Ronan Craycraft and Ephraim Kaneyuki, members of Kinnick’s Team D, in their last round acting as the prosecution against Defense Team E. (Photo courtesy of Lauren Casey/Nile C. Kinnick High School)
This past Saturday, April 18, 2026, nine teams and six different schools, including two international schools, convened at Kinnick High School for this year’s mock trial competition. Consisting of three rounds at 4 different locations, teams faced each other at the stand, going for about 9 hours in a series of directs and crosses, to find this year’s best team of attorneys and witnesses.
2026 has brought some changes for Mock Trial, though. In 2025, the competition only featured two schools, E.J. King and the host school, Kinnick. This year, Kinnick, E.J. King, Yokota, Kadena, Saint Mary’s, and ISSH all participated, a tremendous growth from the previous year. With that, and the increase in teams from five in 2025 to this year’s eight, mock trial has demonstrated a very noticeable expansion in just the past year.
“It was a lot more challenging to organize, but I think that I felt a lot more comfortable because I had a lot more help from my colleagues this year. I’m really grateful for the support of the JAG Corps, and then also the support of Kinnick High. They definitely dug in and made sure there was administrative support and that the students were helping as well.” Competition coordinator Dominique Lapolt explains.
“As a whole, the competition is much bigger, and because of that, I feel like everyone has put in a lot more effort to improve their skills,” senior competitor Audrey Snyder adds.
This year, the home team, Kinnick, swept both the first and runner-up awards. The Kinnick D team took the first-place spot and the award for the overall highest score, followed by the Kinnick B team in the second-place spot.
Recipients of the MVP awards from their fellow competitors stand with their awards at the ending ceremony of the competition. (Photo courtesy of Lauren Casey/Nile C. Kinnick High School)
Member of the winning team D, Mariana Aguon says, “Honestly, it’s the cherry on top of an already perfect senior year, and to finally get that feeling of knowing that you did your best and your best was the best, was so relieving and just euphoric.”
As a participant for a third consecutive year, Aguon additionally states, “This competition brings so many people together, and it really pushes us through challenges we have to overcome… and so much hard work from so many people, it’s so beautiful to see everything come together when everyone works as a team.”
The growth of mock trial as a competition isn’t slowing down anytime soon, though. On April 18, it was announced that the 2027 mock trial competition is going to be a Far East competition, meaning even more schools and competitors than in 2026.
Lapolt explains, “With that is gonna come challenges, and the biggest one is going to be finding people who are willing to volunteer for that many schools and students. So I’m looking forward to the competition continuing to grow…but I’m also looking forward to meeting the people who are going to help us make that happen.”
