O’Neill students win competition for first time
“This was a long time in the making! What an incredible accomplishment by our Mock Trial team. Congratulations!” – Debbie Brand
“Congratulations to the JIO Mock Trial Team!! County Champs! On to states! #GoRaiders.” – Dr. Frank Sheboy
“Congratulations to this team of amazing young men and women. They were so poised and professional in their Mock Trial county finals competition today. It was a long hard road to their victory over Goshen. Now on to regional competition on April 27.” – Amy Patino
Those were all Tweets from Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery Central School District officials after the O’Neill High School Mock Trial team won the final competition of the Orange-Ulster BOCES Mock Trial Finals on April 9.
The win came after two weekends of trials between 12 teams. O’Neill faced Goshen High School in the finals, held in the Orange County Courthouse.
Goshen’s team played the role of respondent while O’Neill’s played the petitioner in this year’s hypothetical civil case “Harley Davison v. Gotham City Department of Housing Preservation and Development.”
The Honorable Judge Christopher J. Turpin, Town of Blooming Grove Justice, presided over the trial.
“After well-developed arguments presented by both sides, James I. O’Neill was awarded the win,” BOCES officials said. “Judge Turpin was highly complimentary of both teams and their performances.”
Team Coach Amy Patino noted that this was the fifth year in a row O’Neill faced Goshen in the final match, “and the first time we have won”.
“It’s also the first time Goshen has lost in over a decade,” she said.
O’Neill’s team will now move on to the regional tournament at SUNY Ulster in Kingston on April 27, where they’ll compete against teams from the lower Hudson Valley. The winner there progresses to the NYS Mock Trial Tournament in Albany May 19 through May 21.
O’Neill’s team includes: Guy Cervone, Mason Chapman, Tyler Chapman, Dylan Dhabolt, Erica Harper, Caleb Hatch, Alex Owens, Evan Owens, Kayla Terry, Charlee VanPoppel, Jacob Woodruff, Eric Wooten, and Rex Young. Coaching the team with Patino is Attorney Randy Siper.
Woodruff has been on the team for several years. After the win, he said: “This win meant more to us than I think most people know. I had been visualizing that moment since we lost last year to Goshen in the finals. I and the rest of the returners from last year certainly improved a tremendous amount and it showed. If we hadn’t put so much time into this case, we wouldn’t have won.”
The Mock Trial program is one of many extracurricular enrichment programs for area school districts coordinated by the BOCES Division of Instructional Support. Nancy Faddis-DeCerbo coordinates the program, and the Orange County Bar Association plays an integral role in the success of the program by providing judges to hear the cases presented by the students, as well as attorney-coaches for the teams.
