Elon University’s Mock Trial program will compete this weekend at the American Mock Trial Association’s Opening Round Championship Tournament hosted by Furman University in Greenville, S.C.
Elon’s team advances to this stage after placing in the top seven teams at the Orlando, FL regional tournament on February 16-17. This competition marks the third year in a row that Elon has advanced to the championship series.
In Greenville, eight Elon students will compete in four rounds of trial simulations against other institutions, including: Duke University, Dartmouth College, Emory University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The top six teams from the Opening Round Championship will advance to AMTA’s National Championship Tournament in mid April.
Two Elon teams competed at the Orlando AMTA regional in February, bringing home many accolades. Elon earned top individual awards in addition to a championship series bid for one team, and a strong showing by the other. Senior Andrew Stevenson won the top Outstanding Attorney award – the only competitor to do so with a perfect score of 20 ranks. Junior Baron Smith also took home the top Outstanding Witness award, the only competitor to win the award with 20 ranks as well. Sophomore Adrienne Greenberg also won an Outstanding Attorney award with a score of 18 ranks.
The team attending the March 15-17 tournament in Greenville is comprised of: Seniors Andrew Stevenson, Saige Subick, Amanda Stearns, and Noah McCarn; Juniors Baron Smith and Tyler Nikola; Sophomore Jenny McRobert; and First-year David Comerford.
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 seven 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, Michael Koeltzow, a 3L student at Elon Law, and Kristen DelForge, a former Elon mock trial member and current 2L at Elon Law.
For more information on Elon Mock Trial, please visit the link on the upper right side of this page.