March 9, 2015 at 4:52 p.m.
Rhinelander mock trial team takes third at state
Rhinelander mock trial team takes third at state
By By River News staff-
In semifinal action Saturday at the Dane County Courthouse in Madison, the Hodags won matches against River Valley, River Falls and Brookfield Academy, but suffered a split-decision loss to Shorewood leading to a third place finish in the tournament.
Appleton Xavier defeated Shorewood in the final round Sunday to win its fourth state title in seven years. Only Superior (5) and Rhinelander (17) have more state championship titles.
"We saw the best individual performances of the season," said attorney coach Amy Ferguson. "Our kids were true competitors against the toughest competition they've seen."
Head coach Kathy Vick-Martini said this year's competition was the closest she can remember in her time as coach.
"There were no easy draws. Even the rounds we won were by the closest of margins," she said. "In one round, all of the ballots were scored as a tie, but we won the tiebreaker and in another round, we won every ballot by a single point. I've never seen anything like it."
Judge Mike Bloom, legal consultant for the team, said the team should be very proud.
"We can take some consolation in knowing that our only loss in the tournament was to Shorewood, the only undefeated team in semifinal action," he said.
The team qualified for state by winning its 29th consecutive regional title at the 32nd annual Mock Trial Regional Tournament held last month in Wausau.
Team members include seniors Erin Tenderholt and Mike Anderson, juniors Anna Catlin, Emily Ditzler and Jarod Hoha, and sophomores Ellie Rickman, Albiona Sabani and Sydney Schallock.
Appleton Xavier will represent the state of Wisconsin in the National Mock Trial Tournament held May 14-16 in Raleigh, N.C.
To date, Rhinelander High School is the only Wisconsin school to win the national title.
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