The past two weekend, UMBC’s A and B teams were on the road for local competitions to finish the 2016-17 invitational calendar. As usual, UMBC’s teams came home from those tournaments with team recognition and numerous individual awards.
On January 21 and 22, 2017, UMBC’s A and B teams traveled a few miles up the road to Johns Hopkins University for their inaugural Blue Jay Invitational. UMBC’s A team earned 4th place at the invitational, with a record of 5.5 wins. Additionally, A team attorney Summer Akhtar won an Outstanding Attorney award (her first of many), and A team witness Kayla Smith won her fourth Outstanding Witness award of the 16-17 season.
The following weekend, UMBC’s two teams headed opposite directions on I-95. UMBC’s A team traveled south to Washington D.C. for the Georgetown University Hilltop Invitational, one of the strongest invitational tournaments in the country. Despite stiff competition from elite teams, UMBC’s A team finished with 5 wins at Hilltop, narrowly missing out on a team award. Additionally, A team attorney Brandon James won an Outstanding Attorney Award, and witness Lily Felber won an Outstanding Witness award.
UMBC’s B team traveled to Stevenson University for the 2017 Charm City Classic Mock Trial Invitational. This is the second year that Stevenson and UMBC have co-hosted the Charm City Classic, and UMBC’s B team made sure it was the second year UMBC came home with serious hardware. The B team finished in 4th place at Charm City with 5 wins. Additionally, attorney Ethan Hudson won an Outstanding Attorney award, and witnesses Evan Avila and Nihir Nanavaty won Outstanding Witness awards.
With these tournaments in the rear view mirror, the focus turns squarely to Regionals. In less than three weeks, UMBC’s A team will go for their third consecutive bid to the Opening Round Championship Series (ORCS), while B team will be looking for their first. Both teams will be competing at the Baltimore Regional, which is held at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.
UMBC Mock Trial 