Maryland Mock Trial Team Takes the 26th Annual Yale Invitational
The Maryland Mock Trial team took first place at the 26th Annual Yale Invitational tournament, outscoring a handful of highly competitive higher ed counterparts that include Harvard, Cornell, Princeton, Columbia, Georgetown, the University of Pennsylvania, and more.
The virtual tournament took place on Saturday, November 13 and Sunday, November 14. On Saturday, the team—which consisted of Stephen DeCoste, Lucy Feldmann, Jenifer Fridman, Annabelle Grant, Celia Henein, Ilhaam Lakhani and captains Hamzah Yousuf and Kayleigh Hasson—won both of the ballots as the prosecution against Penn State and both of the ballots again as the defense against George Washington University. On Sunday, the team won one ballot as the defense against Columbia, followed by both ballots against Georgetown University. Their total, tournament-winning score was 7-1.
“We all cheered (apologies to my roommates!) and hugged,” said Hasson, a senior criminology & criminal justice and economics double major, about the moment the team found out it won. “The closing awards ceremony was on Zoom, but we all watched it together in my living room, so at least we were able to be together and congratulate each other.”
In addition to the team’s award, Stephen DeCoste, a sophomore government and politics and history double major, received an outstanding witness award for his roles as a prosecution witness and defense witness.
“Winning an individual award is always great; this activity takes a lot of time and energy and to have it pay off is incredibly rewarding,” said DeCoste. “The team and I spent a lot of time building the character and writing the jokes so the awards really were a team effort!"
Hasson said the team did, indeed, work hard for this win, meeting for at least an hour every day the week leading up to the tournament to run through and memorize materials and receive and respond to assessments from their coaches, Maryland Mock Trial alumni and now practicing attorneys Lauren Gerber and Rahul Srinivas. When Gerber and Srinivas competed at the Yale Invitational, their team took second place.
“That motivated our team to work really hard to outdo them,” said Hasson jokingly. “In all seriousness though, our coaches were very helpful, and we’re so grateful to them, along with the program director Zac Mundy, for taking the time out of their very busy schedules to look over our materials, judge practice trials, and give us feedback.”
After teaching in Prince George’s County through Teach for America, Hasson will be attending Harvard Law School in fall 2024—she applied through the junior deferral program and was accepted this past July. DeCoste plans on working in political consulting after he graduates, with the hopes of one day working in the White House.
“Competing against the strongest teams in the country was a great experience, and winning is a huge deal for our team,” concluded Hasson. “Maryland Mock Trial is very proud to be able to say that we have won the most national championships of any college mock trial program, and this win goes to show that we are still a competitive force.”
To learn more about Maryland Mock Trial, visit marylandmocktrial.com.
Group photo courtesy of Katy Clugg.
Back row left to right: Stephen DeCoste, Hamzah Yousuf, Lucy Feldmann, Annabelle Grant
Front row left to right: Celia Henein, Ilhaam Lakhani, Kayleigh Hasson, Jenifer Fridman
Published on Thu, Nov 18, 2021 - 1:24PM