ISU students do not often compete with top institutions such as Harvard, Yale and Columbia. But the ISU Mock Trial team may do just that as it prepares for the National Championship Intercollegiate Mock Trial Tournament in Des Moines this April.

The team qualified for the national championship after a 3rd-place finish at the regional tournament Feb. 10.

Scott Sevcik, president of the team, also received an outstanding attorney award at the regional competition.

“I was phenomenally pleased with our finish at regionals,” said Sevcik, senior in aerospace engineering. “We have a solid team this year – a lot of depth and a lot of skill, and I’ve seen the group pull together and really perform.”

Sevcik said roughly 50 of the best teams from across the nation will travel to Drake University, host of the national competition April 5-7.

The ISU team placed 3rd behind Macalester College and St. John’s/St. Benedict with 880 points at the regional competition.

There are still challenges ahead for the team, though, Sevik said.

“The Ivy League teams are always well represented,” Sevcik said. “Schools like Harvard and Yale usually bring tough teams.”

Sevcik said Rhodes College and Miami University of Ohio also have strong teams. Miami University won the national competition last year.

“We’re definitely looking forward to nationals and hope to continue to do well,” said Shawn Faurote, team member and junior in mechanical engineering. “In the past, we’ve finished 9th, 7th and 3rd and so we have only one odd number left.”

Faurote said that the team has been practicing the case since the beginning of the fall semester for 9-10 hours per week.

“We practice pretty much every night before a tournament,” Faurote said.

With about five weeks before national competition, the team will be committing more time to the case.

Because this year’s fictional case is a murder trial, they will be visiting a detective with the Department of Criminal Investigation, as well as a psychiatrist and a medical examiner in the coming month, said Sarai Arnold, team member and freshman in biology.

“The team is awesome,” Arnold said. “If we do our best, then our best will get us top 10.”

Next weekend, the team receives new facts in the case from the national organization and might add a new witness, Arnold said.

Sevcik said the team is steeped in tradition. Iowa State was one of the first colleges to participate in the mock trial program.

Iowa is the birthplace of the American Mock Trial Association. In 1985, Richard Caulkins, dean of the Drake University Law School, founded the program to encourage undergraduate students interested in law to become involved.

According to the American Mock Trial Association Web site, in the first championships, 12 teams from eight colleges participated. In 2000, more than 300 teams participated nationwide.

Nevertheless, the Iowa State Mock Trial team is anticipating a strong showing in April at the national championships.

“I can’t say we’ll win nationals, but we’ll definitely be competitors,” Sevcik said. “I can see us in the top 10.”