The new Upper School mock trial team made an impressive impact in their first competition last week. Facing more experienced teams in the Middlesex County Mock Trial Competition. W+H students captured a victory in a preliminary round match on the defense side on the first day but lost by a very slim margin on the plaintiff side the following day.
W+H Mock Trial coach Kate Clemetson ’25, who has experience in these events from her previous school, started the club last year and is proud of the progress everyone on the team has made in a short time.
“Throughout this process, we weren't assigned an attorney coach, so I've been using my prior mock trial experience at my old school of being captain and lead attorney to assign the team's roles, host the meetings, refine the lawyers' questions, and give notes on the witnesses' acting and performances, essentially filling in as the coach this year,” Kate said. “Given that this program at Wardlaw+Hartridge is one that is still emerging, I'm really glad that the students who joined seem to genuinely enjoy the club and the thrill that comes with legal research, embracing a role, and asserting yourself in a courtroom.”
W+H won its first match on Jan. 27 thanks to noteworthy performances by lead attorney Diya Kothari ’28 and witness Shweta Saravanan ’28. Although the team lost a close round on Jan. 28, Kate noted that Harshini Asokumar ’26 delivered an incredible closing argument, and added “our attorneys were commended for their excellent use of the hearsay objection, which I really tried to emphasize during practices.”
Other W+H students who participated in the competition included Olivia Yang ’28, Devindar Virdi ’28, Angela Gan ’28, Ishani Shah ’26, Vihaan Gadodia ’28, Jessie Grimes 25, Mason Clemetson ’25 and Mohisha Jha ’26.
“It's worth noting that even though our team had been preparing for a few months, we didn't receive notice about the competition date until a week in advance, so given that, I am beyond proud of the team's efforts to pull through last minute,” added Kate, who gave special thanks to Mrs. Christine Cerminaro, Dean of Students, and chaperone Mr. Kevin Fette, Upper School history teacher, for their assistance throughout the process.