After a weekend of hard-work, virtual objections, and show-stopping performances, Rutgers Mock Trial has secured a bid to the Open Round Championship Series (ORCS)! Rutgers celebrates a twelve year tradition of advancing at least one team to ORCS, which marks the second round of the American Mock Trial Association’s annual national tournament structure.
Rutgers’ A-Team and C-Team competed in their virtual Regional Tournaments from February 14th-15th. Rutgers A had an impressive showing, facing teams from Hamline University, Furman University, Dartmouth University, and Texas A&M University. The all-female team secured their bid to ORCS with a record of 6 wins, 2 losses, and a competitive score (CS) of 18.5. A-Team Captain, Zoe Chang, remarked “I’m so proud of my team and all the work they have put into this year, every person brought their A-game and we hope to maintain that same momentum going into ORCS.”
Rutgers A-Team, from top left to bottom right: Aabha Joshi, Zoe Chang, Alice Militaru, Laura Vorbach, Veronica Bido, Sunzida Ahmed, Yosan Siele.
RUMTA’s C-Team finished off the season strong, competing in rounds with University of Pennsylvania, University of Houston, Duquesne University, and Duke University.
C-Team Captain, Michael Brestin, was overjoyed with his team’s performance this season, noting “Proud is an understatement of how I feel. The team did so well this weekend, both individually and together. We competed against teams that really kept us on our toes at regionals, and everyone did amazing at giving it their best. I really look forward to seeing our team continue to grow and advance in the coming seasons.” RUMTA commends C-Team for a stellar competitive performance and extends a special congratulations to Kathryn Lee, one of our first-year competitors, who received an exceptional 19-Rank All-Region Attorney Award!
Rutgers B-Team, from top left to bottom right: Sarah Samdani, Michael Brestin, Coach Caroline Bielak, Kaavya Balamurugan, Michael Abramov, Kiran Kumaranayakam, Adam Ali, Kathryn Lee, Emma Evans.
With last year’s mock trial season getting cut short due to COVID-19 concerns, RUMTA hopes to advance its A-Team to the National Championship Tournament for the second year in a row. With the highly-anticipated case changes approaching and an increasing level of competition to look forward to, every competitor is excited and prepared to vie for the national title.