When an athletic season ends, players who have been so wrapped up in practices and games and working alongside teammates and coaches who have assumed important roles in each other’s lives results in a kind of withdrawal that is difficult to understand unless you have been through it. The Blue Devil mock trial team is no different.
Now that the season is over, the attorneys and witnesses who brought Huntington High School mock trial team to the brink of a state championship are reflecting on their experience and decompressing after putting their heart and soul into perfecting their courtroom performance.
The Blue Devils went completely undefeated through the regular season and four county playoff titles en route to the Suffolk championship. Huntington’s volunteer legal advisors Xavier Palacios and John LoTurco and faculty advisors Suzi Biagi and Greg Dieterich were thrilled to advance to the state finals, where the team came oh-so-close to winning it all.
Huntington’s county championship squad featured Isabella Careccia-Johnson, Molly Fallon, Nina Fascilla, Emily Geller, Ashley Genao, Angie Hernandez-Ramos, Elizabeth James, Sophie Laserson, Jillian LoTurco, Christopher Maichin, Robert McCallion, Dawin Preval and Kyra Scott.
“It’s a very bitter sweet feeling now that the mock trial season is over,” Mr. Maichin said. “It’s sad to see my final season come to an end, but looking back on my entire mock trial experience as a whole, I couldn’t be happier. I started this program my freshman year as a witness. I had amazing upperclassmen ahead of me who showed me the ropes and how special this team and this program is. Fast forward to this year, after a season getting cancelled due to COVID-19 and a virtual season last year when we lost in the county semi-finals. We seniors were ready for our last hoorah and for this season to be the team’s best yet; and it was.”
This year’s team came together last fall when the group began preparations. Once the team had received the case, it really went to work. The members complemented each other and they fell into their roles.
“We had a great mix of older and younger students on the team and just as those seniors did for us when we were freshman, we led by example and showed them the ropes. We all worked long hours and late nights perfecting our roles, constantly asking for feedback and learning from our mistakes.”
The number of hours the teenagers devoted to mastering their roles was breathtaking. That Messrs. LoTurco and Palacios volunteered hundreds of hours themselves after work and on weekends is equally remarkable. But it speaks to everyone’s commitment to excellence.
“We wouldn’t have come close to the success we had this year without our attorney coaches, John LoTurco and Xavier Palacios,” Mr. Maichin said. “They cared; they wanted to see us succeed and they continued to push us because they knew we were nowhere near to reaching our potential. Their passion for their legal careers and for this program rubbed off on every single one of us and pushed us to get better every single day. They are two of the biggest reasons why we won a county championship and finished second out of over 400 teams in New York State.”
For Mr. Maichin, one of Huntington’s best lacrosse players who helped the Blue Devils reach for the Suffolk Final Four this spring, the mock trial experience was more than just winning courtroom battles. His work with Messrs. LoTurco and Palacios will stay with him as he heads of to college and eventually pursues a career.
“Personally, they helped me find my voice; my passion and what I want my purpose to be in this world,” Mr. Maichin said. “That’s something no class has ever taught me. We left our legacy on this program and this school and as the next chapter of my life begins, I will bring the things I’ve learned from mock trial with me and never forget where it all started. Thank you Huntington mock trial!”