Tufts' mock trial program won two bids at a regional tournament last weekend that will allow them to compete at a national level. The wins mark the first time in the program's history that more than one team will be heading to a national qualifying tournament.
The group sent two of its four teams to last weekend's Boston Regional Mock Trial Tournament. They placed sixth and seventh among the 20 competing schools.
Bids for the national qualifying tournament were given to the top eight finishers.
"Getting seventh is just as good as getting first, because both [our] teams get to go on to the next round," said sophomore Jonathan Lautin, a co-captain of one of the competing teams.
Boston University hosted the tournament at the Suffolk County Courthouse. Teams from around the New England area competed, according to junior Rebekah Sokol, co-president of the program.
The Boston competition is one of over 20 regional tournaments held nation-wide throughout February. Lautin said that it is "one of the most competitive" of the regional competitions.
Tufts competed nationally for the first time last year when one of its teams received a bid.
Team captains expressed surprise at the success of the program, given the lack of experience among a large portion of the group's members.
"We've really come a long way this year," said co-president James Wright, a senior. "We were really excited that we had a young team, but we didn't think we'd be able to make it with the lack of veteran presence at the time."
Wright attributed the program's recent success to the willingness of younger team members to work hard and learn from upperclassmen. He said the freshmen made up "one of the most talented first-year classes we've ever seen."
Tufts' mock trial program is relatively young compared to other competing universities, according to Wright; it was established five to six years ago. The achievements at last weekend's regional competition, he added, served as a testament to how much the group has improved since the program's inception.
"We're a very young program and, over the past two years, we've really shown that we can be as competitive as some of the older programs," Sokol, who is also the executive photo editor for the Daily, said. "The fact that in such a short period of time we have become prominent on the national sector is really significant."
According to Wright, an initiative to encourage cohesiveness between teams contributed to the recent wins.
"This year, we really made a concerted effort to make sure all the team's captains were working together," he said. In prior years, the program's teams possessed solid leadership but worked as separate units as opposed to as part of a larger group. "We've shifted focus," he said, "and it's really paid dividends."
Last week's two winning Tufts teams will head to Memphis, Tenn. on March 27 to compete in a qualifying tournament for a national mock trial championship. The top six teams in that round will move on to the national championship.
The two teams that did not participate last weekend will compete in another regional tournament at Roger Williams University on Feb. 21 and 22. If either of those teams places in the top eight in that competition, they will receive a bid to compete in a different national qualifier.
The possibility of having three or four Tufts teams contend for a national title shows that the program is making great progress, Lautin said.
"It really seems like we're heading on the right track," he added.
Sokol agreed. "We're kind of in a situation that I hadn't anticipated," she said. "I'm completely flabbergasted that we're even considering this sort of thing."
Both Sokol and Wright had high expectations for the teams competing regionally later this month, predicting that the program might see last weekend's success repeated.
"We tried to distribute the talent on the team as evenly as possible," Wright said. "I think they'll do very well."
