Elon University’s Mock Trial program competes this weekend in a competition where the top six teams advance to the American Mock Trial Association’s National Championship Tournament in mid April.
Hosted by Furman University, nine Elon students will travel to Greenville, S.C., to vie against 23 other teams, including Harvard, Duke, the University of Georgia and the University of Richmond, for the rights to advance to the national stage.
It is the second time in three years that an Elon team has reached the opening round tournament.
Seniors Carolyn Baumgarten, Amelie Busch and Sara Kaplan; junior Michael McFarland; sophomores Parker Tobin and Andrew Stevenson; and freshmen Baron Smith, Kelsey O’Connell and Alex Cuculici comprise the team that will attend the March 25-27 contest.
Junior Michael Gross, sophomore Saige Subick and freshman Meghan White were members of the team that earned a bid to the opening round tournament but will not travel to Greenville.
Elon competed in five invitational tournaments in the fall, including the Carolina Classic held on Elon’s campus, in preparation for a spring schedule that determined which universities would be invited to the opening round tournament.
Each February, more than 600 mock trials teams compete in 24 regional tournaments around the country, with eight teams moving on from each regional to one of eight opening round championships in March. From each opening round championship, six teams will move on to compete in the AMTA National Championship Tournament.
From the more than 600 registered AMTA teams, only 48 reach the National Championship Tournament.
The Elon team is coached by William Warihay ’07, L’10 an adjunct assistant professor at Elon and an associate attorney with Ogletree Deakins in Greensboro. Michael Koeltzow, a 1L student at Elon Law, assists Warihay with coaching responsibilities.
– Information submitted by William Warihay ’07, L’10