Five Wooster students qualify for Moot Court national tournament
Five students from 69ֱ qualified for the Moot Courtnational tournament that will be held January 22-24and will be virtual due to the coronavirus pandemic.
During the past fall semester of Moot Court,an activity in which students argue in simulated U.S. Supreme Court proceedings,the practices and regional competitionswereheld entirely on Zoom.“It was challenging to adjust to this setting because so much of Moot Court is about your demeanor—your presence in the court room,”said OriaDaugherty’21, a team captain who is going to nationals. “Not only are you evaluated on your argument, but also on how you carry yourself, how you interact with judges, etc. All of that is really difficult to translate over a virtual platform, and it is also very challenging to help newer students with these things.”
Daugherty will be joined at nationals by her teammate and fellow captain Heather Hartmann ’21,a team ofElyse Evans’21and Cecilia Payne’21, and a hybrid team ofGeorgina Tierney’22and Kelton Munch, a student fromCalifornia State University, Long Beach.“We are excited for the three teams that have qualified for Nationals despite the online format and the challenges of this year,” Daugherty said.
Interim coachNatalie Noyes ’11, an alumna of Wooster’s Moot Courtand attorney intheColumbusarea,said thatanotherchallengethis yearwas working with students who were in different time zones, since there were some international students who were living at home this semester. “Sometimes they were practicing at really late or really early times for them,” Noyes said. “I really appreciated them giving all they did to the team.”
Since all teams regardless of location practiced virtually this year, the hybrid team that Tierney is on did not have the disadvantage that they would have in a typical year.“Hybrid teams in general do happen some years, when multiple schools have an odd number of students participating, but they generally don’t perform very well—it’s very challenging to succeed when you likely don’t even meet your partner until competition, and don’t have the opportunity to practice with them,” Daugherty explained. Tierney foundparticipating on the hybrid team, which won the Wooster regional tournament,veryrewarding.“The benefits from being a part of both the Long BeachMoot team and the WoosterMoot team far outweighed the challenges,” she said.While thetime difference made for some late nights, sheotherwisehad the benefits of “two coaches, two teams,andtwice the opportunity to improve.”
Typically, the teams whoqualifyfor the national tournament would return to campus early in January for a Moot Court “boot camp” to prepare for the tournament.This year,the meetings and practice rounds will be held on Zoom.“The nice thing isthatwith the virtual nature, we can be from all over the country and scrimmaging with different schools,” Noyes said. “We have a few of those plannedwithcompetitors from Long Beach and Loyola to get ready.”
Noyes is proud of all of the students who participated in Moot Court last semester, regardless of whether they qualified for the nationaltournament. “There are a lot of folks who didn’t make ittonationalsbut I can tell you that they worked so hard and I was so proud to get to share that experience with them,” Noyes said.
Above: In the final round at Wooster,pictured from top left to right: Oria Daugherty, Natalie Noyes (Wooster coach), Georgina Tierney, Kelton Munch (CSU Long Beach mooter), Bottom row: Heather Hartmann, LewisRingel(CSU Long Beach head coach), and Nick Conway (coordinator of the tournament).
Posted in News on January 21, 2021.
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