2024 Gauntlet Analysis

Since this tournament is so new, we figured we would start with a primer on how it will work and what interesting quirks to watch out for.

The Gauntlet will feature sixteen of the nation’s best witnesses, each detailed below.  The competitors each received a case packet on Wednesday, July 3rd–giving them much more prep time then we typically see individual competitors possess.  Assisting each will be 1-2 attorney teammates and a coach. In this unique format, the case contains 8 witnesses, two of each type, allocated one a piece to Plaintiff and Defendant.  The four witness types are: sympathetic, character, party representative, and expert.

Over the course of the weekend, each competitor will compete in four preliminary rounds.  They will play one witness of each type.  Although, competitors will not find out until the day before the competition which four witnesses they will be slated to play.  Thus, we expect most competitors will be preparing for all eight witnesses.

The rounds are formatted uniquely.  Each round will feature four witnesses, two of each type allocated one per side.  For example, this means in a given round you could have a plaintiff sympathetic and plaintiff character matched against a defense sympathetic and defense character.  Each competitor will be judged in a head to head checkmark format against the competitor playing the same-type witness for the opposing party.  There are a total of seven checkmarks to be won for each witness, with two of the checkmarks changing based on the witness-type being judged.

Each witness will bring one or two attorneys with them.  The attorneys will be responsible for direct examining the competitor, and cross examining the opposing competitor of the same witness-type.  Attorneys will also give an opening statement, make limited objections (explained below), but will not deliver closing arguments.  Attorneys are not scored, but will surely impact the scores of the competitors.

This unique setup will mean that each party may have up to four attorneys at counsel table, representing two different teams of competitors.  These paired same-party teams are referred to as “allies.”  The allied pairings change for each round.  Only one attorney from the two allied teams will give an opening statement, with teams left to figure out amongst themselves who will give the opening, and what that opening will consist of.  Teams will not find out who their allies are until the day before competition, at which point they will have a maximum of 30 minutes to coordinate per ally.  We are interested to see how much allies are able or willing to cooperate and align their strategies, particularly when each team’s content may already be fully formed.

There are some other particularities of the competition which are of note, and will certainly shape the results, including:
No demonstratives or enlargements are allowed.
9 minute time limit for direct (including re-direct).
7 minute time limit for cross (including re-cross).
5 minute time limit for openings.
3.5 minutes per team (not side, so 7 minutes total per party) for objections.  All time from objection to ruling, including judge talk and opposing counsel argument, is deducted from the objecting team.
Exhibits are not provided to the competitors until the day before competition.
The order of the trial will not be the traditional manner in which all Plaintiff witnesses testify before the Defense witnesses.  Instead, the Plaintiff’s first witness will testify, then the Defense witness of the same type will testify.  Followed will be the Plaintiff’s second witness, then the Defense witness of the same type.
Inventions rules are notably more relaxed, allowing for witnesses to invent material facts that a reasonable person could infer from the statements.  Party representative witnesses may invent any fact that does not recant or contradict their respective depositions.
No 403 or 401 objections to characters and sympathetic witnesses.
702 foundation need not be laid, and all opinions contained with the expert reports are admissible under 702.
In trials with party representative witnesses, there is a 10 minute mid-trial recess.  In trials without, there is no recess.
Electronics are permitted.
Attorneys are permitted notes, with judge instructions to not deduct points for notes.  Witnesses are not permitted notes.
Coaches are not allowed to assist in any pre-trial preparation after the mandatory pre-round check in for competitors, which is roughly equivalent to the point at which a typical captains meeting would occur.

After four rounds, the tournament will be cut down to four competitors, competing in two semifinal rounds, followed by a final round between the top two competitors.  These playoffs will give us some additional twists.  For one, each playoff competitor will play two witnesses, not just one, per round.  For example, this means the plaintiff competitor in a semifinal round may be tasked with playing both a sympathetic witness, and a character witness, back to back.  Further complicating things, is that the witnesses played by the playoff competitors may not be the same as the four witnesses played by the competitor during the four preliminary rounds.  Playoff competitors may have to play one of the four “other” witnesses that they were not selected to play in preliminary competition.  We also expect our hosts may have some other devious variations for the playoff competitors to navigate.

We’d also like to flag that although it’s our understanding that each of these competitors have been working with a second chair and coach to prepare for this weekend, because we didn’t have that information for all competitors when preparing this writeup we unfortunately won’t be able to factor that into our analysis down below. Hopefully next year we’ll be able to include details like that, but for this season we can only give a prediction of what each individual competitor attending will be bringing to the table.  


Isis Arevalo, Princeton

Princeton Tiger and seasoned mock trial competitor Isis Arevalo strolls into the courtroom with two very important things in hand: a relaxed, calm demeanor and a dose of that scrappy Princeton drive 2024 brought us to know and love. She doesn’t quite have the hardware resume that some of the other competitors here do, but she’s certainly not without awards—she’s picked up four invitational awards as a witness over the past three years. She snagged her first AMTA award as a sophomore All-Regional, and went on to All-National this past year in Washington DC.

Arevalo brings a charm and poise to the field that’s difficult to maintain as a witness. Her smooth city accent will work across multiple types of witnesses—subtle enough to add something special to an emotional witness, interesting enough to add depth to a character, mechanically good enough to brighten up an expert. Her suave demeanor applies to her character chops, too: in a world of “beat them over the head” funny witnesses, Arevalo tempers her jokes with real-person charisma. That’s not to say she isn’t funny: on the contrary, Arevalo shines as a character on cross, where her natural confidence, suavity, and humor come through in a lethal dose of likable.

We suspect that this New Jersey-ite is more than a little bit underrated on the national scene— she isn’t as well-known as giants like Harvard’s Anant Rajan or Michigan’s Gordy Gwilt, but it certainly isn’t for lack of talent. That being said, while we might sing her praises, we can’t be sure of how she’s going to match up against the rest of this field. It’s worth noting that Arevalo earned her All-National from rounds against Rutgers A and Yale A. Neither team earned a bid to Nationals— and neither team had any witnesses award on the defense. In a typical year, beating out Yale A witnesses for a sleek, engraved glass rectangle suggests an ability to measure up against top talent— except this Yale squad wasn’t able to manage a bid to Chicago. We’ll have to wait for LA to see if this Tiger’s chops measure up to the competition.

Ultimately, Arevalo is poised to have a fighting chance this weekend. She’s got talent in abundance, she’s got great hair, and she’s a scrappy competitor. We suspect she’ll be able to manage the wide variety of witness types this weekend, which is the first hurdle that’ll take out Gauntlet hopefuls. She has all the ingredients for a great underdog weekend. We think this Tiger is ready to run the Gauntlet, but it’ll be up to the judges this weekend whether she comes out on top.

Hadley Bryant, Emory

Imagine you are walking down the empty halls of a museum in Los Angeles. The walls display a long line of history: portraits of men and women in suits and ties, encased in golden rococo frames, each and every one of them bearing a sword.

“Celebrating the best individual collegiate mock trial competitors in the country.”

All these seem familiar, but something… feels missing. You continue tracing the hallway until you’re met with an oak door, much taller than you, displaying two golden door knockers. A plaque on the door reads:

“Are you ready to run it?”

The door swings open to reveal a singular picture frame. The first of its kind.

The first thing you notice about this portrait that stands out from the ones in the hallway is the heavy glove—no, Gauntlet— that the painting’s subject wears. The second thing you notice… is the red hair.

“Hadley Bryant: Gauntlet Runner.”

Just like her witnessing, it is a work of art.

Whoever first said Life imitates Art had certainly just judged Bryant in a round. Despite only competing in the field for the past two years, Bryant has embraced the artistry of witnessing and has the hardware to show for it.

Bryant first started bringing trophies back home last year in Jackson, Mississippi when she all-regionaled as a grieving Ari Felder. With tears in her eyes and the subtle twist of an engagement ring, Bryant quickly learned how to captivate an audience. She’s a merciless muse who refuses to leave a round without carefully tugging at the heartstrings of everyone in the room. When she traveled to Texas that same year, she won an All-National for the same heartbreaking performance. If you’ve seen any of Bryant’s work this year, you know she’s kept up her ability to play sympathetic witnesses, from Emory Sands, mother and security guard, to Poe Cameron, young college student threatened by business big shots. Bryant’s artistic emotional peaks are high and something competitors should be worried about.

Not only can Bryant cry in front of the jury, she’s also got the natural reliability defendants need. Bryant’s portrayal of Berkeley De La Porta turned an extraordinarily guilty millionaire to a feminist entrepreneur who just happened to have those paintings in her basement. If Bryant’s party rep portrayals are Morisot, you can call us DLP the way we are obsessed.

If you didn’t think that joke was funny, don’t worry! Bryant has a couple of rib aching characters tucked up her sleeve. Don’t expect a typical New Jersey broad from Bryant’s character witnesses: competitors should be on the lookout for kooky characters like the Midwestern Lesbian Soccer Mom Cyprus Cosmos that won her a Great Chicago Fire award. Her character witnesses are a more colorful addition to her portfolio that round her out as a versatile competitor.

But, not all art can be perfect. We believe Bryant’s one artistic flaw might be a little more technical. Some might critique her love of “swamp things,” other might critique her expert portrayals. When facing those who have long perfected the expert persona, Bryant might fall short. Having never experted in an official capacity, Bryant might struggle to secure the ballots of judges who have a keen eye for cops and forensic scientists. Luckily, the Emory Leagles are equipped with a line of tried and true experts (like Riya Lakkaraju) who could offer advice lead Bryant to victory. Given her range, we suspect Hadley Bryant can certainly imitate the expert artist.

Whether you hit Bryant as a duressed college student, an entrepreneurial defendant, an outlandish Oshkosh, Wisconsin resident, or a professional doctor, you might just have a difficult time scoring a checkmark against her. But no matter what, you, too, will be convinced that she is a Work of Art.


Evelyn Chew, Texas A&M

Going by recent team success, Evelyn Chew enters the inaugural Gauntlet this July as the biggest underdog in the field. Texas A&M hasn’t been at Nationals since 2019, when they stormed to Philadelphia and proceeded to do nothing great at NCT, only picking up a win against St. Thomas. The Aggies, like their onetime hero Johnny Football, have toiled in relative obscurity ever since their glory days. Until now. Until along came Evelyn Chew. Now, let’s be clear: Texas A&M, as a team, still has a ways to go before reaching NCT. They went 2-6-0 in Los Angeles at ORCS this year. But as anyone who saw them along the way can tell you: that ain’t Evelyn Chew’s fault.

What’s Chew’s path to victory? Well, it’s pretty simple. Anyone who has seen Chew compete understands what the Gauntlet organizers saw pretty quickly when they plucked her out of College Station, Texas and invited her to Gauntlet: she has raw charisma that, frankly, is on par with anyone in this field. Especially when it comes to character witnessing, expect Chew to be versatile and hyper-realistic, but with a definite flair for the dramatic. Chew also has a fair bit of experience as an expert witness that should take her far when it comes to her more professional witness portrayals, often in a trademark British accent. Chew is detail-oriented, as are the best mock trial witnesses, and has a tendency to pull opposing attorneys onto her side of the battlefield during cross-examination, where she is comfortable with the fact pattern, clear about her objectives, and capable of chewing up her crossing attorney. She wins this competition if she lets her natural talent carry her, picks her spots to fight, and remains poised—staying above the fray—during the rest of her cross-examinations.

What could go wrong? Well, sometimes, judges don’t like it when witnesses argue too much. And just as sure as Chew’s ability to nitpick questions and tangle with attorneys on cross can be a strength in small doses, it can be her Achilles heel in excess. And while Chew excels at characters and experts, her sympathetic portrayals, while perfectly capable, might struggle to stand out against a star crier/party like Hadley Bryant or Juli Mothersbaugh. Then, finally, there is the question of how the Aggies’ lack of nationals experience will affect Chew’s support team. We anticipate that the team surrounding Gauntlet-runners will be important, both because it’ll affect their opponents’ cross scores and because experienced content writers can be just as important to a good direct as the witness performance itself. It’s possible, come Saturday morning, Chew will find herself on the back foot in terms of scripts. But only a possibility. At a competition where, honestly, nobody has any experience, and nobody has any idea what Sam Jahangir and his merry band of tournament organizers will decide to do the morning before competition starts, it isn’t really of any consequence whether or not she’s competed at NCT. She has been competing at a high level for a long time, and this weekend she’ll chew the competition up and spit them out just the same.


Vijdan Gill, Fordham Rose Hill

As the Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu once said, “微乎微乎，至于无形，神乎神乎，至于无声，故能为敌之司命。” For those of us who did not compete in a Chinese game show in the 2010s, that’s a quote from The Art of War, and it means, “O divine art of subtlety and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible; and hence we can hold the enemy's fate in our hands.” What, you may be asking, does this have to do with running the Gauntlet? Well, dear friend, ask this question to any Rhodes attorney mid-objection battle, and they will give you your answer: Mock Trial is war, and no one in the field yields the sword of subtlety quite like Vijdan Gill.

Gill has competed with Fordham RH since their freshman year, meaning they bore witness to the program’s meteoric rise to prominence in 2023. For the first time in over a decade, Fordham (Rose Hill, that is) earned a bid to NCT, and Gill left Memphis as the top All-American witness in the Pohlmann Division. Interestingly, Gill competed on Fordham’s B team for the 2024 season, ending their AMTA career in New London with a devastating 25 CS and an All-Regional attorney award.

Gill earned their All American as Frankie Fernandez, scuba diver turned State v. Skye juror. Most Fernandez portrayals were classic characters, full of accents, gray hair color spray, and custom earrings. What set Gill’s performance apart was subtlety. They weren’t walking to the stand with crutches or offering the crosser a discount on scuba classes, which is what made it great. Gill brings realism to the witness stand, something that is sure to set them apart from more theatrical competitors.

The theme of subtlety continued to Gill’s time as a defendant in the 2024 season. Many Poe Camerons brought out the crocodile tears and yelled at crossing attorneys, but Gill brought nuance while still maintaining emotion.

Subtlety and realism are two things we think might win over LA judges. We often think of west coast mock trial as performance-based and flashy, but if TBC is any indicator of the judging pool, we expect quite a few evaluators to be UCLA law students, who seem to prioritize competitors acting like real attorneys. The question is whether this translates to witnesses, and if it does, Gill is in luck. However, if the judges want to be entertained, Gill might run into problems against a Maloney or a Rajan.

Perhaps an underrated aspect of winning Gauntlet is content writing. Given that Gill is one of two runners who have more awards as an attorney than as a witness, we have faith that they know the ins and outs of writing high-level directs and crosses. What gives us pause is that Gill (as far as we know) has not competed since February and didn’t have a chance to see teams at ORCS or NCT. However, just two weeks ago, we saw Laniya Davidson take the idea that a competitor without an NCT bid can’t succeed at an individual competition, raise it over her head, and smash it to pieces on the floor of the TBC final round. Time will tell whether Gill has the ability to do the same.

What lies ahead of these 16 warriors is a path filled with uncertainty. To Vijdan Gill and their path through the gauntlet, we leave these parting words: “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.”


Reese Connors, Rhodes

As the sun rises in Memphis, Tennessee, a glimmer of sunlight enters the room of the most decorated team in the city and the only one to win a national title… the Rhodes Mock Trial Team (sorry, not sorry, Memphis Grizzlies fans). Whether it's their infamous trophy room, large scale tournaments, or (did we mention?) the fact that they win enough to have a trophy room: Rhodes is a permanent fixture in the mock trial community. They’ve got the most appearances in the Final Round of NCT at 9, and the second most national championships with 4. So, it should come as no surprise that Rhodes will be represented in sunny California for the inaugural Gauntlet competition. Reese Connors heads to LA as a decorated veteran and graduate from Rhodes.

Connors comes off a very successful senior season with Rhodes Mock Trial. From serving as as captain of Rhodes A, (succeeding the infamous Veda Krumpe), to taking that same team to a second place finish in the Bradwell division (including a 2-1 victory over eventual NCT champions Virginia A in round 3); she has had one heck of a year to cap off an incredible mock trial career.

Connors specializes as expert witnesses, relying on a cool, calm, and collected southern demeanor to spoon feed judges and juries alike with the exact narrative her team needs to succeed. While she may not typically use the flashy demonstratives other experts rely upon in round, that will give her an edge in this competition, as she can showcase how being a reliable person can be just as effective without the opportunity to whip out a demonstrative aid. Nonetheless, whether she’s explaining a scientific concept, gathering sympathy or just cracking a joke in the courtroom, Connors presents with a smooth confidence perfected by years of the Rhodes machine. Every question, answer, and cross response are honed to perfection in Rhodes’ signature trophy room. This makes Connors great on direct, but even greater on cross, as when you spend as much time on your craft as she does, it's hard to ask a question she that hasn’t heard.

Over the course of her collegiate career Connors earned just two individual witness awards: All-Regional honors in 2022 as a member of Rhodes B Team, and an award in the 4th Annual Peach Bowl (hosted by Emory) in 2022 as a member of the Rhodes A Team. While both of these are impressive honors, they certainly aren’t All-Americans, and neither was in the last two calendar years, which begs the question of how well she’ll hold up against higher level competition at the Gauntlet. Usually we’d point to the success of her program as a point in her favor, but if her teammate’s lackluster result at TBC a few weeks ago is any indicator, perhaps the Lynxes function better as a sum of the parts.

This is the inaugural Gauntlet, so there are a lot of unknowns— not just for Connors. What will work successfully with a new judging pool? Will they favor the flashiness of west coast mock trial? Or will Connors’s Tennessee charm score her a few extra points? Either way, we at MAIMD don’t expect anything but realism, polish, and performance from this Rhodes competitor.


Dylan Darwish, UC Irvine

Teen #1: “Dude, see the way that Heather was checking you out in the cafeteria?”

Teen #2: “Get out. Get out.”

Teen #1: “Man, I’m serious. She’s totally into you”

Teen #2: “Heather’s kind of hot”

Teen #1: “Ooh, Heather, you’re soooo hot. I love you soooo much”.

Teen #2: “Shut it, dweeb.”

Teen #1: “Dude I’m telling you, you should text Heather”

Teen #2: “Yeah, maybe I will”

The boys’ conversation is abruptly cut short when Teen #2 kicks a barrel filled with the concrete-encased remains of Criminal Minds Season 12 Episode 3’s first victim and the drama follows the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit as they hunt down that week’s fictional killer. While Criminal Minds fans never got to see the budding romance between Heather and Teen #2 play out on the small screen, avid college mock trial fans have gotten to see Teen #2 actor Dylan Darwish’s illustrious witness career play out on Irvine’s A team over the past three years.    

With 12 career awards, Darwish is one of the most accomplished Gauntlet runners. Most notably, Darwish awarded at GCF this past January and has earned three (yes, three!) all-national witness awards at the sunny Los Angeles ORCS over the past two seasons, proving the west coast judges love him. Now, Darwish might not have an All-American, but he does have something even rarer for the Gauntlet field: an IMDb page with professional acting credits.

And it’s not hard to understand what the Criminal Minds production team saw in a young Darwish back in 2016 when the casting call went out for Teen #2. Darwish has a natural charm that shines through whether he’s on the stand as a confident New Yorker character witness or a compelling, personable defendant. Darwish will have the room in stitches as he jests in his New York accent, while masterfully weaving his team’s theory seamlessly throughout his direct, perfectly towing the line between entertaining and relevant. His background in improv makes him dangerous on cross, as he is able to artfully avoid tricky traps crossing attorneys attempt to lay, all the while seeming perfectly at ease in the courtroom, not letting anything rile him up.  

While Darwish has some experience with some expert-adjacent witnesses like cops and private investigators, he doesn’t have the direct experience with true experts, nor with sympathetic witnesses, that so many competitors on this list do. However, we have faith that he won’t disappoint in those rounds come Gauntlet weekend because Darwish has proven he’s a versatile competitor. Despite specializing as a witness throughout his career, Darwish has second-chaired for his A team co-captain Josiah Jones these past two summers at TBC. Darwish showed off his theory-crafting and content-writing chops as he supported Jones to a second-place finish in 2023 (and he kept us all entertained on the @anteatermocktrial Instagram story while doing it!). In the Gauntlet field, past TBC experience is even rarer than an IMDb page, and although the structure of the two tournaments is different, Darwish’s exposure to a short prep period and a one-on-one format can only make him more prepared for the inaugural Gauntlet run. Darwish’s past success at TBC makes us hopeful he has more hidden talents waiting to be revealed in LA this July. No matter what, we know Darwish will put on lively, charming performances that will make for a memorable Gauntlet run and we can’t wait to see it (and hey, maybe the Criminal Minds producers will get wind of Darwish’s Gauntlet ventures and finally write Teen #2 a proper character arc that lasts longer than 49 seconds)!

Gordy Gwilt, Michigan

In 2018, Justin Bernstein took Stock of the various applications for his new brainchild–a one-on-one attorney competition called Trial By Combat–and decided to do an experiment. From the University of Virginia, Bernstein selected four-time All-American Deniz Tunceli, who our nerdier readers might recognize as the
dreamy blue-eyed Turkish character witness from the 2016 and 2017 final rounds. Coming in with 14 awards, Tunceli was at the higher end of the pack for the field. The catch? All but one of Tunceli’s awards had been earned as a witness, not an attorney. With Tunceli’s addition to the field, Bernstein was testing the waters to see whether a career witness could hack it in a field of competitors who were primarily attorneys.

Six years later, while endeavoring to create a witness version of Trial by Combat, Elizabeth Smiley and Sam Jahangir selected their initial field to conduct a similar experiment. Fresh off of what can only be called one of the most egregious TBC snubs of all time, Gordy Gwilt joins the 2024 Gauntlet field performing the same role Tunceli performed in 2018– this time, trying to determine what place, if any, a career attorney with witnessing chops has in a field of witnesses. While there’s no question that Gwilt can certainly hold his own as a witness–he did so as part of the Michigan A teams that finished 2nd and 3rd in their division the past two seasons–it’s not role that made him a household name in Midwestern Mock. Seven of Gwilt’s ten awards, including his All-American, were earned by “Counselor Gwilt,” not any of his various witness personas. That’s enough to give anyone pause on his chances here.

But there’s actually a whole lot of reason to believe Gwilt will do more here to prove the prowess of double-threat competitors than Tunceli did back in ‘18 when he finished in the bottom half of the inaugural TBC field. For one, our MAIMD hot take of the season is that Gwilt’s witnessing might actually be better than his attorneying. While he’s best recognized for his goofy defense experts, this past season Gwilt took a stab at an Emory Sands that was one of the best we saw on the circuit–a perfect balance between an affable, believable southern character and a gripping, authentic emotional witness. He has a lot more range and talent as a witness than his resume doing both necessarily shows–likely because his time on the stand has been spent sharing ranks with Michigan’s world class witness lineup. Beyond that, Gwilt’s got a case to be the best content writer in this field. Michigan’s number one claim to fame is the clarity and concision of their content–how they boil the complex details of a case into simple and clear questions and answers. Given that Gwilt has been captaining the A team for the past two years, we imagine he has had a hand in that stylistic choice and a whole lot of experience bringing that virtue out in scripts, even in roles he doesn’t traditionally play.

All in all, we won’t sugarcoat it for the rest of the field: we think Gwilt is going to do very well this weekend. If the ballots don’t go his way, it’ll be a respectable ending to a tremendous career. And if they do, it won’t be the first time we’ve seen just how scrappy these Wolverines can be.  

Isabella Leak, Notre Dame

What do you call a disgraced flight-school owner with fortune telling abilities who happens to be from southern New Jersey?

You can call her a lot of things – All-National Witness Isabella Leak, All-American Witness Isabella Leak, Notre Dame Mock Trial President Isabella Leak. You could also (as we here at the Isabella Leak Naming Department plan to) just call her Bella – it’s simple, and it’ll be easy to remember after she sweeps you and takes your ballots with a smile.

A little bit of background to back up that fairly ostentatious claim – Leak is Notre Dame’s star witnessing talent, a brilliant character specialist who won an All-American as a freshman in Lancaster. The reason she’s so terrifying in this tournament is because after she won that All-American, she was forced to adapt. Those who hit Notre Dame’s team during the Felder v. Koller Campbell Air case may remember that on one side of the case, Leak wasn’t cast as the character witness she shone as in Pennsylvania the year prior. She was cast as a sympathetic, confused, grieving defendant – and she helped push Notre Dame through two Chicagoland elimination tournaments to reach the podium in Memphis. All of this to say: Leak has adaptability and range that has been practiced and cultivated at the highest level of this activity, and in that regard, she will undoubtedly be among the very best in this competition. The question, of course, is what will happen if and when she has to play an expert witness. Leak has been on a team with some of Notre Dame’s iconic experts — MacKenzie Stewart, for example – and has thus had significantly less experience playing those roles than handing out rickroll business cards to judges at Nationals. If she draws expert against some of the iconic character-expert-chameleons on this list (looking at you, Anant Rajan), we expect that may be a very difficult round for her, and we cannot guarantee she would win it.

So, what can we guarantee about a round against President Leak? We can guarantee it will be fun, and we can guarantee it will be responsive. Make no mistake, this is a competitor who reads the room like it’s her job to do so. We can guarantee there will be smiles, laughs, and perhaps a leopard print blouse involved. We can guarantee that if you draw Leak as a character witness, you’re in for one of the hardest rounds of your competitive career: you will be fighting all round to be more engaging than her, more funny than her, more charismatic than her. Finally: we can guarantee that you will enjoy* the round, because that’s the real strength of an Isabella Leak character witness – she makes a stressful activity feel, occasionally, fun.

*(Note: this guarantee does not apply if you have an aversion to pranks – in which case, don’t take the business cards she gives you).


Alex Lee, Brown

It’s 2023, New Rochelle, and Michael Chandler, Tara Hislip, Kiara Moon, and Brown A are clawing their way out of a five year NCT drought. 2018: no Bruno the Bear at Nationals. 2019: judges said no to the Brunonians. In 2023, with then-sophomore Alex Lee double-side experting in what was certainly not a simple case, the Brownies broke ground and walked out of Iona University with a bid to Memphis.

Lee’s contribution to Brown Mock Trial, and his talent as an expert, are unquestionable. That same year, as a sophomore, he went on to All-American as the wise and definitely-not-biased Judge Sage Reyes in Memphis. In 2024, Brown was back at NCT, with Lee right there at the front the whole time. Obviously, our favorite indie Ivy League did not enjoy the same podium success this year in Chicago, suffering a first round sweep from UT Austin, a third round sweep from Princeton, and a fourth round loss to UMBC. But we here at MAIMD read the NCT case, which means we know one thing for sure: Alex Lee wasn’t losing those points.

Here’s the rub: Alex Lee has one type of witness that he does very, very well (see cited All-American above). As an expert, Lee is unflappable on cross, impeccable on direct, and is sure to know the case materials better than his crossing (and maybe even directing) attorney. A classic Lee direct will always be solid—start out with a dad joke, solid foundation—but that won’t be enough to cut it here at the Gauntlet. Lee fills a niche: he does a serious yet playful, intelligent, bookish witness extraordinarily well, and in normal mock trial competitors to fill those types of niches are essential. This, dear reader, as you know, is not normal mock trial.

At the Gauntlet, witnesses will be expected to prepare directs for all kinds of witnesses, not just what they’re best at— and that could cause some problems for Alex Lee. As far as we can tell, he doesn’t have the acting background required to break out the waterworks or the character experience to walk the line of “just funny enough for court.” While it’s possible we’ll see something new from him in Los Angeles, his past success as an expert (and his style of choice) don’t suggest an ability to break out of the mold. He’ll succeed if he manages to craft directs that steal the checkmarks required for characters and emotional witnesses while still staying true to his strengths.

Regardless of Lee’s range difficulties, we expect him to put on a solid performance in LA this weekend. Brown Mock Trial is no joke: despite the aforementioned struggles at Nationals this year, where they came away with just four ballots to show for the weekend, they’ve proved over the past two years that they absolutely can compete at the highest level. That’s not to mention Michael Chandler’s wildly successful TBC run last year, supporting Lee with some institutional knowledge about one-on-one tournaments. In this new format, look for Lee to shine with preparedness and cleanliness: he has the chops to beat out some of this field as an expert or straight-laced party rep. Time will tell whether this Brunonian (seriously, why not just Bruno, Brown) can dig deep and find some range we haven’t seen him before.

Emma Rose Maloney, UCLA

The 1951 film production of Tennesse Williams’s classic American play A Streetcar Named Desire has been regarded by many as the paradigm shift of cinematic acting styles. This on film clash of Hollywood legend Viven Leigh and then-newcomer to the silver screen Marlon Brando serves as an iconic example of old school versus new school acting. Leigh’s dramatics and overexaggerated expressions are derived from a classically trained theatrical approach à la Laurence Olivier. She enunciates for Shakespeare and emotes for the back row of the mezzanine. Brando adopts a more naturalistic style, born out of the Stanislavski school where the currency of exchange is subtly. It’s a style that would quickly surge in prestige to the point that it largely dominates the palate of the modern movie goer.

While this standoff of Oscar-winners and their acting approaches happened over 70 years ago, it may serve as a prescient look at this upcoming weekend in LA. As the Gauntlet seeks to crown the nation’s best witness we will have an opportunity to discover which style reigns supreme in mock trial— the subtle or the sensational? For those of you on team sensational you have to look no further than perhaps the most Leigh-esque competitor in the field: Emma Rose Maloney.

Emma Rose Maloney may not come from the same witnessing school as Tamara Joseph, but she certainly has carved out her own quirky style that places her among the pantheon of your high level over-the-top legends. She’s perhaps most famous for channeling a Southern belle in her own modern twist of Viven Leigh’s Scarlett O'Hara. She evokes a sort of negative-first-wave feminism as she takes the classic dumb blonde joke to its absolute heights. In other words, she  makes it clear that her husband knows how to ball, and she thinks Aristotle is a brand of luxury handbags. But she does it all in an undeniably hysterical fashion that combines a Tammy Faye sensibility with a heaping of Hollywood theatrics. If you see her walk into a courtroom in her iconic Barbie pink Chanel tweed set you know you’re in for an absolutely unforgettable performance. Her mannerisms and flair ensure that she will stand out in every round. And in a competition of 16 competitors who are used to being the standout in their rounds no one comes close to the spotlight stealing capabilities of Emma Rose Maloney.

But Maloney's not just capable of the over-the-top style. She can switch gears and pull off subtle, emotional performances too. In fact, her first All-American on the NCT winning UCLA squad was as the falsely convicted Robin Skye. For Maloney these roles are still solid, showcasing her range and depth as a performer, but they haven't quite hit the same mark as her far more awarded comedic ones. Despite this, she’s carved out a niche for these heartfelt performances on UCLA A for the past two years, providing a balance to their otherwise flamboyant repertoire. Her more grounded, teary-eyed portrayals bring a sincerity and vulnerability that resonate on a different level. It’s clear she has the talent for both styles, but her knack for comedy tends to steal the show more often than not. As for the other types of witness roles, we’re not really sure what an Emma Rose expert or cop would look like. She certainly has the talent and team behind her to whip something up, but more serious and dry roles don’t exactly map onto the current repertoire she’s displayed.

All in all, Emma Rose Maloney performance at the Gauntlet offers a perfect chance to watch the battle between the subdued and the over-the-top style of witnessing play out. Or perhaps she’ll show us a new never before seen acting style this weekend. After all, she is the most accomplished actor in the field. If the number of credits on your IMDB page is the metric, then she’ll be taking home the gold (eat your heart out Dylan Darwish).

Rand Meyer, Northwestern

Arguably (at least in this writer's heart) the most beloved member of the 2024 Gauntlet field is Northwestern's Rand Meyer, an AMTA-season double threat and crowd favorite. He's been bringing the Wildcats to new heights (uncannily consistent 8th-10th place NCT finishes) since his first appearance on their A team as a freshman in 2022. And while he first made his name with a shockingly funny old-man voice and character, he's since branched out a bit. Meyer is one of the minority in the field with at least one attorney award to his name, and it's not just from that phenomenon where your star witness decides to spend a fall season proving they could ALSO do the attorneys' jobs if they wanted—he's been attorneying on Northwestern A for the last couple seasons as well. While we don't yet have a benchmark for whether attorney experience will remotely help Gauntlet competitors, it certainly can't hurt to be familiar with every angle on how to write a great direct.

But the big question for Meyer is what his witness range really looks like. It's no secret that mock trial tends to produce specialists, especially when a competitor is just so good at what they've already been doing. We're not sure how much experience Meyer has with professional or sympathetic witnesses, given the depth of talent Northwestern has historically had in those roles. On the other hand, Meyer is one of those actors that anyone watching can immediately tell is the real deal. He's likable, charismatic, and a phenomenal storyteller. He's got more characters in his repertoire than the game of Clue. Meyer can do everything from accents and voices to the kind of physicality and expressive body language coaches dream of. Whether or not he's done any given role in trial before, he shouldn't be counted out.

And of course, rumor has it Gauntlet is a home town appearance for Meyer. His experience with the area's judging pool through high school public speaking activities could give him an edge unrivaled by anyone but the actual UCLA competitor in the field. West coast witnessing famously has its own quirks and criteria for success, and we think Meyer’s style will slot into that niche more easily than most of his competition. All in all we wouldn’t be surprised to see an even better checkmark-winning percentage from Meyer running the Gauntlet than his claimed backflip-landing percentage.

That brings us to the most important unanswered question about the brand-new Gauntlet format: will they, like their sister tournament, have an unofficial but coveted award for "best name"? If so, we think Rand Meyer (even in a stacked field including multiple alliterative competitors) has a very strong shot at taking home more than one accolade this weekend.


Juliana Mothersbaugh, UChicago

In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.

As fans of the early-2000s cult classic “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” are well aware, for the fictitious city of Sunnydale California, that hero is the one and only cheerleader slash vampire hunter Buffy Summers. But for the AMTA circuit of the mid-2020s, there’s another that comes to mind at the title “Slayer:” the indomitable Juliana Mothersbaugh. True, while we don’t know for sure Mothersbaugh’s killed any undead–although we don’t want to rule out the possibility–we do know that for the past four years in AMTA, she’s stood alone against her own set of dark forces: the encroaching limitations on spectacle witnessing that the miasma of increasingly anti-fun judging preferences and stricter invention rules have put into place.

What do we mean? Well take for a second Mothersbaugh’s most famous role, the one you know her for if you know her for anything: her 2022 portrayal of Jean Riggs in the National Final. If you’re willing to soldier through the masked performances or the audiovisual tech issues, towards the end of the round you get to see Mothersbaugh give one hell of a Defendant direct. Bearing a just visible fake scar on her neck, Mothersbaugh’s Riggs takes the near-entirely free rein the interrogations offer her and details a harrowing story of being threatened and wounded by Chicago’s alternate suspect for the manic cocaine scheme at the heart of the case’s fact pattern. Dramatic? It’s practically theater. But entertaining? Unquestionably.

And that’s where we get into just what makes Mothersbaugh so brilliant. Of course, she’s also one of the most sympathetic criers on the circuit. Of course, she’s got an inherent credibility that makes her near uncrossable as a Defendant. Of course, she’s got an instinct for developing and highlighting the narrative of a fact pattern in one simple direct examination that’s taken the load off openers on her team for years. Of course she has a boat load of awards. But if you want to understand what makes her AMTA’s chosen one, if you want to see what she brings to this field that is completely and unquestionably unrivaled, you have to look at how damn good she is at putting on a show. Whether it’s spinning Alex Silva to be not just devastated but furious, or finding a delivery for the ill-fated DJ “I don’t remember” Davis that just works, Mothersbaugh somehow never has to find a sacrifice in that futile trade-off between realism and entertainment. Whatever she’s doing on the stand, you can expect two things from her. First, a real person’s story, and second, an edge-of-your-seat-retelling of it.

Of course, Mothersbaugh’s not alone in this virtue. Her program, UChicago, has been the leader of pushing the boundaries of the fun, zany, extravagant storytelling machine that this activity can be since that iconic final. While we don’t know how who’ll be accompanying her to Chicago as her support staff, we do know it can’t be the same as the full-team dynamic she had previously. Without Sam Farnsworth by her side filling the role of a likable, doofus-y Xander, without Judy Zhang there to be the loyal, level headed Willow, without the guiding hand of a Giles in Coach Sam Jhangir or bad-boy Angel energy that only Max Fritsch could ever bring, what comes next?

When this Slayer is alone without everything she’s had these past four years–no coaches, no friends, no time to prep–what’s left?

She is. Good luck to Juliana the Vampire Slayer this weekend as she takes on the Hellmouth.


Anant Rajan, Harvard

When shall we three meet again In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
When the hurlyburly's done, When the battle's lost and won.
That will be ere the set of sun.
Where the place?
Upon the heath.
There to meet with Rajan.

In terms of gauntlet witnessing, there is no doubt Anant Rajan is Scottish nobility. And like anything we write, this is of course both literal and figurative. The literal: Rajan can do a bloody good Scottish accent. The figurative: this writer is confident he will place very highly if not win this competition. He shall be safe until Birnam Wood makes its way to Dunsinane.

For those of you who have closed your eyes and plugged your ears for the last four years, let’s talk about who exactly Anant Rajan is! Enter Harvard’s most versatile character witness. If you’d like proof, just watch the 2022 final round. Or the 2023 final round! Now you may be wondering, “but [author], he experts in those rounds!” Indeed he does. That’s because to Rajan, character archetype is an unnecessary formality. This is a competitor that can cry on command all morning, then turn around and make wry jokes in a British accent post lunch. He’s an experienced expert, party rep, and character. Did we miss any?

Coming into the gauntlet, flexibility is golden. This is a competition that tests versatility. Scores of AMTA competitors are excellent criers, or experts, or really good at that once specific exaggerated French accent… but can they do both? Can they conquer all three? For Rajan, coming into this tournament, the answer is a resounding yes. Rajan has seven witnessing awards, including two final round All Americans and one All American from this year. He’s long been a figurehead of the Harvard team—Jessica Alexander, Travis Harper, and Audrey Vanderslice all carry clout as the great attorneys and double-threats of the storied program in recent years, but when it comes to witnessing Rajan has always had it locked. As a character, Rajan is able to play quick, clever, European-accented witnesses with ease. As a crier, he might keep the accent, but lose all light as the room gets dragged deep and somber. As an expert, he combines the wittiness of any good joking witness with a sprinkle of that Harvard credibility, and a final round performance is born. We imagine he had a field day with this year’s Nationals case, as Rajan’s IRL (not lawyer cosplay) aspirations are to become a doctor. Indeed, he’ll be studying at Johns Hopkins next fall. Should the gauntlet case have anything to do with science or medicine, the hordes of Political Science majors that populate this activity will certainly have lots to fear.

This all comes with the caveat that Gauntlet is a new competition, thus much of what we write about it is speculation. We can say a competitor is good in the regular season, but how does that extend to this mystery format? We’re not exactly sure how it will be run, or how Rajan will fare if the rules throw a curveball that standard AMTA wouldn’t. Plus, there’s always the very real chance that the other competitors could be slept on. While we at MAIMD love a good award (We sort applications to our organization solely by awards. Awards are the only acceptable metric of talent), they aren’t everything.

It isn’t much of a prophecy, but something tells us Rajan won’t need to murder a king to come away with the gold on the 14th. Clothed in his signature maroon suit (because it’s too hot for a turtleneck in July), he’ll walk into the courtroom cool, collected, and possibly a little late. Everyone here he’s seen before, everyone here was born of woman. There is no forest to be moved. There is no Macduff. If Rajan can take this tournament and do exactly what he always does, he will win. Perhaps we shall live to see him crowned at Scone.

Miranda Stone, Oregon

Everyone get ready–we’re going to say it. Mock Trial is a game that favors the elites.* Beyond any critiques about the ways in which teams and programs are evaluated against one another (which, legally speaking, cannot be attributed to us per the below disclaimer), it’s a simple fact that the teams that have been to ORCS before are more likely to do well at ORCS again. The teams that have been to NCT are more likely to do well at NCT the next time they’re there. This activity is niche, close-knit, and incredibly driven by insider knowledge, which means that the more chances a team gets at-bat with a certain format or level of competition, the better they’re going to play at inside baseball. Regardless of the normative effects of this phenomenon, we see it at play in mock results all the time. Take, for instance, Stone’s teammate Devika Narandra’s finish in the bottom half of this year’s TBC field. Disappointing for all the Narendstans out there? Certainly. But surprising? Of course not. Of course a team like Oregon’s would struggle their first time in a short-prep format that others, like UCLA and Tufts, have had years to get to a science.

That, dearest reader, is precisely what makes this year’s Gauntlet–and Stone’s place in its field–so exciting to watch, even for those who aren’t as attentive to the witnessing part of this activity. For the first time in recent memory, high-level mock trial is presenting a new challenge, which means that exceptional competitors from the 230 ‘non-elite’ programs on the AMTA circuit won’t be starting off on a back foot. Stone might have one NCT to the rest of this field’s several, but we expect that will matter very little for her prospects here.

As those who tuned in for her teammate’s play-in run got to see, Stone’s niche is experts: she does a believable, engaging persona of an actual doctor that walks the ever-difficult fine line between being too performative to seem real and being too real to be engaging, and walks it like a masterful tightrope acrobat. Stone’s real virtue for this format is extra little oomph she brings to her expert witness portrayals. Whether she’s a penitent pill-peddling pharmacist or an outraged OBGYN, Stone adds an extra bit of genuine emotion to her expert witnesses that make her seem not just credible, but human. She has the skill to not only explain the facts of a case, but deliver them with a performance that conveys their pathos to the jury too–the kind of talent that attorneys pray for in their directing partners. That special sauce is what got her an All-American this April as Dr. Kiran Aggarwal, a notoriously challenging NCT curveball witness that Stone tackled. We expect Stone’s emotion and authenticity is going to be a huge asset in a competition that’s going to value versatility. Other than her crown-jewel All-American run, she also had a remarkably successful streak her freshman year as a character portrayal of Petrillo v. Martini’s Austin Lewis, meaning she might have more up her sleeve than her competitors will be expecting.

In short, don’t count out Stone here. She’s already the most successful witness her program has fielded in recent history. With a clean slate and the chance to be on an even playing field, who’s to say she doesn’t take her last chance to compete to push that exceptionally high bar she’s set all the way up to best in the nation.

*This statement should not be interpreted as a specific commentary on any individuals, organizations, legal professionals, blog groups, instagram pages, anonymous confession facebook pages or summer tournaments. Any allusion to any previously-made public critique is purely coincidental and not a reflection of the opinions of Mock Analysis Is My Drug (trademark pending) or its individual members.

Naomi Uchida, South Carolina

For many competitors, the next few weeks mark the end of their time in the blue sky walled, cowboy themed safety of invitationals and AMTA tournaments, and the beginning of their venture to the lauded Gauntlet. Much like the SunnySide Daycare, we expect there to be one character in the mix who is as seasoned as she is smiley, as crafty as she is charming, and as excited to meet the competition as she is to blow them to smithereens. The Gauntlet’s very own Lots-o-Huggin Bear is none other than Naomi Uchida.

While some witnesses may take the stand with lassos and laser blasters blazing, Uchida’s strength as a witness comes more from her subtlety. Whether she’s referencing the “spookies” she was told in Cuba, or the shenanigans her daughter Paola has gotten up to, Uchida fully embodies the most lovable mother you’ve ever met. Even in her recent forays into playing a sympathetic witness, she can inject real, but still highly entertaining, bits to win over the jury as quick as you can scrawl ANDY in sharpie.

Beneath her endearing anecdotes, though, lies a carefully calculated trap. If you’re not careful, you’ll find yourself sliding detachable-head-first into a garbage incinerator. Because attempts to curtail her storytelling will paint you as the Caterpillar Room toddler thrashing around a kindly and defenseless fan favorite witness. Trying to beat her at her own game is a fool’s errand too– no one can play the momma bear better than Naomi Uchida.

The fluffy facade makes both Uchida and Lotso easy to like and hard to combat, but what makes them feared is the strength they’ve built up. Uchida brings with her the most witness awards of anyone in the field. What she lacks in an All-American, she makes up in, well, just about every other award she could have gotten– a whopping 12, including two All-Nationals.

But no twist-villain is invincible. While Uchida comes into this competition as one of the most decorated witnesses in the country, her trophy cabinet is one that did not feature many additions this year. Under the pressure of a highly technical main season case involving multiple experts and two defendants, it is worth noting Uchida only received two awards in the 2023-2024 season. Contrast this year's performance with Uchida’s stupendous 8 awards during the Koller Campbell Air era, we can’t help but attribute some of her shortcomings to the dichotomy of the two cases. KC Air featured every day character witnesses that fit Uchida’s style while PC/DLP forced Uchida into uncomfortable roles like billionaire defendant Berkeley De La Porta. While Uchida is sure to put up a fight against almost every character in this competition, her Achilles Heel may be waiting in the text of a complex expert report or an emotionless defendant deposition that mirrors that of our long forgotten State v. Poe Cameron/Berkeley De La Porta.

But enough with the analysis and back to the analogy, as far as a tragic origin story goes for our Lotso, as it were, missing Nationals at both the ‘23 Arlington and ‘24 Greenville ORCS is right up there with being left stranded on the side of the highway in a cardboard box. But don’t be fooled by Uchida’s lack of NCT appearances–we had her locked as the best character witness in the country this fall and we meant what we said there. She’s among titans, whether or not she’s gotten to go head to head with them.

We’ll look to Los Angeles to see if she’s been strapped down to the grille of a garbage truck, or if she’ll continue her reign supreme.


Alex Webb, Wisconsin

In the vast expanse of the Wyoming plains there lies a range of rugged peaks with silhouettes etched sharply against the pale gold of the early morning light. Nature’s uniquely quiet grandeur hangs in the air.

No, dear reader, this is not MAIMD once again reaffirming our last place finish in the middle school geography bee by mistaking the UW in UW-Madison for University of Wyoming. This vignette is our daft attempt at cinematographical writing. It’s our opening shot which places our Alex Webb write-up temporally and spatially in the true place it ought to exist— Brokeback Mountain.

You may know Webb as one of AMTA’s most premier criers and as a member of the Wisconsin A team that has more All-Americans than Regionals bids in the last 3 years. But what you might not know— unless you’ve also done a 3 second Google search of her name— is that she’s a decorated member of UW’s equestrian team. And so when you consider her hidden horse girl identity and famously devastating witness portrayals it only makes sense to have an Alex Webb/Brokeback Mountain write-up.

As with most career witnesses Webb is most famous and most awarded in a particular role– a sympathetic witness. From her Ari Felder, to her Emory Sands, to her All-American Robin Skye, Webb has always had an Ennis Del Mar quality to her criers. That is, she weaponizes silence. She can communicate intense and truly tear jerking emotion in just a few words. And in the moments where she’s not speaking you’ll feel the silence just as intensely— as if you were at mountain peak elevation. Then she’ll thin the air even further when she begins to speak with a vocal timbre and inflection that conveys a level of devastation so real and so haunting that you can feel your tear ducts well up. But what is perhaps most unique about Webb’s style of sympathy is her volume. Where other widows and victims will struggle to straddle the line between demure whispers over the top histrionics, Webb’s projection will make sure you hear every gut wrenching word without it seeming like she’s raised her voice at all.

But don’t be fooled into thinking that Webb is only good at being a sympathetic witness. Much like how Heath Ledger can play a tragic ranch hand in Brokeback, but also a maniacal Joker in The Dark Knight or a teenage heartthrob bad boy in 10 Things I Hate About You, Webb has incredible range. From Irish character to erudite expert to hardened cop, her Webb connects them all she can do them all. Gauntlet will be a new frontier for everyone competing— some would say it is in fact their first rodeo. So in this Wild West of mock trial we expect that Webb’s versatility will allow her to adapt and excel at anything the competition could cook up.

Over the last three years Wisconsin has truly been one of the most interesting stories for us to cover. From their massive underdog story to Nationals in 2022 to their heartbreaking losses at Regionals these last two years, they’ve never failed to give us drama in and outside of the courtroom. And at the center of it all has been Alex Webb. So whether her last ride in Los Angeles brings us the rise or fall of this midwest princess we know we’ll be wishing it wasn’t over. Alex Webb… I wish I knew how to quit you.


When possible, these numbers were taken from the website of each competitors’ respective team. When these records were unavailable, we used publicly-available AMTA tab summaries. If we missed any awards, we invite any competitor to message us or post below with a list of individual awards and we will update the table.

Competitor	Career Awards	Witness	Attorney	All American
Isis Arevalo	6	6	0	0
Hadley Bryant	4	4	0	0
Evelyn Chew	11	11	0	0
Reese Connors	2	2	0	0
Dylan Darwish	12	9	3	0
Vijdan Gill	6	2	4	1
Gordy Gwilt	10	3	7	1
Isabella Leak	7	7	0	1
Alex Lee	10	10	0	1
Emma Rose Maloney	6	6	0	2
Rand Meyer	7	6	1	2
Juliana Mothersbaugh	10	10	0	3
Anant Rajan	7	7	0	3
Miranda Stone	7	7	0	1
Naomi Uchida	12	12	0	0
Alex Webb	5	5	0	1

I have been provided this top secret information.  I believe that this represents the most current 2nd chairs and coaches.  Not every competitor's choices are represented, but most are.  This is a novel competition, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out.  Crossing attorneys may play a very important role.  If so, Stone with Narendra, Darwish with Jones, Leak with Stock, and of course Mothersbaugh with Farnsworth may have a big advantage.  


Competitor          2nd Chair                 3rd Chair                      Coach

Miranda Stone Devika Narendra Joni Winn      Rohan Menon

Gordy Gwilt Roni Kane Eleanor Mancina       Will Akis

Dylan Darwish Josiah Jones Julie Abing       Emily Shaw

Evelyn Chew William Johnson Jakob Zertuche Sam Kim

Hadley Bryant Fiona Liu        Pranay Mamileti        Danielle Jacoby

Reese Connors Cormac Maclae Noah Dickerson Anna Eldridge

Isis Arevalo Shailee Desai Carson He        Abby Becall

Rand Meyer Clare Humphrey Graham Umbanhowar Nat Warner

Julianna Mothersbaugh Sam Farnsworth -----        Max Fritsch

Isabella Leak Charles Stock Theodora Ciobanu        Henry Leamon

Naomi Uchida Dylan Peddemors Nicole Hamilton Chance Sturup

Alex Webb Aaron Mathew Jack Wypiszynski         Arria Alton

Alex Lee         Aniyah Nelson Jiara Moon         Michael Chandler

Emma Rose Maloney Nasier Muldrow    Sulaymaan Ali          Iain Lampert

Vijdan Gill TBD TBD                          Jonah Harwood

Anant Rajan Brooke Jones Mira Kumar          Stella Asmerom

Lee Rosenthal Meredith Fenyo Max Newsom          Eli Tannenwald