The UNH Mock Trial Team came away from the Opening Round Memphis National Mock Trial Tournament with two individual awards and plenty of bragging rights.
"This is the first time any UNH mock trail team has actually qualified out of regionals," said senior and team captain Diana Chiang.
The team finished 3-3-2, for an overall 11th place of the 24 teams competing at the tournament. The team split rounds with Tufts University, Rhodes College, Boston College and Bellarmine University.
Senior Jocelyn Bissonnette earned a perfect 20 ranks for her portrayal of death investigator Michelle "Micky" McQuiggan, earning the Top Witness Award of the 288 witness portrayals in the three-day tournament.
One commenting judge said in his nine years of judging National Tournament rounds, Bissonnette's performance, under senior Randy Lawrence-Hurt's direct examination, was the single best direct he'd seen. Another judge said that she "must" be persuaded to go to law school.
"It was an honor to be part of a program that allowed me to work with such hard working people and it was just an honor for the entire program to be recognized in that way," said Bissonnette. "I don't see it as an individual award. I just see it as a reflection of the program."
Lawrence-Hurt earned 18 ranks as an attorney, winning an Outstanding Attorney Award. Out of the 288 student attorneys taking part in the tournament, Randy was in the top 10. One of the scoring judges said Randy's cross-examination of a witness was "a textbook example."
Sweetening the victory was the fact most of the team was comprised of rookies.
"Most of our team was brand new so a lot of people who've never done this before became really good at it, quickly," said junior Molly Sullivan.
Chiang agreed.
"It was basically all new Mock Trialers and we took them to nationals," she said. "And that just doesn't happen."
The host team, Rhodes College, is going on to the Gold round with a 7-1 record, losing only to UNH. In one round the UNH attorneys' opening and closing statements were scored perfect 10s on both scoring judges' ballots.
Professor Charles Putnam, the team's coach, was "especially proud of the good sportsmanship and team spirit these students displayed throughout the competitive process."
The Mock Trial team was able to reach the Nationals Tournament thanks to their strong performance at the Regional Tournament, on Feb. 6 through Feb. 8. Both UNH teams competed, finishing in fifth and 11th place, respectively. At that tournament, Bissonnette won her first award, taking an Outstanding Attorney award with 17 ranks.
While only one of the teams advanced from there to the Nationals Tournament, the other had already made its mark by taking third place at the Tufts Invitational Tournament on Nov. 22 and 23, where team captain Laura Thayer took the Top Attorney award with a perfect 20 ranks.
Another member of that same team, Mariah Wilcox, had earlier won an Outstanding Witness award at the Brandeis Invitational Tournament, with 17 ranks.
Students interested in joining the UNH Mock Trial team for the 2009-2010 season can contact Professor Putnam at charles.putnam@unh.edu.
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