March 13, 2013 at 5:22 p.m.
Mock trial state title returns to Rhinelander
Mock trial state title returns to Rhinelander
Coming off its 16th state title Monday in the 30-year history of the state tournament, the team will now prepare to head to Indianapolis in May for the national championship.
The team's road to glory started in February as it dominated the regional championship, winning its 27th consecutive regional title.
The team then moved on to the two-day state championship in Madison this past weekend, going undefeated as it cruised past the best-of-the-best in the state and punched its ticket to Indianapolis.
After beating La Crosse Logan in its first match of the day Sunday, the team moved on to face defending state champion Appleton Xavier. The win that came from that match was a special one for RHS mock trial coach Kathy Vick-Martini and her team.
"We beat the defending state champion (Appleton Xavier) with every member of that team back this year," Vick-Martini said. "They had no seniors on last year's state championship team and we beat them. In fact, they had won the state championship three of the last four years, so they are a real power to be reckoned with. That was a major coup for us. Each round is judged by three judges and we won all three ballots in the round against the defending state champions."
Following that big win, the team went on to beat Shorewood, another key victory in Vick-Martini's eyes.
"Shorewood is the only school in this century that has won the state tournament other than Rhinelander and Xavier. We won seven years in a row from 2000 through 2006, and then Shorewood won, then we won again, and then Xavier won, and then we won again, and then Xavier won for two years, and now we've won again. But anyway, we beat Shorewood in that third round and they are a major power in the state," Vick-Martini said.
The fourth and final match Sunday saw the team matching up against Brookfield Academy, a team that beat Rhinelander last year.
"In the fourth round, we met Brookfield Academy who beat us last year in the semi-finals, so it was kind of sweet revenge," Vick-Martini said.
Going undefeated in the semi-finals stamped Rhinelander's ticket to Monday's finals, where the team was set to once again face Brookfield Academy. It was not a straight-up rematch, however, Vick-Martini said.
"We went on the opposite side of the case for the finals," she said. "The first day we beat them, we were playing the defense role, and then, in the finals, we beat them on the prosecution side of the case. If we were doing the same side of the case, we would just look at everything that didn't go right and fix it, but when you're facing them on the other side of the case, and you're not even sure which students on their team are playing the roles, all you do is prepare for it the same way you prepare for any other opponent."
One other factor in it not being a straight rematch, Vick-Martini said, is the fact that many of the bigger schools, like Brookfield Academy, have more students on their team, allowing their kids to prepare for just one role when the Rhinelander students have to prepare to play two roles.
"We only have seven kids on our team and you have to use six kids when you're competing, so most of our kids have to prepare for two roles," Vick-Martini said. "They have a bigger team, so they had kids on the prosecution side that didn't have roles on the defense side. So, we saw a lot of different kids, when they saw our kids play two heavy-duty roles.
"A lot of the schools we go against are bigger schools and they have a lot of kids that are on their team. You can have as many as 12 kids on a team and when you do have 12 kids, then each kid gets one role, so they can be really good at it because they only have to focus on that one role. Our kids have two roles so, in addition to having to keep all of the facts straight from one side to the other, you have to make sure you don't mess up and say something from one side of the case to the other side of the case. It's twice as much stress and responsibility, and our kids were just amazing. They were absolutely amazing."
Vick-Martini even has evidence to back that statement up.
"Every single one of our students got at least one perfect score from the judges. Perfect scores are few and far between at state, and we got many of them," Vick-Martini said.
As further proof of Rhinelander's dominance this year, the judges for the finals - members of the state Supreme Court - reached their verdict in less than 10 minutes.
"That never happens, either. It felt great," Vick-Martini said. "I've been telling these kids all along, they are one of the most talented teams I have ever coached."
That's saying something, considering she has been the team's coach since its inception 30 years ago. But then again, Vick-Martini said these kids should know by now that, if they spend all fours years on the team, chances are they're going to get at least one state championship.
"The thing is, when kids go out for mock trial at Rhinelander High School, they're pretty much accustomed to the fact that, if they go out all four years, they're going to be in the finals. They're more than likely going to be a state champion. That's been the case throughout the history of the program," Vick-Martini said. "Once we started winning the regional tournament - and that's 27 consecutive years now, which is a state record - but once we started going to state on a regular basis, every student who's gone out for mock trial for four years has at least made it to the finals in front of the Wisconsin State Supreme Court. In all cases, except one, I believe, they've been a state champion at least once.
"This group this year has five seniors on it and they had never been a state champion. Three of them had been in the finals in 2011, but none of them had been a state champion ... and they just dominated this year. Nobody touched them. They were terrific."
Coaches, in general, hope beyond hope to get at least one state title in their respective field during their careers. Anything more than that is icing on the cake. To be able to be so successful for so long is a blessing, said Vick-Martini, who is a retired teacher.
"It's very satisfying. It's a blessing. This is the program that named me the Law-related Education Teacher of the Year in the state of Wisconsin," she said. "This is the program that gave me the Golden Gavel at the national tournament, the only teacher in the nation to have received that award. I got an award on Sunday night, the Public Education Committee award for Volunteer of the Year. They've never given it to a teacher before; they give it to an attorney every year, and they gave it to me - the first non-attorney to get it. This program has been amazing as far as recognizing our school and the accomplishments of our team. It's amazing.
"Probably one of the most satisfying experiences of my life is when we won the national tournament (in 1989) and my son was the lead attorney on that team. Just having my son on the team was just amazing."
But, working with these kids almost year-round, Vick-Martini said it comes to a point where they are all family to her.
"I work with these kids for so long, so many hours. It's every day after school, every weekend we're at the courthouse doing a practice trial with whatever attorney will agree to judge us. I put in so many hours with the kids, they feel like family as well," Vick-Martini said. "Another part of what makes it so enjoyable is how hard they are willing to work and the respect they show. But it's also more than that. I really think there's a bond, a love, that I have for them and they have for me."
Now it's time to look toward nationals. First things first, the team must raise money to be able to get to Indianapolis.
"For starters, we need to fundraise, we need to raise money, because the school district does not fund our trip to nationals," Vick-Martini said. "We have always raised all of the money we need for expenses for the national tournament ourselves. If anyone is interested in contributing - and this community has always been so wonderful in that regard, they've been absolutely wonderful - they should make a check payable to the Rhinelander High School Mock Trial Team and send it to the high school in care of me."
As for the tournament itself, Vick-Martini said she and the team will prepare like they do for any other competition - they'll just have to do it at a faster pace.
"The materials for the case don't come out until April 1, so it will be a brand-new case that we'll be developing," she said. "Then, we meet with our attorney coaches and Judge (Mike) Bloom and Judge (Robert) Kinney and Jim Weis, who is not a coach but he always helps us and he's really a fantastic attorney, and we get help in developing questions for our examinations of each of the witnesses in the case materials, and figure out our theory for the case on each side that helps us get stuff in on one side and keep it out on the other side.
"We do the same thing to prepare for nationals that we've done from September to March to prepare for the state tournament, except that we only have four weeks to do it."
Although the competition is tougher, Vick-Martini said isn't worried about her team.
"The kids have to basically give up everything in order to be competitive, and that's what they have been willing to do, and I love them for it," Vick-Martini said. "They are such amazing students to begin with. They are in all kinds of things and they basically dedicate their lives to representing the state of Wisconsin and making the state and the community proud."
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
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