Photo courtesy of Evan Frye
The mock trial team completed a successful season recently with a win over Altoonna.
A $25,000 historical necklace stolen from a time capsule… Connie is arrested, claiming he was set up to steal the necklace by a former friend, Robin.
Someone has to pay.
It sounds like the plot to a Netflix mystery, but it’s actually the case for this year’s Mock Trial.
Mock trial is a competition team where students present a case to the Pennsylvania Bar Associates against schools from all around. It’s a competitive but highly structured form of debate.
Recently, B-A’s Mock Trial team won it final meet of the season, downing Altoona’s top competitive group at the Blair County Courthouse.
Abbygail Laird was voted best lawyer while Derek Stivers was voted best witness.
“It feels awesome to be voted best lawyer. All us lawyers worked really hard to prepare the best presentation, so being chosen shows just how all my work paid off. The other lawyers also did amazing and it was a pretty tough vote,” Laird says.
Laird has been in mock trial for 3 years. She plans to be a lawyer after school, and mock trial has helped her make the decision that she wants to be a lawyer.
Stivers has been in mock trial since freshman year, but started competing sophomore year.
“It feels great that the work I’ve put into this has paid off. I was best witness in every meet I participated in! My character this year was a bit less interesting than last year, so I’m glad I was still given the award,” Derek said.
Both Larid and Stivers were excited that they beat Altoona’s A team. Larid says that it feels “very rewarding to beat Altoona.”
Another senior on the team, Lilly Hardman, says “This win means a great deal to the team because we defeated an incredibly talented group.” She also says, “I feel very proud of the underclassmen who stepped up to the plate… especially Kirk Keen.”
Keen was one of the group’s lawyers. Other team members include Trinity Maines, Emily Zacker, Noah Gulvas, Noah Cokrlic, Karlie Estright, Julie Kraft, Nike Osterhout, Dennis Brown, Anthony DeArmitt, Kirk Keen, Gabe Simpson, and Aiden DelMastro.
Against Altoona, the team presented the case from the side of the defense.
“I am proud of the team. They have shown growth since last year and pulled of a nearly perfect presentation of their case against Altoona,” said Mr. Gary Rhone, the team’s advisor. “To beat Altoona A team, you have got to be good, and we were that night. Many hours of work went into that victory. It’s a trial that will be remembered for a long time and something to live up to in the future.”
Mr. Rhone is aided by co-advisor Mr. Evan Frye. Their legal advisor is attorney Suzanne Bigelow Cherry.
The team had dropped its first match of the season against Central.
Congratulations to the mock trial team.