 On July 19-20, Hillsdale sent Jack Spillner, Nikki Donovan, and Jonah Immanuel to compete in the 10th Gladiator 1-on-1 World Championship -- Gladiator X -- in Atlanta. This year the field expanded to 60 of the best high school mock trialers in the country. In the case, United States v. Kid and Way, two defendants, career criminal Addison Kidd and high-profile billionaire Wyatt Way, were charged with theft of a major artwork for allegedly stealing an Ancient Roman antiquity from the High Museum in Atlanta. It was the first case in the competition's history that included two defendants (pointing the finger at each other) in the same trial. Gladiators were asked to prepare two sides as attorneys and play two of three witnesses.
In the end, Hillsdale rising senior Nikki Donovan, competing for the second time, finished 9th in an extraordinarily tough field. Congratulations Nikki! Jack, a rare four-time Gladiator, finished his high school career as the most decorated Hillsdale mock trialer in the last decade. Jack will continue his mock trial career at Cornell in August. And Jonah Immanuel, competing for the first time, gave some truly fantastic performances as an attorney defending both Kidd and Way, and portraying both defendants as witnesses (and sporting a British accent as Wyatt Way). Fantastic job to all three!
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HILLSDALE HAS GREAT TEAM SHOWING AT TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS; TAKES HOME SEVERAL INDIVIDUAL AWARDS6/9/2024   Last weekend Hillsdale took four teams to the 4th Annual Tournament of Champions put on Mock On Academy. The competition featured 40 teams from all over the country, plus Canada and China. The case was based on the 1983 movie Clue and allowed the prosecution to choose between two defendants, Green or White. The charge was murder in the billiard room with poison wine. Colonel Mustard, Professor Plum, Presley Peacock, and Sutton Scarlet provided the testimony as witnesses.
Our A team just missed (by two points) repeating as a finalist, finishing 2nd in their division (of 20). Our B team finished 5th in their division. Our C & D teams did not place, but both finished with winning records. We also took home several individual awards. Senior Abby Bartfeld (heading to UCSB in the fall) won a witness award for her portrayal of Sutton Scarlett. Junior Annie Stump (competing for Hillsdale for the first time) won a witness award, also for portraying Sutton Scarlett. And Nikki Donovan won a top attorney award earning a perfect 20/20 ranks. And thank you to senior Karen Barrios for always keeping us entertained with mock trial memes! We'll miss them next year.  Congratulations to senior Rachel Fekete for trying out and landing a spot on the Berkeley Moot Court Team. After spending four years as a trial attorney this will be her first time doing moot court. Congratulations also to sophomore Jonah Immanuel who will be traveling to Atlanta to compete for the first time in the Gladiator 1-on-1 championship. Good luck Rachel and Jonah!
 On April 26, the San Mateo County Bar hosted it's annual Law Day, a celebration of the 2024 county mock trial season. The celebration featured several guest speakers and awards. Julia Streeter (sophomore) won the award for top pretrial attorney on the defense. Jack Spillner (senior) won top trial attorney on the defense. Abby Bartfeld received a commendation for excellent performance playing the Defendant, Tobie Clark. And Nikki Donovan (junior) also received commendation for excellent performance as a prosecution trial attorney. Congratulations!
 On April 21, two Hillsdale alums, Allison Rulli and Rhea Jain, competed for UCLA at the National Championship in Chicago. Their team, out of more than 600 that started the season, finished 5th in their division and in the top ten in the country. Allison also garnered 25 ranks, was the top defense attorney in her division, and was named an All-American!
Hillsdale also has three students who have been selected to compete in the Gladiator 1-on-1 World Championships in Atlanta on July 19-12. Senior Jack Spillner will be returning for the fourth time, junior Nikki Donovan will be going back for the second year, and senior Somya Singh will be making her first appearance. We just wrapped up our fifth year sponsoring a mock trial program at Abbott Middle School. This year, the Abbott students put on an entire trial after several months of instruction from Hillsdale mock trialers. Several students who participated as 8th graders in the first year of the program just completed their first year of competing in college mock trial. We will also be hosting our fourth year of middle school summer camps this summer. Both weeks are full and we’re looking forward to seeing middle school students from all over the Bay Area (and as young as 6th graders) tackle a complex case and put on a full trial at the end of the week. Many of those who have attended camp are now award-winning competitors for Hillsdale.  On February 15, Hillsdale met the Menlo School - the defending CA state champs - in the final for the San Mateo County Championship. Hillsdale and Menlo tied on ballots (3-3-2), but in one of the closest finals ever, Menlo took the championship in a 0.6 swing on percentages. We are so proud of the performances and the effort of our team. And we want to offer a special thank you to our seniors who left the program in a little better place than where they found it. They'll have another shot at a championship when they compete in the Tournament of Champions on June 1-2. Good luck to Menlo at states.
  On January 6 and 7 Hillsdale and Lynbrook hosted ten teams at the second Bay Area Bash at Hillsdale High School. After four rounds, Trinity Pacific A repeated as champion. Congratulations to Trinity! It was our pleasure to host such fantastic teams (and people) from all over the state. We're looking forward to doing it again next year. Congratulations also to Tam and Lynbrook for finishing second and third, and to all the award winners listed above.
 Hillsdale is happy and proud to report that five Hillsdale members of the 2023 class have made their college mock trial teams!
Cole Baker (barely discernible in top left photo, back row, first on right) is now competing for American University in Washington D.C. Jacob Sarver (top right, back row, first on left) is competing for Brandeis University in Waltham, MA. Pooja Agarwal (left middle photo, center) is competing for Berkeley, where her team of mostly freshman finished third at the Berkeley AAMTI Invitational in November 4-5. Jamie Sloves (right middle photo, bottom row, first on left) is competing for Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT. Rhea Jain (bottom right) is competing for UCLA where she won won a witness award (10/10 ranks) in at the Anteater Invitational in Irvine on November 11-12 (her first competition). Rhea joins Hillsdale alum Allison Rulli ('20) seen hoisting the trophy from UCLA's win at the City Classic Invitational in Atlanta on October 21-22. In other alumni news, former Hillsdale pretrialer Lucas Immanuel ('21) (bottom left) is part of the revival of the Moot Court team at UC Davis. Good luck getting it off the ground! And Noah Gross ('19) has founded the mock trial program at Pitzer University in Claremont, CA. Good luck Noah! So proud of all you!  After a tough and competitive tryout season, and a long deliberation by the coaches, we are happy and excited to welcome our new members! They're already doing fantastic.
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Hillsdale Mock TrialThe Hillsdale Mock Trial team is the competitive mock trial team for Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, CA. Archives
July 2024
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