The SLUH Mock Trial team swept the competition Tuesday night, with both teams beating their opponents by over 20 points. This win comes after months of hard work for both Blue Team (JV) and White Team (Varsity).

Mock Trial is a nationwide competition that begins at the St. Louis County Courthouse in Clayton, and for the best team, leads to Reno, Nevada for the championship.

The case was between plaintiff Reptile Records and the defense, the band Spiders in Cars. Reptile Records alleged that the Spiders in Cars’ song “Young Americans” was copied from the Dave Bowe hit “A Song for Sam.”

The varsity team partnered with three Metro High School seniors for this case to take on Jefferson High school from Jefferson County.

SLUH started the season off right, with junior Nick Prainito delivering an engaging and well-planned opening statement. It was up to SLUH as the plaintiff to call their witnesses. SLUH brought junior James Tillman to the stand, who, along with his directing attorney, Metro High School senior Chiarra Milo, attained perfect scores of 10. SLUH also called experienced seniors Helene Lawing and Jillian Lodholz to the stand, who contributed immensely, earning mostly 8’s and 9’s.

Prainito, Milo, and junior Josh Kempker-Thetford paved the way for their team’s success, doing very well in their cross-examinations. Team captain and senior Rob Garner then closed the trial with a very convincing closing to the jury that would earn the team a unanimous decision against Jefferson High School.

When asked what the strongest part of their case was, veteran Prainito explained: “Chiarra had a really good performance on direct and cross.”

The JV team features a senior, junior and five freshman, dubbed the “Fantastic Five.” After a delicious dinner at Carl’s, the trial commenced with the defense JV team facing the plaintiff, Lindbergh.

Freshman Daniel Klarsch began with a sensational opening statement that captivated the jury. Freshmen lawyers Carter Fortman, Nathan Malawey, and Charlie Albus then went to work at picking apart the plaintiff’s witnesses on cross-examination. They then got the chance to call a couple of their own witnesses.

Senior Brendan Luechtefield, junior Jon Gillooly, and freshman Jimmy Morefield all got the call to put on a spectacle and to convince the jury to find in favor of the defense. Miraculously, Gillooly was able to pull off all 7 out of 10’s despite having less than 24 hours to prepare.

“Lindbergh got blown out in hockey, and then got blown out again (in Mock Trial),” said Albus jokingly.

When asked what his expectations were for the year, team moderator and SLUH alumnus Tom Albus said, “We lost four really good seniors, so this year was originally a rebuilding year, but now we have five really good freshman.” He added, “My expectations as of January were really low, but the team rallied and they’re doing a lot better than I feared they would.”

“It’s a chance for you to learn. You don’t learn from a lecture, sitting behind the desk taking notes, you learn by actually doing it,” added Albus’s former classmate, co-moderator, and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois Donald Boyce.

Moderator Anne Marie Lodholz noted, “There is a lot of raw talent on the team.”

Although the SLUH teams have less than two weeks to prepare for their new trial on Feb. 6, they hope to continue their success. The teams will switch roles, with JV going to be the plaintiff, and varsity changing to defense.