Indian Hill High School Mock Trial Team wins exclusive Yale Bulldog Invitational!

IHHS Mock Trial

It was their first year on the guest list, and the Indian Hill High School (IHHS) Mock Trial Team proved to be the life of the party! Seven IHHS juniors and seniors spent the weekend of October 17 at Indian Hill High School representing the Braves virtually at Yale's Bulldog Invitational Mock Trial tournament. The IHHS Mock Trial Team faced elite teams from Texas, Arizona, New York, and North Carolina, and emerged with the only perfect record (8-0) in the field, winning the 2020 tournament championship!

“It was so exciting to be invited to this competition!” said IHHS student Brooke Youngblood. “Many of us look up to the Yale Mock Trial Association, so to be a part of their competition was an honor! It was a truly amazing experience to win the competition, and getting to go through this journey with the team was the best.” 

“It was very exciting to win this competition,” said IHHS student Ethan Marx. “We had been working for months on this specific case, but even longer as a team. This was truly a surreal moment. I think my favorite part was watching my teammates' reactions as we won... just seeing how excited they were made me really proud of what we were able to accomplish as a team!”

The winning team competed from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Saturday, October 17, and from 8 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. Sunday, October 18. Team members included: Audrey Bristol, Claire Hardek, Tacey Hutten, Ethan Marx, Sarah Motawi, Sydney Poffenberger, and Brooke Youngblood. In addition to earning the highest team score, Brooke Youngblood tied for the highest ranking witness in the tournament, and Ethan Marx tied for the second highest ranking attorney.

“What a display of perseverance from our Braves,” said IHHS Principal Jeff Damadeo. “This was an incredible accomplishment for these students and for Indian Hill High School. We are so proud of the dedication and expertise they have demonstrated!”

“They are a dream team,” said Steve Reger, IHHS teacher and Mock Trial mentor. “We ask all Braves to join us in congratulating this exhausted team of all-stars!”

“It was very exciting to be selected to compete at such a prestigious competition,” said Marx. “Yale's mock trial program, which is entirely student-run, is one of the winningest in the college circuit, having qualified for the National Championship Final Round in five of the past five years. To be recognized by such a program was truly an honor.”  

Photo caption: Indian Hill High School Mock Trial students took top honors at the Yale Bulldog Invitational. Team members included Audrey Bristol, Claire Hardek, Tacey Hutten, Ethan Marx, Sarah Motawi, Sydney Poffenberger, and Brooke Youngblood.

Indian Hill Superintendent Kirk Koennecke interviews the winning team in this District-produced video.