Victory is sweet and well-deserved, especially for the White Station Mock Trial team as they triumphed in the Memphis city championship last Tuesday. With a win over St. Mary’s Episcopal School, White Station secured a ticket to the state championship in March.

White Station’s run through district competitions was nothing short of historic this year with their  advancement to state-level competitions for the first time in six years. 

“This year I’m really proud because we were undefeated all six nights of competition,” Elaine Lee (11), an attorney for the Mock Trial team, said.

Success from Lee and the rest of the Mock Trial team came not from luck, but from determination and vigorous work ethic from all teammates. Weekly team practices are held on Mondays and Thursdays from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., and on Sunday from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., in addition to the necessary individual practice put forth by each teammate.

“At practice, we’ll work with our coaches and go over individual directs and crosses, fine tune each side’s case theory and learn about how different rules impact witness testimony. MT is definitely a team sport – we rely on each other for everything,” defense attorney Emmett Campbell (11) said. 

In addition to mandatory practice with their coaches, Campbell and Lee often meet with their teammates ahead of practice to prepare for hours at a time. With time invested into practices and competition, the team is able to build off each other, rely on each other and invest in friendships.

“You have such a big family; we’re so close. You wouldn’t really expect for us to be friends outside of school, but we are because of Mock Trial,” Lee said.