aerial view of Western's campus at night, with golden lights surrounded by dark trees

Western mock trial team shows out at UW event

Western's mock trial team poses at the recent Seattle Regionals event at UW Law School.

In late February, Western’s first competitive mock trial team took big wins at Seattle Regionals hosted at The University of Washington’s Law School. The competition, hosted by the American Mock Trial Association, involved four three-hour long trials, over two days of competition. Western’s student-run team was established just earlier this year, aided by the guidance of Western Associate Professor of Psychology Jennifer Devenport.

Throughout the course of the competition, Western won three ballots, and gained 10 Best Attorney nominations, and 9 Best Witness nominations. The competition was judged by real attorneys, judges, and litigators coming from all over Washington, who would rank the top four best attorneys and witnesses of each trial. Western competed against some of the top teams in the country, matching up with the likes of U.C Berkeley, Gonzaga, and Ewha Women’s University. The team was composed entirely of first-year students, and was started by Western track athlete Cameron Trichel.

Attorney-playing Sabrina Neal was nominated to be the best attorney in every trial she competed in, boasting the only perfect attorney score in the entire regional competition, and winning her the best attorney award. In doing so, she beat out over 150 students from all over the Pacific Northwest. Students Liam Peterson, Bridget Keough, Cameron Trichel, and Mae Ferrari also received nominations for best attorney. The team also had witnesses display impressive acting skills, gaining nominations in that category for Bridget Keough, Sabrina Neal, Parker Williams, and Lucas Barrieau-Gonzales. 

Keep an eye out for upcoming fundraiser opportunities this spring to help these students compete more frequently! The team has already begun planning for next year’s season and encourages all Vikings interested in law, political science, or theatre to join next year and attend their information session April 10 in Academic West, Room 412. 

For questions email the team at mocktrialwwu@gmail.com, and for more updates, follow @wwumocktrial on Instagram!