The GW Mock Trial team achieved a new level of success over spring break, when it won the American Mock Trial Association National Tournament held at Stetson University in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The club’s national tournament team, which participated in the contest, sent nine members to compete with 47 other college delegations from around the country. GW Mock Trial advanced to the final round with seven victories and one loss to Yale University’s team.

“This was easily the best experience I have had in mock trial,” said junior Matt Carney, co-captain of the team. He added that this most recent event was one of his toughest tournaments yet.

“The competition was far exceeding anything we have seen this year,” he said.

In mock trial competitions, different clubs take the part in the defense and prosecution for a fictional case that is distributed before the date of the event. Judges rate the teams based on their arguments in the courtroom.

Although other teams were tough, Carney said his delegates came well prepared.

“For the last weeks we have been practicing four plus hours a night,” Carney said. “But once you get to the tournament it isn’t four hours a day anymore – it’s a 24-hour-a-day thing.”

This most recent victory qualifies GW Mock Trial to compete in the American Mock Trial Association’s national championship in Des Moines, Iowa, in two weeks. Sophomore Rachel Stalnaker, the team’s publicist, said the group participates in about seven competitions a year and competes against approximately 600 other teams.

“Most students participate in about four or five tournaments a year,” she said.

The mock trial club’s regional team, which is made up of eight members, will also be participating in the upcoming Des Moines tournament thanks to their first-place finish in the Washington, D.C. regional tournament last month. Stalnaker said GW will be the only university to send two groups of competitors to the tournament.

As for the group, not all team members will be looking to pursue a career in law after their mock trial experience.

Carney said, “I would say about two-thirds of the team wants to become lawyers, but a surprising amount do not.”