The Rise of Mock Trial

The Needham High School Mock Trial team has not won a trial since… well, let’s just say no one can remember. Yup, you heard that right. Needham Mock Trial has gone many years without winning. That all changed during the 2020-2021 Mock Trial season. 

For those of you who may not know, Mock Trial is a competition in which students simulate a real trial. Each year, a new case is given to participating schools complete with evidence and affidavits. Teams must prepare both sides of the case (prosecution/plaintiff and defense) for every competition. Essentially, students are given a role, a lawyer or a witness, and act out a trial against another school. In Massachusetts, each team is guaranteed three trials, and the top sixteen teams move on to the sweet-sixteen round. After that, the winning teams continue to move on all the way to the state finals. The state champion goes on to the national competition.

Needham’s rookie-filled team, comprised of Olivia Lynch, Stew Adams, Maia Katsnelson, Donald Texeria, Ellie Yonchak, David Lagoon, Jack Stein, Joshua Herrera, Matt Smalley, Alex Goodale (that’s me!), Amiya Tess, Dana Moochnick, Dylan Levine, and Zachary Weiner, and Kristie Sandler, only had five returning members. Still, they managed to do better than ever. The season started out a little rough with an unfortunate loss against Mansfield (we remain that the judge must have been bribed). Next, the team faced Boston Latin, a challenging, highly ranked opponent. With a combination of great teamwork, countless hours of practice, and raw talent, Needham was able to pull off a victory, the first one in years! Following that amazing win, the team went on to beat Pembroke, sending Needham to the state sweet-sixteen tournament round.

Needham has not made it this far since 2002, nearly 20 years ago. It is safe to say that the team is on a roll. While they ultimately lost to Boston Latin in the sweet-sixteen round, it was still quite an accomplishment given that 60 teams were competing in the state. 

Keep an eye out for Needham’s Mock trial team next year -- only one senior is graduating (shoutout to captain Olivia Lynch), so this fire team will remain largely the same. If you are interested in joining next fall, you can email Ms. Magno at laura_magno@needham.k12.ma.us as the new season approaches!