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RE: YMCA Mock Trial Championships FROM: Wendy K. Ferrell
(206) 940-4758
2006 State High School Mock Trial Champion:
Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences
OLYMPIA, March 26, 2006—Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences took top honors this Sunday as the 2006 champion of the statewide YMCA Youth and Government Mock Trial Program Competition. The team is now eligible to compete for the national title this May in Oklahoma City.
Washington Supreme Court Justice Susan J. Owens presided over the championship trial, in which Franklin High School and Seattle Academy competed in a complex case of death, meth and a question of over-zealous or on-target investigators this weekend in Olympia at the Thurston County Courthouse. The Best Witness Award went to Laura Zulliger of Seattle Academy and the Best Attorney Award went to Gordon Greaves of Franklin High School.
Hundreds of high school students represented 20 high school teams from around the state against each other in the fictitious murder trial in which a bright, college-bound student is put on trial for “controlled substances homicide” for allegedly furnishing methamphetamine to a friend who later died in a house fire. The case was written by Assistant United States Attorney Mike Lang, and edited by King County Superior Court Judge William Downing, who serves as the state Mock Trial Program Chair.
Students engaged in four rounds of competition, serving alternately as prosecution and defense in the mock trials, before the top two teams competed for the championship on Sunday at 11:30 a.m.
Top ten finalists of the competition are as follows:
1. Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences
2. Franklin High School
3. University Prep (Blue team)
4. University Prep (Green team)
5. Seattle Prep (Blue team)
6. Kennewick High School
7. Port Townsend High School
8. Hudson’s Bay High School
9. Fort Vancouver
10. Southridge High School
For the weekend competitions, the Best Overall Witness Award went to Bekah Helsel of River Academy and the Best Overall Attorney Award went to Collin Mertens of Southridge High School.
More than 30 judges and 120 attorneys statewide volunteered their time in the three-day event. The YMCA Mock Trial competition is in its 19th year, allowing students to participate in true-to-life courtroom drama before real judges in real courtrooms, gaining an understanding of the law and the role of the judiciary.
Contacts: Janelle D. Nesbit, YMCA Youth and Government Executive Director at 253-370-1757; Jenny Zovoutsky, Seattle Academy Coach 206-276-1057; or Judge William Downing, Mock Trial Program Chair at 206-296-9362.
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