The Alamance Community College (ACC) Mock Trial Team has repeated as winners of the Second Annual Community College Clash National Tournament, which took place December 7-8 via Zoom to accommodate competitors from across the U.S.

 

ACC sported two teams this year that resulted in first and second place victories. ACC Team A finished with a tournament best 8-0 record, while ACC Team B came in next with a 7-1 record. Last year ACC won the inaugural tournament with a 7-0-1 record, with its second team finishing third with a 6-2 record.

 

The Community College Clash consists of four mock trials over two days, each lasting about two hours with breaks between each competition. Student team members play the part of attorneys and witnesses in a real-life courtroom trial scenario. Volunteer attorneys, judges, and mock trial coaches from around the U.S. scored the trials in a simulated courtroom setting, awarding points to the student participants. 

 

In all, 14 teams from six community colleges took part: Alamance Community College, Irvine Valley College, De Anza College, San Diego City College, Wake Tech, and Connecticut State Community College.

Alamance Team A with an 8-0 mark consists of Jaryn Green (Captain/Attorney), Zack Bechak (Attorney), Isla McLendon (Witness) and Jacob Taylor (Witness).  Close on their heels, Alamance Team B with a 7-0-1 mark consists of Cole Lipinski (Captain/Attorney), Aracely Aguilar (Attorney), Julia Neese (Witness), and Jeroome Mushi (Witness).

In the individual Attorney awards, Cole Lipinski was named the top attorney at the event, earning a rare achievement with a perfect ranking of 20 on both sides of the case. Jaryn Green finished in third place.

In the individual Witness awards, Isla McLendon earned fourth place, and Paulino Rodriguez-Pacheco, who was a member of the ad hoc “Bye Buster” team made up of students from different schools, finished in eighth place.

 

ACC’s student teams have competed for ten years in events sponsored by the American Mock Trial Association. Over that time, ACC has often been one of the only community college-based mock trial teams in the country, competing among hundreds of four-year colleges and universities.

 

“Last year was the first time the Association initiated an outreach program specifically for community colleges to compete against each other,” said ACC English instructor Kevin Sargent, who has served as ACC’s Mock Trial Team coordinator and faculty advisor for ten years.

 

Next up for the 2024 ACC team is the Regional Championship Tournament in February 2025, in which the students will compete against some of the best four-year colleges and universities in the nation.

Advisor Sargent expressed thanks for the support given to the ACC student team by the President's Office, Student Learning, Student Life and Engagement, Business, Arts, and Sciences, the Department of English, Communication, and Humanities, the Honors Program, the ACC Foundation, and faculty and staff.