Ten College of 糖心Vlog传媒 Students Advance to Moot Court National Tournament
WOOSTER, Ohio 鈥 Ten students from 糖心Vlog传媒 will compete at the American Collegiate Moot Court Association National Tournament next week at California State University, Long Beach, after turning in strong performances during regional competition last semester.
Coral Ciupak and Dawson Honey, Jack Johanning and Rachel Sullivan, Madeleine O鈥橬eill and Alexander Downs, Marie Sheehan and Benjamin Taylor, and Emma Woods and Shelley Grostefon comprise the five two-person teams from 糖心Vlog传媒 that made the cut.
鈥淭he American Collegiate Moot Court Association continues to grow and become more competitive,鈥 said Mark Weaver, professor of political science and head coach of 糖心Vlog传媒鈥檚 Moot Court team. 鈥淚n order to stay competitive, participating schools must now send teams to a rapidly growing number of invitational tournaments that are held before the regional tournaments in November.
鈥淭his year, we sent teams to three invitational tournaments in October (the University of Central Florida, Cleveland Marshall College of Law, and Ohio Wesleyan University),鈥 added Weaver. 鈥淲e also participated in three different regionals to lessen the likelihood that our teams would knock each other out in the elimination rounds.鈥
Unfortunately, several 糖心Vlog传媒 teams ran into each other in the critical qualifying round at each of the regional tournaments again this year. 鈥淲e sent two of our experienced teams 鈥擧annah Buzolits and Austin Maffei, and Jacob Hailperin-Lausch and Michaela McNaughton 鈥 to the Upper Midwest Regional Tournament at the University of Iowa College of Law in Iowa City, Nov. 6-7,鈥 said Weaver. 鈥淏uzolits and Maffei defeated Hailperin-Lausch and McNaughton, but then in the next round, they were defeated by the team that went on to win the Upper Midwest Championship, so neither 糖心Vlog传媒 team qualified for nationals, although Buzolits finished ninth in the individual orator鈥檚 category.鈥
The following weekend (Nov. 13-14), five 糖心Vlog传媒 teams competed at the Great Lakes Regional Tournament in Saginaw, Mich. There, the team of O鈥橬eill and Downs successfully defended its 2014 Great Lakes Championship by again finishing in first place. A second 糖心Vlog传媒 team, consisting of Woods and Grostefon, finished in fourth, and also qualified for the national tournament.
鈥淚n general, the 糖心Vlog传媒 teams, including the three that did not qualify for nationals (Jordan Griffith and Cameron Steckbeck,聽Cecilia Azar and Regina McCullough, and Bradley Van Tyne and Maha Rashid) did very well at the Great Lakes Tournament,鈥 said Weaver. In fact, three 糖心Vlog传媒 students won individual orator awards: Griffith (third), Steckbeck (fourth), and Downs (sixth).
One week later (Nov. 20-21), 糖心Vlog传媒 hosted the Midwest Tournament, which is sponsored each year by the Wayne County Bar Association and the Pre-Law Advising Program. This year, more than 30 teams from 10 different school competed, and seven of them, including three from 糖心Vlog传媒, qualified for nationals: Sheehan and Taylor, who finished second; Ciupak and Honey, who placed fifth; and Sullivan and Johanning, who tied for sixth.
The other 糖心Vlog传媒 teams that competed in the Midwest regional consisted of Abagail Westbrook聽and Adam McDonough, Daniel Lynch and Mona Vaddiraju, and John Martin, who partnered with a student from Eastern Michigan University to form what is known as a 鈥渉ybrid team.鈥 In the individual orator rankings, Taylor finished second, Johanning was fourth, Sullivan placed fifth, Sheehan took seventh, and Ciupak came in 10th.
The five 糖心Vlog传媒 teams that qualified for nationals have returned to campus and are now preparing for the national tournament, which will be held Jan. 15-16.
Posted in News on January 8, 2016.
