Owasso High School Places 17th at National Event
As 2019 Oklahoma champions, Owasso High School’s Team Quadstone advanced to compete in the National High School Mock Trial Program Championship. The team traveled to Athens, Georgia, May 16-18 for the national competition with 46 teams from the U.S., Guam, South Korea and the Northern Marianas Islands.
At nationals, the students tried a fictitious case that involved an arson investigation and determining who was entitled to insurance proceeds from the devastation of the historic Georgia Theatre. The team competed in four rounds, winning the rounds against Alabama and Georgia, and finished in 17th place. Team captain Maggie Murphy also earned honors as one of 10 best attorneys. A total of 400 students participated.
Other Owasso High School team members are Emma Donohue, Avery Hendel, Ciara Locker, Morgan Meyer, Cole Wyrick, Jesse Anderson and Ronan Locker.
Attorney coaches are Judge Daman Cantrell and Ken Underwood with teacher coach Kathy Rutherford.
The mock trial program, sponsored by the Oklahoma Bar Foundation and the Oklahoma Bar Association, is designed to teach students the principles of trial advocacy as they apply skills of debate, speech and critical thinking during a fictitious courtroom proceeding, with students playing the roles of prosecutor, defense attorney and witnesses.
The judges evaluated the students based on their familiarity of the case and the formulation of their arguments. Students received points for each phase of the trial, opening, direct and cross-examination, closing argument and how well their witnesses responded.
“The students did an amazing job competing against the best of the best across the nation,” Mock Trial Coordinator Judy Spencer said. “It’s very rewarding to watch them develop life skills such as self-confidence, speaking ability and quick thinking that they fine tune with their participation in this program. They represented Oklahoma well!”The OBF bestows annual grants that provide free legal assistance for the poor and elderly, safe haven for the abused, protection and legal assistance for children, public law-related education programs including those for school children and other activities that improve the quality of justice for all Oklahomans. The 18,000-member OBA, headquartered in Oklahoma City, was created by the Oklahoma Supreme Court to advance the administration of justice and to foster and maintain learning, integrity, competence, public service and high standards of conduct among Oklahoma’s legal community.
