Purcellville, VA, January 23, 2018 — Patrick Henry College won its eleventh intercollegiate moot court national championship at the American Moot Court Association (AMCA) national tournament held in Dallas, Texas, from January 18 to 20. Watch the video here. In addition to winning first place, Patrick Henry College (PHC) finished with two teams among the final four in the nation. PHC speakers also won 4 of the top 10 speaker awards. Four PHC students placed in the nation’s top ten best speakers out of a pool of 800 total students.
Juniors Caleb Engle and Christopher Baldacci took the victory once again, adding to their 2016 championship title.
No other college in the history of the American Moot Court Association has won twice.
“The PHC Moot Court teams have once again demonstrated their ability to compete and win at the national level,” said Jack Haye, President at Patrick Henry College. “PHC’s win in Dallas last weekend marked an unprecedented accomplishment in the AMCA. The legacy lives on!”
“Intercollegiate moot court is one of the great ‘academic sports’ like debate and mock trial,” notes Dr. Frank Guliuzza, PHC’s Moot Court coach. “Each year the competition gets increasingly difficult. The team from the University of Chicago is outstanding, and we are very honored and humbled by this level of success.”
The 2017-2018 season featured 427 teams competing in twelve national qualifying tournaments to earn coveted spots at the American Moot Court Association's Championship Tournament. The field at the national competition included the University of Virginia, Baylor University, Duke University, Holy Cross, and the United States Air Force Academy.
In addition to claiming the national title, Baldacci and senior Thomas Siu won second place in the national brief writing contest. Baldacci also won an individual first place speaker award. Cooper Millhouse, Kyle Ziemnick, and Clare Downing won 6th, 9th, and 10th place speaker awards respectively. Shane Roberts and Clare Downing placed third in the tournament after facing the University of Chicago in the semi-final round.
The Patrick Henry College roster of 2017–18 Moot Court National competitors includes:
- Atwood, Claire | Bloomfield Hills, MI
- Bakke, Brenna | Placentia, CA
- Baldacci, Christopher | Winfield, IL
- Bock, William | Indianapolis, IN
- Barnes, Marina | Chesapeake, VA
- Brown, Sarah | Menomonie, WI
- Cordaro, Nicole | Falls Church, VA
- Downing, Clare | Tampa, FL
- Engle, Caleb | Indianapolis, IN
- Geesaman, Sarah | Williamsburg, VA
- Millhouse, Cooper | Purcellville, VA
- Paulton, Meridian | Peyton, CO
- Roberts, Shane | Athens, TN
- Shelton, Andrew | Social Circle, GA
- Siu, Thomas | Chardon, OH
- Wright, Keely | Louisville, KY
- Ziemnick, Kyle | Purcellville, VA
Patrick Henry College, offering one of the nation’s top pre-law advising programs, is an institution of higher education committed to robust classical liberal arts training as a Christian mission with a biblical worldview.
Interested in our pre-law advising program?
###
Primary Contact:
Stephen Allen, Director of Admission and Communication
Phone: (540) 441-8110
Email: communication@phc.edu
www.phc.edu
