North’s Mock Trial team competed at the state championship against Winsor, but lost their state title at Faneuil Hall, Friday March 24.
The team lost the trial while competing as defense in the case. “Winsor is a team that’s traditionally used to being state champions, except for when we beat them last year,” said senior Grace Choi, a captain.
The trial case focused on a soldier who returned from Afghanistan and shot a rival from high school. As defense, the team had to prove that the soldier was not guilty by reason of insanity through his PTSD and various hallucinations, according to Choi.
Choi explained that the trial is assessed by a group of judges, and the scoring can be subjective. “I think that what might have been our weakness is not being able to read the judges and adapting to respond,” she said. “I personally thought that we had performed better than Winsor overall, but we had aspects that the judges didn’t like about us and liked about Winsor.”
After their state-level win last year, the team proceeded to the national competition, where they placed 31st out of 50 teams.
Choi noted that the demographic of the team was different from last year’s team. “This year was really one of transition,” she said. “We didn’t have a core of veteran members like we did last year, but already, I see so much talent.”
Even with the loss of seniors from last year, the team showed impressive growth, according to junior Ilai Gavish, a captain. “I think we stayed a strong team particularly because of the new members who showed great improvement throughout the season,” he said.
Though the season is over, Choi explained that the team hopes for skill and experience to grow to its full potential and bring them back to the state title next year.