Northwood University’s mock trial team concluded a stellar season this past weekend at the National Championship Tournament in St. Paul, Minnesota. Less than seven percent of the 713 mock trial teams nationwide earn a bid to the tournament.Northwood defeated teams from Stanford University and Northwestern University, but narrowly lost to the University of Rochester and Lafayette College.
“The success of our team this year was truly a result of hours of dedicated analysis of the case, argumentation, critical thinking, assessing feedback, and practice with teammates and others,” said DeLois Leapheart, Northwood law professor and director of mock trial. “I am excited about our results, and even more optimistic about the future of our young team.”
Students competing at the NCT included:
Richard Ascherl, a freshman from Hartland, Michigan
Nick Freeman, a junior from Shelby Township
Christopher Grant, a junior from Tampa, Florida
Simeon Lawrence, a sophomore from Elyria, Ohio
Parker Lukenbill, a sophomore from Fenton
Zach Messner, a junior from Hartland
Kristopher Murphy, a sophomore from Grand Rapids
Alexis Rabidue, a sophomore from West Bloomfield Township
Jacob Walters, a freshman from Mount Pleasant, and
Karli Zubek, a sophomore from Tawas City
Grant was recognized individually as both defense attorney and prosecutor, netting him a total point value that earned him honors as the top All-American Attorney at the National Championship Tournament. On the witness side, Zach Messner earned an All-American Witness Award for his portrayal of FBI Agent Kelly James.
In addition to the competition team, five “champions-in-training” also assisted the team, including: Belleville, Michigan, native Nick Andres, Hamilton native Steven Redder, Hemlock native Alexis Thornton, Ashton Brooks and Joshua Weckesser, both from Midland.
The team was financially supported by the Dow Chemical Company.
