Mock trial team takes first, second at home scrimmage

Kylie Gilstrap

The judges ruled in favor of Washburn University’s mock trial teams at the scrimmage on Saturday, Nov. 4, hosted in the Washburn Law School. Washburn had two teams competing and came out with both first and second place. Creighton University, Avila University and the University of Missouri-Kansas City also competed, each entering two teams. This year’s mock trial team has 20 participants – 10 novices and 10 veterans.

The Washburn team that took first place consisted of Krystal Baer, Dave Thoman, Lynn Begovac, Kimberly Caw, Stanislav Cherepenchuk, Leann Hirschfeld, Britain Stites, Jenna Seematter and Christi Somers.

“It was a great experience for my first tournament and I’m excited about the next round of competition,” said Thoman, junior political science major. “The veterans of the squad showed the rest of us the ropes this year, and you could tell by our performance in the rounds.”

The second place team members were ­­­Blake Reinhart, Josh Maples, Whitney Philippi, Krystle Thompson, Tabitha Rempe, Robert Smith, Mike Kerls, Jonathan Bozarth, Robert Bauer and Chris Stemler.

“I was particularly pleased with the novices and their performance,” said Sarah Ubel, assistant professor of communications and mock trial coach. “I think they did an exceptional job for their first competition. I think that the scrimmage was an excellent experience for the teams and it should be indicative of things to come.”

Each mock trial team competed in two rounds – one where the members represent the defense and the other where they represent the plaintiff.

“The first round was entertaining,” said Reinhart, senior political science major. “We could definitely use some improvements, but I was especially proud of our novices.”

The case for this season is a civil lawsuit filed against the Polk County Police Department by Max Jeffries’ parents. A police officer who may have been suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder shot Max, putting him in a coma.

“I thought that the scrimmage was very helpful,” said Thompson, freshman business major. “I had a lot of fun acting as a witness and look forward to improving as a team.”