PC Mock Trial PERFECT on road to State Runner-Up

Submitted by PC Mock Trial team

The Perkins County Varsity Mock Trial team accomplished a feat almost unheard of this year.  The team won all possible ballots during the regular season, in their regional championship, and in all rounds at state, prior to the state championship round.  “27 ballots were possible and we won all 27, that’s huge!” said first year head-coach Dana Kroeker. “Think of it like winning 27 volleyball sets in a row, or 27 quarters of basketball.  Of course, mock trial is different in that we don’t know if we’ve won the ballots till days afterwards!”

After sweeping the region, Perkins County #1 headed to the state competition at the Hruska Federal Courthouse in Omaha.  “It’s an impressive building with beautiful courtrooms and it was an honor to be able to compete there,” said the team.

Mock Trial is not a class-based activity so all sizes of schools competed head-to-head in Omaha including Lincoln Pius X, Gibbon, Gering, Wayne, York, DCS, HTRS, and Ainsworth.  Perkins County #1 was able to remain undefeated until falling to Omaha Duchesne in the championship round.  It was close and PC won several points match-ups against Duchesne but the private school’s previous experience in the national competition coupled with PC drawing the weaker side of the case (with a coin toss prior to the final round) proved too difficult to overcome.

“The kids are amazing and I hope they are as proud of themselves as I am,” said Kroeker.  “Some people think mock trial is about memorizing or putting on a play, but to do it right takes a lot more than that.  This year we really concentrated on knowing the rules of law and giving the team the knowledge to think on their feet.”  The new approach paid off with PC’s highest finish in many years.  “We learned so much more this year.  We gained the confidence we needed to defeat some powerful teams,” said the kids.

The team also wants to thank Diana Tate.  “Although Ms. Tate was not able to be with us in person most of this year, she was always there in spirt!” they said.  “Diana is responsible for bringing most of these kids to the mock trial program and she was definitely our biggest cheerleader this year,” said Kroeker.