St. Mary's Mock Trial Heads to State

By: Victoria Ouyang

For the first time in mock trial history, the St. Mary's teams competed against their top competitor: each other. The two teams went head-to-head to win both first and second in the Regional Championship, both qualifiying for state competition in March. 

       From St. Mary’s halls to downtown courtrooms, the days from February 13 to February 22 were consumed by the excitement of the Mock Trial Regionals competition. This year, St. Mary’s had two teams competing. Over last week’s four days of competition, the St. Mary’s mock trial teams competed in one trial each night. After the first two nights of competition, the number of teams was narrowed from 21 to 16 and the remaining teams were all placed in a bracket. The winner of each trial advanced to the next round.
      Both of the St. Mary’s teams remained undefeated last week, each earning a spot in the semi-finals on February 21. Team member Gabby Perez (10) says, “Everyone worked so hard, and we gave it our all, which proved to pay off during competition week.”
After two tough trials against Westminster and White Station in the semi-final, both St. Mary’s teams were victorious.  Both also advanced to the district finals where they played their fiercest competition of the season -- each other. Paige Nielsen (11)  says, “While team F won last night, in reality, we are all the winners. We’ve worked together throughout the season, and a victory for one team is a victory for both of us.”  
      The wins in the semi-finals also earned St. Mary’s the rare honor of having two teams from the same school advance to represent Shelby County in the State High School Mock Trial competition in Nashville on March 17-18. Paige went on to say “Last night, we made St. Mary’s history -- sending both teams to state. We achieved our biggest goal!”
Winners from the state competition will represent Tennessee in the National Competition in Hartford, Connecticut in May.