Catholic Law’s National Mock Trial Team added another trophy to its case this weekend. Members Zoe Evans (3L), Alexandra Heyl (3L), Gerald Sharpe (2L), and Peyton Smetana (2L) competed in the National Trial Competition regional qualifier and finished as Regional Finalists.

Evans and Smetana went undefeated through all four preliminary round trials, not losing a single ballot until the third round. Going into semifinals seeded #1 of 22 teams, they won again before ultimately losing by one ballot to the University of Maryland in a hard-fought final round. Zoe Evans took home one of only three individual “outstanding advocate” awards given out during the tournament.

Heyl and Sharpe also performed consistently well throughout, narrowly missing the semifinals after closely-decided trials against excellent opponents. “This was a total team effort from start to finish. These four outstanding students demonstrated incredible camaraderie, poise, and professionalism during more than a month of preparation and a grueling weekend of trials. Working with them is a joy, and I could not be more proud of what they accomplished,” said their coach, Associate Director Lindsey Cloud.

Zoe Evans with her “outstanding advocate” award

“These qualifiers are very tough competitions to win and advancing to the finals is an impressive academic achievement. But I am particularly proud of how valiantly our students battled to defend our past regional and national titles and how much support past and current trial team members showed them along the way,” said Trial Team Director John Sharifi.

Catholic has a storied history with this prestigious competition, which is the country’s preeminent mock trial tournament, held annually since 1976. In the last five years, our students have finished as regional finalists and semifinalists several times, as well as winning the national championship in 2019 with now-coach Vania Smith taking Best Oral Advocate at nationals.

This year’s regional tournament was held February 9-11, 2024 at the University of Maryland Francis Carey School of Law in Baltimore. Trial team’s next competition begins on March 7, when they will compete in the American Association of Justice Student Trial Advocacy Competition.