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Quigley Catholic High School (Beaver County) Wins Pennsylvania Bar Association Statewide Mock Trial Competition


Quigley Catholic High School Matched with Roman Catholic High School (Philadelphia) in Final Round of Competition

HARRISBURG (March 29, 2015) - Quigley Catholic High School won the 32nd Annual Pennsylvania Bar Association Statewide High School Mock Trial Competition, which took place at the Dauphin County Courthouse in Harrisburg on March 27 and 28.

Quigley Catholic High School will represent Pennsylvania in the national mock trial finals to be held May 14 - 16 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The Quigley Catholic High School mock trial team is composed of students Sarah Belsterling, T.J. Belsterling, George Burnet, Emily Chinchilla, Emily Cronin, Megan Gannon, Gabrielle Ingros, Ellen Kruczek, Austin Kuntz, Annamarie Lovre and Jacob Stumm. The teacher coach is Timothy Waxenfelter. The attorney advisor is Jennifer Popovich.

Quigley Catholic High School also won the 1990, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2002 and 2013 PBA Statewide High School Mock Trial competitions.

Joining Quigley Catholic High School Mock Trial Team in the final round of competition was Roman Catholic High School. The Roman Catholic High School mock trial team is composed of students Vincent Capitolo, Tom Leonard, Logan Moore, Anthony Nguyen, Josh Piccoti, Michael Schwoerer, Phil Tedros and Kyle Westerfer. The teacher coaches are John Pensabene and Patrick Prendergast. The attorney advisor is Steven Patton.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice J. Michael Eakin presided over the final round of competition.

"Without question, the students participating in teams that have made it to these final rounds of the statewide competition have collectively invested hundreds of hours preparing for and participating in this academic challenge," said Lars Anderson of Kingston, chair of the PBA Young Lawyers Division. "Throughout the process, the lawyers, judges and business professionals serving as mock trial jurors and evaluators have given these students high scores on their presentation and critical-thinking skills. So, congratulations to the students and also to their teacher coaches and attorney advisors who mentored them along the way."

This year's hypothetical case centers on murder charges filed against the president of a college honor society accused of killing a fellow student who had uncovered the honor society's cheating scheme.

The case was written by Jonathan A. Grode of Philadelphia, Paul W. Kaufman of Philadelphia, Jonathan D. Koltash of Harrisburg and Talia Charme-Zane, an alumna of the Pennsylvania mock trial program and former captain of the Central High School team in Philadelphia.

The co-chairs of the Mock Trial Executive Committee are Koltash and Traci L. Naugle of Altoona.

Earlier in the competition, Quigley Catholic High School competed with Nazareth Area High School (Northampton County) and Roman Catholic High School competed with Eden Christian Academy (Allegheny County) in the semifinal round.

Eight additional teams participated in the state championships, including the following:

Abington Heights High School (Lackawanna County), Altoona Area High School (Blair County), Cumberland Valley High School (Cumberland County), DuBois Area High School (Clearfield County), Franklin Regional High School (Westmoreland County), Jenkintown High School (Montgomery County), Merion Mercy Academy (Montgomery County) and Strath Haven High School (Delaware County).

This year, a total of 314 teams from 264 high schools competed in the district and regional levels of Pennsylvania's mock trial competition - one of the largest in the nation.

Through the competition, eight-member student teams are given the opportunity to argue both sides of the case in an actual courtroom before a judge. The students, who play the roles of lawyers, witnesses, plaintiffs and defendants, are assisted by teacher coaches and attorney advisors in preparing for competition. Volunteer lawyers and community leaders serve as jurors in the trials. The juries determine the winners in each trial based on the teams' abilities to prepare their cases, present arguments and follow court rules.

This year's hypothetical case centers on murder charges filed against the president of a college honor society accused of killing a fellow student who had uncovered the honor society's cheating scheme.

The case was written by Jonathan A. Grode of Philadelphia, Paul W. Kaufman of Philadelphia, Jonathan D. Koltash of Harrisburg and Talia Charme-Zane, an alumna of the Pennsylvania mock trial program and former captain of the Central High School team in Philadelphia.

The co-chairs of the Mock Trial Executive Committee are Koltash and Traci L. Naugle of Altoona.

The Pennsylvania Cable Network will record the final round of the competition for airing statewide on Thursday, April 2 at 7:30 p.m., Friday, April 3 at 9:30 a.m., and Saturday, April 4 at 7 p.m. The Pennsylvania Bar Foundation, the charitable affiliate of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, is providing funding support for the broadcast.

For more information about the Pennsylvania Bar Association Statewide Mock Trial Championships, visit the PBA Web site at http://www.pabar.org.

Founded in 1895, the Pennsylvania Bar Association strives to promote justice, professional excellence and respect for the law; improve public understanding of the legal system; facilitate access to legal services; and serve the 27,000 lawyers who are members of the association.