News

2007-2008 Year in Review

Over the course of 2007-2008, Bellarmine put together a string of performances that suggest that 2009 could be a very special year for the program.

The season started with a strong showing at the Pohlmann Invitational hosted by Cornell College in Iowa.  Five first-time mock trial participants, Chelsea Brown, Connie Kremer, Mari Graham, Thomas Pedron and Ariel Edlin, joined five returning members to finish with a strong 5 and 3 record.

From there, the invitational season took a downward turn, with back-to-back unsteady performances at the Sanders Invitational hosted by Eastern Kentucky University and at the Great American Mock Trial Invitational hosted by the University of Virginia.  In these tournaments, there were a few bright spots that suggested better things to come.  First, our new witnesses, Chelsea Brown and Thomas Pedron, were being recognized for outstanding performances.  Second, the team was beginning to get comfortable working with one another.  This was evident in the final fall invitational, the Downtown Invitational in New York City, at which Bellarmine finished with a 6-2 record and a fifth place finish overall.

In early November, team 853 made its first competitive appearance of the season at the Middle Tennessee State University Mid-South Invitational.  Featuring a large contingent of brand new participants, the team finished with 4 wins and 4 losses, a record it would duplicate in a more strenuous field at the regional tournament in February.  Team members on that regional team were Jake Hogg, Brooks Herrick, Mari Graham, Connie Kremer, Ariel Edlin and Sarah Bogrett.

Team 852 really hit its stride at the Hamilton National Tournament.  After finishing in third place at regionals with a record of 6 wins and 2 losses, the team blitzed stiffer competition (including teams from Michigan, Cornell and Harvard) in Hamilton, Ohio to finish with a record of 6 wins 1 loss and 1 tie.  This earned team 852 a bid to the National Championship Tournament.

The performance at this year's National Championship Tournament signified one thing: Bellarmine is back.  At the beginning of each round, Bellarmine was at or near the top of the pack, and going into the fourth round Bellarmine was in a two-way tie for first place in its division of the tournament (there are two divisions with 32 teams in each) and one of only five schools in the division that had accumulated five ballots.  The familiar questions started to pop up around the tournament -- is Bellarmine going back to the final round?  How does Bellarmine look?  Judging from the number of scouts from other teams watching Bellarmine rounds, the message that Bellarmine is back was heard loud and clear.

On its way to another top 10 finish, Bellarmine took ballots from Stanford, Michigan and Northwestern.  While they came up just short in the fourth round, the coaches were tremendously impressed by their performance and proud of all that was accomplished this year.

Want more reason for optimism?  There are no seniors on this year's mock trial team.  Twelve out of twelve will be back to compete next season.  In addition, three of the 12 participants in this year's Kentucky High School State Mock Trial Championship final round plan to do mock trial at Bellarmine.  It is a great time to be a part of this program, and the coaches are excited about the future. 

On a coaching note, long-time coach Ruth Wagoner has decided to make this past season her last season as an active coach.  She will remain involved with the program, and her husband, Jim Wagoner, will direct the program going forward.  The team will miss Ruth and her contributions, but does plan on seeing a great deal of her in the fall.  Jim will continue to be assisted by Jason Butler and Matt Rich, with additional expertise coming from mock trial alumna Ryane Conroy.