For the first time in over a decade, ASU Mock Trial is returning to the collegiate mock trial national championship. The Sun Devils will have not one, but two shots at the biggest prize in collegiate mock trial after qualifying two teams.
"The goal is a national championship," said ASU Mock Trial President Linus Ros, a senior studying business and economics. "There really hasn't been a moment this year where we felt we faced a team that was better than us."
Qualification came down to the wire, with the Sun Devil "A" team receiving the last bid to the national championship as an honorable mention following a five-team tie-breaker. The "B" team placed higher, securing their bid before the "A" team.
Each team is made up of eight or nine competing members, a couple of coaches and non-competing members who are prepared to step in should one of the competing members be unable to participate. Lola Deibert, a senior studying interdisciplinary studies, is a member of the "A" team.
"My first year I was a non-compete and I watched us get really close by half a ballot and see all the seniors be so distraught," Deibert said. "Then last year, I was on the team that was competing for it and we were so close again. So this year having both teams get one out of the field that we were in, I think everyone had a heart attack."
To qualify, both teams competed in a series of tournaments, beginning with regionals before advancing to the Opening Round Championship Series and culminating in the American Mock Trial Association National Championship Tournament.
"The difference between sending one and two is the more chances you get to really excel and get to the final round," Deibert said. "Secondly, it definitely opens up a lot more doors for our program because we get invited to more tournaments, our ranking goes up."
After arguing the same case, which the teams received in August in the previous 10 tournaments, all teams participating in nationals will argue a new case at the competition. Natasha Kiriluk, a junior studying political science, is on the "A" team.
"It's a brand new case, so we have to basically relearn and write everything. We only have two and a half weeks to do it so it's a lot of cramming and, for the most part, meeting with people going every day," Kiriluk said.
Nationals will take place April 4-6 in Cleveland with the ASU teams on opposite sides of the competition and only able to directly compete against each other if they meet in the finals.
"You're coming in and you're like 'Oh, you know, Arizona State University.' I think people tend to think a certain type of way about that," Kiriluk said. "Nobody expects ASU to beat Stanford, but we do sometimes, so it's an interesting dynamic."
In the days immediately following ASU's qualification, the teams raised roughly $15,000 through a GoFundMe thanks to contributions from Mock Trial alumni and community members. The Sun Devils will face teams from renowned universities across the country.
"For our program, (it's) a really important moment because it's been 11 years since a team from ASU has gone to nationals, and so we really felt the support of everyone who has come before us, and all the people who didn't make it," Kiriluk said. "It almost feels like we're doing this for them as well."
Edited by Senna James, Sophia Ramirez and Natalia Jarrett.
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Audrey is a sophomore studying journalism and mass communication with a minor in Spanish. This is her first semester with The State Press. She has also worked at Blaze Radio.
