This January, Hamline’s mock trial team traveled to San Francisco to participate in the second annual Stanford University Mock Trial Invitational, receiving fifth place out of twenty competing teams. This was not the team’s first national competition, but it was their first time at the Stanford invitational and they made it count.

Not only did Hamline take fifth, beating out the host school, Stanford, but they also received individual awards given to high-ranking team members. Attorney awards were given to junior Samantha Hoefs, and senior and captain Megan Elkin. Junior Rachel Winter and sophomore Megan Harris also received witness awards. All in all, Hamline received the most individual awards of any team at the invitational. 

The Stanford University Mock Trial Invitational was a two-day event, taking place on Jan. 24 and 25. According to sophomore Brooke Wallington, a returning member of the mock trial team, the structure of this invitational was fairly similar to the others they’ve competed in.  The arrangement of the competition was four, three-hour rounds in each tournament, with two usually taking place each day. While the structuring was similar, Wallington did mention there was a slightly different “style” from the Midwest, which made it interesting to hear the different case decisions.   

Although this was the mock trial team’s first time competing at Stanford, they are no strangers to national competitions. Each December, the team travels to New Haven, Connecticut for the Yale Invitational. This January, they also traveled to the University of Chicago and they regularly participate in competitions in Iowa. 

The mock trial team has participated in a total of three tournaments this January. They are currently waiting to find out if they made it through the Regionals. If so, they will be competing again this spring.