The Warhawk mock trial team prevailed in their recent trip to Minnesota, winning the University of Minnesota’s Nordic Mock Trial Battle.
The mock trial team faced off against local Minnesota colleges, Macalester College, University of Saint Thomas, Carleton College as well as the University of Missouri.
ULM’s gold team took the journey to Minnesota, upsetting undefeated Carleton College with a split decision to finish in first place.
Shelby Joyner, a junior political science major, said that was a major confidence booster for herself and the team as a whole.
“It was honestly such a rush. Going that far north, being the underdogs and the team no one had honestly ever heard of, and showing them that we can show up with the best teams was so awesome,” Joyner said.
“Also, for me, personally, it was great to see that all our hard work,” Joyner added.
Joyner credits practice as the main catalyst for the team’s success.
“Practice practice practice! When we go in there knowing that we are as prepared as we can be its key for us. Practicing all of our stuff to where it just comes second nature causes us to focus on little things to improve for finesse rather than trying to fix big gaps,” Joyner said.
Joyner though credits Jorden Johnson and Isiah Chavis as catalysts for the team’s overall confidence.
Joyner also has a secret weapon of sorts.
“The whole idea of fake it till you make it, we go into it with the mindset of, if we’re confident and believe in ourselves, our whole performance and rounds will be confident and sound,” Joyner said.
For sophomore political science major Cameron Ott, a lot of the success is about the people on the team.
“We have a good mix of returners that push the teams forward with their experience and new members that bring their own different perspectives and strengths to the table,” Ott said.
Even ULM alumnus are taking notice. Take alumnus and current Mississippi College School of Law Student, Erin McManus, for example. She sees the tradition of mock trial continuing and thriving.
“I was on the team for three years. It looks like that tradition is continuing, and it makes me so happy to see that the talent that is on the team has remained consistent, and that they’re being recognized by other teams as being a threat,” McManus said.
She kept it simple with expectations for the team going forward.
“They can only go up from here,” McManus said.
The mock trial team will wrap up its fall events next weekend as they will travel to Murfreesboro, Tennessee.