On the heels of one of its most successful tournament appearances ever, Dartmouth's Mock Trial extended its winning streak as one team captured first place at the Jamaica Regional Tournament held at New York's St. John's University this past weekend.
The performance follows top place finishes by two other teams at the New England Regional Tournament two weeks ago, including a third-place showing that qualified another of the College's four teams for the National Championship Tournament, the nation's most prestigious mock trial competition.
Each year, the American Mock Trial Association sends a case file -- alternating yearly between a criminal and civil case -- to over 200 colleges and universities across the country, with each school permitted to field many as four teams to compete in one of 17 regional tournaments at which the case is debated.
Teams that place highly in the regional competitions qualify for national tournaments held in St. Paul, Minn. and Des Moines, Iowa. Only two teams from a given school may participate in each regional tournament.
With the first-place finish of one of the College's four teams this weekend, this year marks the first that Mock Trial will be sending two teams to compete in the National Championship Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, according to Vice President of Organization Daniel Preysman '04.
At the New England Regional Tournament, held at Connecticut's Manchester Community College two weeks ago, one Dartmouth squad won six of eight possible ballots given by trial judges over the course of four rounds, with several students including Preysman and Ali Amrhein '06 earning individual awards. Losing only to eventual champions Holy Cross, the team finished third out of a field of 26 teams.
The second of the two participating Dartmouth teams finished in 10th place, coming within a hair's breadth of qualifying for the National Tournament in St. Paul, Minn.
Over this past weekend, Dartmouth sent its remaining two teams to compete alongside 20 others at New York's St. John's University, with one College squad going undefeated en route to an unprecedented first place finish, Preysman said.
The win, which marks the first time a Dartmouth team has captured the first place at a regional tournament, saw the College defeat teams from Fordham and Columbia universities, among others. Individual performances were also notable, with Victoria Corder '05 earning recognition as the tournament's best attorney.
In comparison to the intensive preparation for regional tournaments, Preysman said the training regimen for nationals this April will be "somewhat less formal."
"What we did for regionals will carry over," he said. "The focus will be on maintaining of lot of the parts that we've come up with so far."
Complicating the picture, however, will be the absence of several team members who will be off-campus next term, though Preysman remained confident that Dartmouth will continue to ride its wave of success at the National Championship Tournament.
"We have a lot of talented people in the program and many of the vacant spots will be filled well by other members," he said. "We hope to make a competitive showing and at least place one team in the top 10."
