and Tommy Walker, as well as with sophomore Milo Vaisey, individually won Best Witness.
The school competed in two teams—Team Black and Team Gold—each composed of six students, alongside a host of other local schools, most notably the Central Carolina homeschoolers, who won both this year’s and last year’s competition.
To prepare for the competition, students worked to familiarize themselves with courtroom procedure in order to give their best possible effort.
“We were all very excited about advancing to states,” senior Katlin Alston, who serves as an attorney and captain for Team Gold, said. “For many of us, it was our first time getting this far in the competition, so there was a lot of nervousness along with our excitement.”
The championship was the third time the group has been to the event in four years.
Broun, Team Black captain, stressed the importance of organization in the weeks leading up to the event. “We’re going to meet frequently and ramp up our objection knowledge,” she said.
The event was held at Campbell Law School in Raleigh, where it has taken place for the past nine years. The Carolina Center for Civic Education hosted the teams for a North Carolina Supreme Court tour the day before the actual competition.
“I feel that the team has improved a lot throughout the course of the season, with a lot of individual growth,” sophomore Team Black member Nina Page said. “We were able to learn courtroom procedure, as well as how to ask questions and object really quickly.”
Team Black qualified for the championship by winning Durham regionals, while Team Gold was selected as a wild-card competitor after placing as a runner-up in Raleigh regionals.
The winners of the state competition, the Central Carolina homeschoolers, will attend the National Mock Trial Championship in Athens, Georgia, on May 16–18.
