News > April 3, 2008

By Jenn Kimbal | Asst. news editor

The university’s mock trial team will take its third consecutive trip to the national competition in Minneapolis, Minn., this weekend. The team has been preparing for this final tournament since August and is ready to face the challenges that await them.

“I expect us to do better than we have done in previous years at nationals,” Don Donelson, a third year law student and coach of the university’s mock trial team, said.

“This is the first year that we can do really well at the championship.”

The university’s mock trial team received a bid to nationals at the regional competition, which took place Feb. 14-16 in Orlando.

Out of over 500 teams, the university’s was one of only five teams to have a perfect 8-0 record at the tournament.

Since receiving their bid to nationals, the team has worked several hours a day to prepare for the coming tournament.

“We have been working six to seven days a week for the past three weeks,” Donelson said. Teams are given one case to work on for the entire season.

The seven-person team is divided into attorneys and witnesses.

Much of the case is prepared speeches, but some of it involves impromptu speaking.

A typical tournament consists of eight rounds, four rounds as the prosecution and four rounds as the defense in a fictional court hearing.

This year’s national tournament will be held at Hennepin County Government Center.

“There’s never enough time to make it perfect,” Donelson said, referring to the case. “But we’re trying to make it as close to perfect as possible.”

The university’s team recently had a scrimmage with Furman University, the frontrunner for the national title.

Despite losing to Furman on a 3-2 vote, Donelson notes how far the team has come.

“If this had been three years ago, Furman would have crushed us,” Donelson said.

“We’ve come a long way.”

Colin Crawford, a junior on the mock trial team, shares the team’s strategy for a win this weekend. “Throughout the year, we’ve been at our best when we face top competition. We’re arriving a day early to scrimmage some of the heavy favorites and gauge how other teams react to our case,” Crawford said.

“This tournament consists of the premier mock trial programs in the country and I expect our team to compete even more fiercely as the tournament progresses.”

Genevieve Markey, a third year law student and coach of the mock trial team, looks forward to this weekend’s competition.

“I get so excited about seeing these guys succeed,” Markey said.

Juniors Tara Tedrow and Drew Grindrond have received several accolades for their roles as trial attorneys, including recognition at The Revolution, a tournament that was held at Arizona State University in December.

The university placed first at this tournament and several others throughout the season.

In only its third year of existence, the university’s mock trial team has accomplished many things.

“The team did well right from the beginning,” Donelson said.

“We made it to the (national) championship all three years, which is fairly unheard of for such a young team.”

Donelson, who participated in mock trial as an undergraduate at the University of Miami, wanted to bring this activity to the university.

Through Facebook advertisements, fliers and word of mouth the team has seen tremendous growth since its inception.

“We are looking for someone who is a good public speaker, self-confident, a good actor and a quick thinker,” Donelson said.

“We’ve put in an enormous amount of effort getting ready for this weekend, so I suppose we’ll just try to settle into a groove and do what we’ve been doing all along,” Crawford said.