With the end of the Mock Trial season in sight, the Mock Trial team has to prepare for the loss of its senior members, most of which are club officers.

Justin Mackin, one of Mock Trial’s three advisers, admits that while it is sad to see people move on, that’s just part of the process. Mackin said, “Every time teams turn over, you always see new leadership come in, and that’s always exciting to see because everyone kind of has new ideas.”

The Mock Trial seniors graduating this year are Yash Ghosh, Marley Wilkinson, Nicholas Korzhiletsky, Haneen Hamideh, and Alex Gombita.  

For Mackin, the departure of the club officers is both good and bad for Mock Trial.  Mackin said, “Freshmen come in, they learn from the juniors and sophomores, and then the seniors leave. But then, as long as you have a good program, people learn and become better. Personalities may come and go, but I think the strength of a program is how well you’re able to continue teaching at a high level.”

Johnny Gaudio, a junior slated to become one of the leading officers next year, thinks the team will continue to grow.  Gaudio said, “This is the first year we’ve had three teams at Mayfield, and next year although we are losing some of our seniors, I expect that we will be gaining a lot of good people.”

Mackin also has high hopes for the future. “I’m happy the team made it to regionals this year. I think we have a bright future ahead of us, and I think we’ll be able to have a perennial regional team and hopefully also make states,” he said.

According to Mackin, all of the seniors, and all the Mock Trial kids for that matter, are equally valuable. Mackin said, “Mock Trial is a collaborative effort. Everyone brings their own style or personality, but you can’t win a trial or a competition like this without putting in effort. It takes eight people to move on, and every one of those eight people needs to put in the work.”

This season is not yet over for the Mock Trial team. Team One, which consists of Yash Ghosh, Marley Wilkinson, Johnny Gaudio, Emily Kolominsky, Haneen Hamideh, Nick Korzhiletsky, Abhi Siri, and Eva Tchicaya, aced their district trials and most recently competed on Feb. 7.  They will compete again in March.