For the first time in nearly a decade, Drake University’s Mock Trial A Team earned a place on the national stage. Meanwhile, the B Team’s qualification for the Opening Round Championship Series marks a successful return after 14 years.
The American Association for Justice Student Trial Advocacy Competition is a national event involving trials based on fictional scenarios. Participants perform various trial tasks, such as opening and closing statements, direct and cross-examinations and acting as witnesses.
Drake Mock Trial consists of three teams: A Team, B Team and C Team. A Team qualified for nationals in Chicago last spring, where they competed April 12-14 for the first time in nine years. The B Team qualified for ORCS on Feb. 23 at Illinois State University for the first time in 14 years.
“This is super exciting because this is the first time Drake has had two teams qualify in such a long time!” Vice President and A Team Co-Captain Grace Brinker said in an email. “I think it really speaks to how hard the senior class has worked over the last four years to help get our program to where it is today. We have incredible seniors on both our A and B Teams and of course our underclassmen on those teams are fantastic as well!”
According to senior and B Team Captain Anna Thompson, the B Team performed moderately well in the first two rounds of the regional competition but didn’t think they had a strong chance of advancing to ORCS. As a result, the team decided to enjoy the last two rounds without stressing about the outcome.
“I was walking into it as though these were my last rounds of mock trial ever, my last time giving a speech, my last time getting to be a witness, and then we went to the award ceremony, ready to finish everything off,” Thompson said. “They went through all of the five other teams who were able to continue on, and we were the last team called, and immediately, the second they called our team, we started flipping out. It was incredible.”
Rowan Sanders, a first-year member of the B Team, attributes the team’s success to the dedication and structure provided by experienced members.
“Most of our team in the whole program is older, so we have a lot of seniors on our team who are pretty skilled and experienced, as well as some former A Team members on our team,” Sanders said. “I think it really helped, just to have a lot of structure and help get us there.”
Mock Trial has a pre-stack season from August to December where returning members are split across teams to teach new members. In late November or early December, teams are then stacked into A, B and C Teams based on performance, experience and time commitment.
Brinker said the teams are designed so that people can move up within the organization. By committing time to practice and being willing to learn and progress gradually, members can work their way up through dedication and skill development.
Brinker addressed that funding for the program has been a barrier, especially when compared to some of the highest-level teams from other universities and their budgets. She noted that the program received more funding this year, which has helped improve resources.
Mock Trial received just under $10,000 in University funding this school year and fundraised around $5,000-7,000. Most of these funds go towards their travel expenses. Each tournament has a registration fee of about $250-400 per team, along with hotel and gas expenses.
In the fall, Mock Trial typically attends two to three tournaments, usually with two teams at each. In the spring, they compete in a January tournament —this year the A Team attended two in January — regionals and ORCS and nationals for those who qualify. Hotel costs tend to accumulate quickly.
“In general, we both get funding from the University but also around one-third of our funding comes from hosting competitions on campus,” Thompson said in an email. “That’s the job of our Tournament Director — shoutout to Gracie Joblinske who’s also on our team for running all of our competitions. It’s a pretty expensive activity but we do a pretty good job of working with the University along with fundraising to get the job done.”
The ORCS competitions are hosted nationwide, with A Team at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and B Team in Geneva, Illinois. The B Team competed in ORCS on March 7-9, and although the team did well according to B Team member Makenna Hovey, they did not advance to nationals. A Team hopes to create a nationals-qualifying streak at ORCS March 14-16.
