March 21, 2012
Earns Spot Among Final 48 Teams For
National Championship
The
St. John’s University Mock Trial Team has earned its place as one
of the final 48 teams out of 656 from across the United States that
will compete for the 2012 Intercollegiate Mock Trial National
Championship April 12-16 in Minneapolis, MN. The spot among
the final 48 was secured by a 4th place finish at the Opening Round
of the national finals held in Washington D.C this past weekend,
March 17-18, where the team won three out of four trials and
compiled a record of 6-2, defeating Boston College, U. Penn and
Temple University. The only loss came against the University
of Virginia who was the eventual first place team.
Only the top 6 teams from the Washington D.C. Opening Round were
invited to the Championship Finals. This trip will mark the
eleventh time in the team’s twenty year history that it has made it
to Championship Finals. Overall, the Mock Trial Team has
earned a bid to the national level 18 times in 20 years.
The Red Storm first competed at the Regional level, as did all of
the other 655 colleges and universities from around the country in
the competition. At the Easton Regional, held at Lafayette
College in Pennsylvania on Feb. 24-26, the team finished 7th out of
26 teams, defeating squads from Cornell, Fordham, U. Penn and
Swarthmore College to finish with a record of 5 -3. The top
eight teams received a bid to move on to the nationals. In
addition to the spot in the top 48, one team member, Ashley Denton
(Soph. SJC), was selected as one of the top ten witnesses.
“The
students on the team were just outstanding. They worked
extremely well together as an effective and cohesive unit, showing
the results of many, many hours of practice and preparation” said
head coach Prof. Bernard Helldorfer (’77 CBA, ’80 L). Profs.
Oscar Holt (‘73C, ’79L) and Kareem Vessup (‘01CPS, ‘04L)are the
other coaches. The St. John’s team consists of undergraduate
students from across the University.
St. John’s now travels to Minneapolis, MN April 12-16 as one
of the final 48 teams to compete for the National
Championship. There will be two divisions of 24 teams and the
two division champions after four rounds of trials will play for
the national championship in a fifth and final round. All
trials are scheduled to be held in the Minnesota state
courthouse.
The competition simulates a real court case, with students playing
the roles of attorneys for both plaintiff and defense, and as
witnesses. Points are awarded based on the students’ individual
performances. The case for this year is a criminal homicide trial
in which a college-age defendant is accused of driving a car with
extreme recklessness and indifference to human life while under the
influence of alcohol, causing the death of a 21 year old female
passenger in a horrific crash.