Mock Trial names team, including nine first-year students

The Ohio University Mock Trial Team selected 20 students, including nine first-year students, for two teams for the 2022-23 academic year.

Both teams will compete in their first invitational tournament at the Scarlet and Gray Invitational Tournament hosted by Ohio State University on Oct. 29-30.

Tryouts for the team occurred in early September. Students were required to write and memorize a prepared speech, deliver an extemporaneous speech, and answer direct examination questions about a previously provided witness statement.

“This year, 34 students signed up to vie for only 20 on the team. We were thrilled with the talent we saw, and selecting the 20 competitors was very difficult,” said Larry Hayman, Esq., assistant director and pre-law advisor at the Center for Law, Justice and Culture in the College of Arts and Sciences and coach of the team. “We are looking forward to a more normal return to a competition season this year that will take the team to courthouses and universities across the Midwest.”

This is the eighth year for the Ohio University Mock Trial Team, a selective experiential learning competition affiliated with the Center for Law Justice and Culture. The team competes in the American Mock Trial Association with more than 700 other teams representing around 350 colleges and universities across the country.

Mock Trial is a fully simulated courtroom experience, in which students are taught to think and act as trial attorneys and witnesses for both the defense and plaintiff sides, performing cross and direct examinations, opening and closing statements, and introducing evidence.

The 2022-23 OHIO Mock Trial team is:

• Leighton Heiner, a sophomore studying philosophy
• Casey Patterson, a junior studying political science pre-law
• Mary Harte, a sophomore studying psychology
• Ethan Barlett, a first-year studying political science pre-law
• Zach Donaldson, a sophomore studying political science
• Elena Baker, a sophomore studying sociology-criminology
• Karmen Kirker, a first-year studying integrated language arts
• Sydney Gross, a first-year studying forensic chemistry
• Emily Green, a first-year studying sociology pre-law
• Hannah Louck, a junior studying history pre-law and sociology pre-law
• Ava Poling, a first-year who is currently undecided
• Tyler Ottersbach, a first-year studying political science and animation
• Robertson Walker, a first-year studying political science
• Julia Cooper, a first-year studying sociology pre-law
• Megan Taylor, a junior studying history pre-law
• Nick Bohuslawsky, a senior studying political science pre-law
• Lincoln Schaaf, a senior studying political science pre-law
• Taylor Schneider, a sophomore studying communications
• Riley Sargent, a sophomore studying political science
• Ayden McDougle, a first-year studying political science pre-law

The team will compete in several scrimmages and invitational tournaments over the coming months before mock trial alumni, law students, and attorneys to prepare for the first regional tournament in February 2023.

“I am hoping to build off the momentum from last year. Though we did not advance past regionals, we saw a consistent and steady improvement into a very competitive team, and I want to see the team follow that same trajectory this year,” said Mock Trial Vice President Lincoln Schaaf.