Mock Trial Team Finishes Year 1 in Top 36% of Connecticut High Schools

On February 7, 2025, St. Joseph High School’s New Mock Trial Team exited the playoffs after hard-fought trials against Wilton High School and Immaculate High School. St. Joes finished in the top 20 of 56 Connecticut High School Mock Trial Teams. St. Joe’s was  the only first-year program in the top 20.  The competition director remarked that “a first-year team has not made it this far in many years.” Coach Nicolle Lipkin said “I’m really impressed by how each member of our team was able to comprehend, digest, analyze, and effectively apply complicated legal principles in a courtroom in such a short amount of time.”

Wilton and Immaculate proved to be very strong teams, evidenced by the fact that both advanced to Elite Eight, meaning the two are currently in the top 15% of teams in the State and will keep competing in the Quarterfinals.

Students on SJ’s Mock Trial Team said the best part of this experience was seeing their hard work and extensive preparation culminate in successful trials. The team practiced diligently on Sundays for 2–3 hours at a time, but Captain Olivia Szczerba ’25 claimed that the “Sunday practices were definitely worth it.”  Captain Vanessa Theagene ’25 added, “While my Sundays were long, the coaches put great effort into teaching us legal terminology in such a short amount of time. In the end, our late meetings and Sunday scrimmages were worth how far we made it.” And Ellen Romano ’25, who lives the farthest away from St. Joes, said “The 40 minute train ride and giving up part of my weekend seemed like a lot at first, but it ended up being one of my favorite activities at SJ. It never felt like a waste of time. Looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing.” The students collectively said the practices developed many critical skills, including public speaking, critical thinking, professionalism, teamwork, and of course, legal knowledge. The team is graduating five Seniors who each played a pivotal part of the team’s success including: Captain Vanessa Theagene (attorney & witness), Captain Olivia Szczerba (attorney), Ellen Romano (attorney), Zoë McLean (attorney), and Aidan Broer (witness). When asked about this graduating class, Coach Kyle Souza said, “We owe this group everything. While we brought a set of principles and philosophies, it really was our group of Seniors that took it, ran with it, and established our positive culture which drove everyone to do their best and have each other’s backs. We’re really going to miss our Seniors next year, but I think our returners will be ready to pick up where they left off.”

Captain Rhys Ingram ’26 can attest to that, “I certainly plan on returning. My goal for next year is to, at a minimum, make the Elite Eight. But I really want to win it all.”

In order to achieve Rhys’s goal, more students will need to sign up for the 2025–2026 SJ Mock Trial Team. Interested students and students with inquiries can email Attorney Kyle D. Souza at ksouza@sjcadets.org. Practices for the 2025–2026 academic year will begin in September 2025.