Clublicity: Mock Trial Makes it to the Quarte

by Saitta Roy

For the first time in Newfield history, the Newfield Mock Trial Team made it to the quarter-finals of the county championships that took place in the Central Islip Criminal Courthouse. This year's case saw Plaintiff Remington Stone, played by James Keenan, go up against the defendant, cantankerous curmudgeon, Marley Miser, played by Cristopher Peralta. The story goes that Mr. Stone was electrocuted on the job at Mr. Miser’s home, but was it the fault of Mr. Miser’s unsafe work conditions, or Mr. Stone’s alleged intoxication? The verdict changes every trial it seems.

The preliminary four rounds resulted in a 3-1 record for Newfield, with wins against Mattituck, Sachem East, and Half Hollow Hills East, and 1 point loss to Ward Melville. The team was the 8th seed during the playoffs and was once again matched against Half Hollow Hills East but on opposite sides of the case where they once again defeated them. Sadly the team lost the quarter-finals by 1 point (again) to East Hampton’s team. Although the defeat came with much sadness it also had the team reflecting on the vast amount of progress they made from the previous year, where by week 3, they were ranked 23rd and had very little prospect of making it to the playoffs, which they didn't. With a majority of the team being composed of juniors this year, next year's team will be senior-dominated and shows lots of promise.