Exeter Mock Trial Teams Dominate at the Peter Champagne Invitational

Courtesy of @nowyoucmattyg

By EILENA DING, KAYLEE GONG, ANGELA HE, LEVI STOLL, and ANDREW YANG

Exeter’s Mock Trial Association has always been a staple club on campus. From the assortments of awards and national rankings to all of the amazing people on the teams, it is hard not to be awed by the grandeur of such an impactful club. Plus, we’ve all probably had that one friend who can never seem to get dinner with you because of Mock. 

Last weekend, all three of Exeter’s Mock Trial teams—A, B, and C—competed at the annual Peter Champagne Invitational. Out of all of the teams, B team placed first, with C team right behind them in second place. A member of the B team, upper Ethan Benenson, was awarded ‘Best Witness’ and upper Forrest Zeng was awarded runner-up attorney. Senior Emma Sordi, the leader of C team, won ‘Best Attorney,’ lower Minnie Kim, a new member to C team, placed second for witnesses, and the other C team leader, Matt Grossman, finished as the fourth-best witness. 

Starting immediately after tryouts at the beginning of fall term, all three teams worked hard to prepare for the first Mock Trial tournament of the school year.

Grossman described the sheer quantity of work his team faced: “Especially the week before, we were spending a lot of time on Mock Trial. It was ridiculous. We prepared really hard.”

Benenson commented, “Since this tournament was almost a preseason thing for us, we definitely were able to take a lot more risks leading into this tournament.” 

However, not only was this the first Mock Tournament of the year, but it was also the first-ever Mock Tournament for many, especially those on the C Team. 

Prep Annika Nystedt described her initial feelings at the tournament, “I was really nervous, but Emma and Matt really helped us prepare. They made sure when we went in, we were feeling as prepared as we could.”

Senior and B team leader Angelina Gong elaborated, “As a senior I am also thinking about the legacy and next generation of the club, so it’s really amazing to see how much so many of the lowerclassmen have grown.”

Grossman agreed, “It’s very amazing to see the progression of my team members from people that had never done Mock Trial in their life to looking like professional, well-put-together lawyers and witnesses. It’s beautiful.”

When reflecting on the personal impact of being a more experienced member, Benenson remarked, “This [tournament] helped me gain a better understanding of just how Mock Trial works for myself because when you teach something to someone, you understand it better for yourself. I think this tournament has been one where I’ve grown and improved much more than any other one before, just because of the way we worked leading up to it.”

Members of the Mock Trial teams intensely prepared for this tournament and thoroughly enjoyed watching their hard work pay off and seeing their teammates’ abilities highlighted in their rounds. The team members supported one another and had a wonderful experience at the tournament.

To upper and A Team member Tamar Moskovich, “it was a real eye-opening experience. It was very enriching, and it was really great to see the other teams, how amazing everyone does, how strong everyone’s abilities are, and it brought us closer together as a team.” 

Senior and A team leader CJ Smith particularly enjoyed “watching his team shine, especially when under pressure during tough cross examinations and objection battles.” 

However, some Mock Trial competitors also viewed the Peter Champagne Tournament as a way to find gaps in their methods. Smith continued, “I think our team, A Team, could have been better prepared both in terms of material and presentation.” 

Fellow A Team member Lauren Lee proceeded, “Many teams suffered the consequences of sloth and pride, and A team certainly did not have their best showing at the competition. However, the essence of Mock Trial is to take a case that may have logical fallacies and other such issues and turn the contents into a convincing and eloquent case. We will do that at our state-level competitions and triumph over the other teams.” 

Throughout the varying recollections of Peter Champagne, the looming state and national Mock Trial competitions were repeatedly brought up. Last year, Exeter’s A team Mock Trial finished 15th at Nationals, and with States approaching, members are excited to prepare to recreate these results. 

Sordi explained, “With our showing this weekend, I really have the confidence that we have the ability to go to Nats, to work our hardest, and make sure that we can be in Arizona come this spring.”

Prep Theodore Stien, a member of C Team, warned, “I just wanna say that C team is a dark horse for States. We are ready, and we are prepared.”

With a future full of ambition and big goals, the C team voiced their team motto: “Now you ‘C’ us, and now you don’t.” 

 Despite talks of winning and team rivalries, countless members agreed that there are larger aspects to the club.  

With the demanding workload required from members, upper and A team member Zoe Miller emphasized the importance of passion in Mock, stating, “I think one of the most important things about Mock is the love of it because you spend so much time doing it, every single day leading up to competition. And you can’t do that if you don’t love it.”

Gong reflected, “I am really happy that we did well at the tournament, but at the end of the day, I am most proud of the culture we have created on the team. We are really just like one tight-knit family.”

Kim agreed and recalled one of her team leader’s favorite analogy, “Mock Trial is like a team sport. So if you win, we win together. If you lose, we lose together.”

“I think people can sometimes get carried away with the winning aspect. But I think when you do Mock Trial right, it’s because you really love Mock Trial,” said Benenson. “You can’t let your ego and jealousy get mixed into it. Those can be natural emotions to feel for any sort of competitive event, but at the core of everything, we love doing Mock Trial and no matter what happens, that’s the ultimate goal for all of us.”

The Peter Champagne Tournament proved to be a formative and rewarding experience to all three of the Mock Trial teams. From the dedicated weeks of preparation, growth of new members, and leadership of upperclassmen, to the final reflections over placements, the future, and rivalries, Stien summarized it all up into one goal and motivation: “We don’t do Mock for the points, we do it for the Mock.”