Order in the court . . .

January 5 and 6, Beaver Area’s Mock Trial team took the stand at the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning to compete against teams from around the state.

Beaver’s Mock Trial team is split into two groups: Beaver 1–coached by Mrs. Laura O’Rorke—and Beaver 2–coached by Mr. Gregory Inge. Beaver 1 is comprised of the more experienced members, with Beaver 2 being composed of newer students to the high school program.

Each group has a prosecution and defense team, both of which competed over the weekend, competing in eight rounds (two per team).

Beaver 1’s prosecution team reigned supreme, winning both rounds against Wilmington and Allderdice. However, the defense team came up short, losing both rounds to Spring Grove and Butler.

Beaver 2 tragically lost all four rounds, with the defense losing to Trinity’s A team and Allderdice, and the prosecution losing to Trinity’s B team and Quigley Catholic’s B team.

However, through the losses, there was a positive outlook on the performance of the new students who joined this year.

Junior Elisabeth Sewall—one of the more experienced members of Mock Trial—was pleased with the less-experienced Beaver 2’s performance over the weekend.

“I’m beyond proud on how far Beaver 2 has come, and what makes them so special is that they seem to have this unique bond—friendship-wise—which I honestly think will help them go further, not only as individuals, but as a team,” Sewall remarked.

This was freshman Ian Livingston’s first time participating at the trials in Pittsburgh. He enunciated his ironic enjoyment of the experience, stating, “Mock trial is certainly not like anything I’ve tried before. I like it, and . . . that’s a lot coming from me, [since] I hate acting in front of audiences.”

Sophomore Jonathan Bickerton added to Sewall’s statements, with the trials being “A great learning experience for all of the students who have not been to Pitt or county trials yet.”

County trials are when the Mock Trial team competes against other teams in the county, set with real judges, and the jury being composed of lawyers from the county.

“Pitt is like a scrimmage in relations to sports, and county is the [real] game,” Sewall commented with a tinge of fear.

Lucky for Elisabeth, county trials don’t begin until January 22.