» Competition Results, Mock Trial » DU Trial Team Advances to National Semifinals
DU Trial Team Advances to National Semifinals
Third-year students, Chris Wilcox and Ashley Opfer, continued with their SCOL Trial Team history-making campaign when they competed at the 2012 National Trial Championships in Austin, Texas, on March 21st through 25th. The National Trial Competition begins each year with 280 teams representing schools from across the U.S. The top ten percent (10%) of the teams (28 teams total) emerge from Regionals and advance to the National Trial Championships. After a multiple-year Nationals drought Nationals, DU broke the seal in 2010 and 2011. This year, both DU squads won at Regionals, putting two DU squads among the top 28 in the nation and advancing the SCOL to Nationals for the third year in a row. Wilcox and Opfer accrued a perfect Regional record of 5-0, without dropping a single ballot.
DU had never previously placed in the Top 12 at Nationals. This year, in Austin, all of that changed. At Nationals, Wilcox and Opfer continued their march. They advanced through the three qualifying National rounds with a perfect 3-0 record, and also through the Quarterfinals (4-0) – only dropping 1 ballot through all of it. It was finally in the Semifinals that Wilcox and Opfer lost in a split-ballot decision to the trial team from Baylor’s law school (a Top 5 Advocacy Program in the U.S.), thus placing DU in the Top 3 schools at Nationals. Congratulations to both Chris and Ashley on a wonderful law school trial advocacy career.
Filed under: Competition Results, Mock Trial