WJHS “Golden Girls” Compete at States

By: Alaina H.

On Thursday, March 7th, the West Jefferson “Golden Girls” competed in the first round of the OCLRE Mock Trial State Competition. In order to advance to the second round on March 8th, the team needed to win both of their trials on Thursday. Only eight of the 29 Ohio teams would advance from Thursday.

The “Golden Girls” started the day with lunch at the North Market, a Mock Trial states tradition. The team then headed to the Franklin County Courthouse to await the team pairing announcements and courtroom assignments, which didn’t come until 1:15. The team rushed to domestic relations court to make the first trial at 1:30, but had to hop on another elevator after a sudden courtroom change. After racing the clock to make it to trial, the Golden Girls faced off against Bishop Watterson High School. Both teams fought hard, and the match was too close to call. Alaina Hitzeman received “Best Attorney” and “Best Witness” went to Bishop Watterson portrayal of defendant Quinn Woolf. The Golden Girls later learned that they won the first trial, our scoring Bishop Watterson by a total of 15 points.

Trial two was “power-matched.” This basically means that the competition split into a winner’s and loser’s bracket. Those who won their first trial would face off against other winners, and vice versa. The Golden Girls were paired with Kenston High School, a small but talented team from the Cleveland area. This match was extremely tough to call, with both teams doing an excellent job. The “Best Attorney” award went to Jillian Flowers, and “Best Witness” went to Kenston.

At the end of the day, all of the 29 competing teams gathered to await the results. Only seven teams won both of their trials, so an eighth team had to be drawn from the 15 teams who lost one trial and one another. The Golden Girls were one of those 15 teams, but were not lucky enough to be randomly selected.

Reflecting on the conclusion of the season, Julianna Brunicardi, a junior at West Jefferson High School and an attorney on the mock trial team, said that, “Mock trial made [her] feel confident speaking in front of people, and [she] is so thankful for Marla Farbacher and Mrs. Siddiqi.”