By: Siena Jeakle ’15

The Seattle Prep Mock Trial team has finally done it. On Saturday, May 10, this year’s varsity SPMT team prevailed against South Carolina at the Mock Trial competition in Madison, Wisconsin, making them the 2014 National Champions. Lit Study was delayed upon their return on May 12th for a surprise assembly for the new champions.

Since the founding of the Seattle Prep Mock Trial team 17 years ago by Mr. McCarthy and Ms. Freeman, the program has grown stronger every year, taking State numerous times over the last ten years. Out of the 3,000 Mock Trial teams in the United States, only 46 move on to the national competition, and though the team has gotten close to National victory many times, it wasn’t until this year that they finally received the well-deserved award. So what was different this year? According to Casey Schmidt ’14, champion witness, senior Mock Trial award winner, and beloved SPMT member, it was all about the team. The members of this particular team, Casey claims, “were able to come together and combine their talents in perfect harmony.” The overpowering sense of camaraderie and emphasis on teamwork is obvious when one looks at the team. When asked how she felt about the win, varsity lawyer Caroline Genster said, “I’m really excited. I love everyone on my team so much.”

There’s more though, as a beaming Mr. McCarthy informed the school at the assembly. He spoke to the school about the three “superheroes of Mock Trial” who contributed to the triumph, first thanking Sisyphus and Russell Wilson for their inspiration because “the boulder went over the hill” this year since “the separation is in the preparation.” Lastly, Mr. McCarthy thanked St. Ignatius, because it was ultimately the Jesuit teachings of Seattle Prep that really set the team up for success. As he explained to the school, “anyone can talk. Listening, thinking clearly, and likability is what wins rounds.” In Collegio, Seattle Prep students are taught to put themselves in others’ shoes and to think critically, extremely valuable traits in the courtroom. In addition, students are talented at the art of “likability,” which McCarthy explains as “the ability to convey that you are a good person with good values who respects the opponent, the process, and yourself.” Because of the Jesuit values of Seattle Prep, students are naturally talented at this skill, and Mock Trial members have mastered the art.

Mr. McCarthy is confident that if St. Ignatius were on the team, he would certainly be a prosecution closer, because he too bears the burden of changing the status quo. The Mock Trial team is a great pride to the school, and a beautiful representation of the Seattle Prep identity and Jesuit values. Winning the national Mock Trial competition, a test of cognitive ability and intellectual stamina that promotes justice, is a huge success for Prep’s mission. A win for Mock Trial is a win for the entire school.