Superior Court Judge Lisa Lott
Former District Attorney Ken Mauldin
Eva Orbock
Sammy David
Kurali Grantham
Maddy Murray
Cate Goldman
Evan Rosch
Brian Leahy
Samuel Jones
Nick Mauldin
Alexander Robinson
Braden Delamater
Elena Gilbertson-Hall
Katherine Martin-Williams
Avery Sepsi
One of the 2018-19 Clarke Central High School Mock Trial teams stands on the stairs of the University of Georgia School of Law on Feb. 23, 2019. CCHS junior Eva Orbock (far left, second row from back) joined the team her freshman year and has enjoyed it ever since. “My favorite part (of Mock Trial) is definitely the actual competition aspects, getting out there and really just reaping the rewards of what you’ve been working on for the entire year,” Orbock said. Photo courtesy of Katherine Martin-Williams
The Clarke Central High School Mock Trial Team held their first virtual practice of the 2020-21 season on Nov. 5. The team has had to make adjustments to the new structure of competition this year due to COVID-19.
CCHS Mock Trial head teacher-coach Kalli James-Wyrick, a Clarke Central High School social studies department teacher, has been coaching the team for four years and competed on the team when she attended CCHS. As a result, she has lot’s of experience with the competition structure.
“Normally the competition starts with regional championships where (schools compete) in their areas against other schools, three top teams from each region would compete at district and the top team at district goes to state and then nationals,” James-Wyrick said.
According to the State Bar of Georgia, the organization that oversees Georgia mock trial, competition structure will look different than previous years.
“For the 2021 season, all teams will compete in a statewide competition (instead of our traditional Regions), starting with the Prelim Rounds the weekend of January 30 and concludes with the State Finals Championship Round March 22,” The State Bar of Georgia website states.
The competition will go through a modified elimination process this year, with 64 teams being selected from the state to move into mid-level rounds.
“For the first round, you’re going to go against (four) random teams from Georgia. 64 teams will move on, if there’s 128 or less. If there’s more, then half of them will move on. So the minimum for the next mid level rounds is 64 teams,” CCHS junior Eva Orbock said.
“I think it’ll be more interesting and probably more fun to go against teams that we’ve never competed against before.”
— Eva Orbock,
CCHS Mock Trial team member
Orbock has been with the team since her freshman year, and says these structural changes offer refreshing benefits.
“I think (competing against the whole state) is exciting because we’ve kind of gotten used to the other teams, you know?” Orbock said. “We know exactly who’s going to be the best from our region, or who’s new to the scene, so I think it’ll be more interesting and probably more fun to go against teams that we’ve never competed against before.”
