The Battle Lake High School Mock Trial team recently celebrated the end of a successful season. They went 3-1 in regular season competition, with the highest cumulative point total out of all twenty teams in the Northern Division, scoring a total of 906 points through four rounds. The team advanced to the region finals for the second year in a row. In the region final trial, the team competed on the defense side of the case against Bemidji High School at the Becker County Courthouse. The final decision was a split ballot, with one judge ruling in favor of Battle Lake and the other ruling in favor of Bemidji, and Battle Lake ultimately lost by the narrowest of margins, 246-247, missing out on a return trip to the State Tournament by a single point. Highlights from the trial included all six of the Battle Lake witnesses and attorneys scoring in the range of ‘excellence’ in judging criteria (Keira Shebeck, Madison Molter, Khloe Brandner, Nelson Hubert, Graycie Cameron, and Riley Johnson), with Riley Johnson, Graycie Cameron, and Khloe Brandner all receiving perfect 10 scores from one of the judges.
Special awards for the season were as follows: Khloe Brandner - Best Witness, Nelson Hubert - Best Attorney, Riley Johnson - Most Valuable Teammate, and Graycie Cameron - Hype Award.
The team witnesses on both sides of the case were portrayed by Trevor Stans, Nelson Hubert, Madison Molter, Keira Shebeck, Connor Wicklund, Jack Robinson, Tegan Brandon, and Khloe Brandner. The team’s attorneys are Riley Johnson, Nelson Hubert, Graycie Cameron, Hanna Cathey, and Carsten Brandon. The timekeepers are Connor Wicklund, Analie Ozuna, and Annamae Kenfield. Bailiffs are Billy Bastyr and Elliot Heggem, and the courtroom artists are Maeci Tandberg and Claire Kramer. The team is coached by Shauna and Josh Heggem.