The Virginia Mock Trial Team traveled to Greenville, S.C. April 15 to participate in the 2016 National Mock Trial Championship hosted by Furman University. The team came in second place this year out of 48 teams from colleges all over the country.
This second-place finish was the best finish for the team in almost a decade, according to the team’s website. The University was one of just six colleges this year to have both their A and B teams qualify for and compete in the national championship.
The A team won their division after beating four teams in four rounds, advancing to the Championship Round where they lost to Yale. The B team won two of their four rounds and received an honorable mention.
Fourth-year College student Katie Villany, who won an All-American Award, said the road to the national competition is not an easy one. The process involves several tournaments throughout the year, including invitationals, regionals and Open Round Championship Series, leading to the 48 teams that qualify for nationals.
“To get to nationals, it’s a process … we got a totally new case literally less than a month ago that we had to prepare,” Villany said. “It was definitely a lot of work to get there.”
Preparations for such a tournament require hours of research, practice and scrimmages. The coaching staff includes University Law professors, current Law students who have participated to Mock Trial in the past and alumni who work in the legal field, Villany said.
“One of our very high up assistant coaches is a federal prosecutor,” Villany said. “The rest of our assistant coaches are either alumni who have been in our program or they’re current Law students … so we have a ton of support to come and help.”
Villany said one of the things she was the most excited about after competing at nationals was the talent she saw among the younger students on her team.
“I’m the only person on that team who went against Yale in the final round who will be graduating this year,” Villany said. “Four of the people on the team were first years in our program, two of them were actual first years at the school, so it’s just incredible.”
One of the first-year students Villany mentioned on her team is College student Deniz Tunceli, who also won an All-American Award. Tunceli said he was honored to win this award, which is only given to 10 people in each division of the tournament.
“I was absolutely blown away … I actually had the second highest rank in our division which was absolutely crazy,” Tunceli said. “It was totally surreal. Even just making it to nationals is a big deal, but then to be recognized on that national stage is something else entirely.”
Tunceli said even though he put in hours of practice and preparation, he would not have won this award without the support from his team and coaches.
“It is 100 percent because of my team, because of the way my coaches helped me, because of everyone working together,” Tunceli said. “It’s a complete team effort.”
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