St. John’s University’s Mock Trial Team launched its 21st season with an eighth-place finish among 22 nationally ranked contenders participating in the 10th Annual Columbia University Big Apple Invitational Tournament on October 20–21. With five wins and three losses overall, the team beat Harvard University, the University of Maryland and Iona College, while losing one trial to Fordham. This was the second straight year the Red Storm has defeated Harvard in mock trial competition. Ellen Gong ’13C, St. John’s co-captain, was named one of the 10 outstanding student attorneys. Columbia invited only the 22 top-ranked teams from 2011–12 to this year’s tournament. St. John’s placed 18th out of 656 teams competing last season. “St. John’s will be a serious contender for the national title this year,” said Coach Bernard Helldorfer, Esq., ’77CBA, ’80L, Professor and Chair of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies in the College of Professional Studies. Prof. Helldorfer coaches the team along with Oscar Holt, Esq., ’73C, ’76Ed, ’79L, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies. “Our team,” Prof. Helldorfer explained, “is led by a core group of seniors with three years’ experience, all of whom went to the national championship finals last year. We performed extremely well as a team in this early season tournament.” The competition simulates an actual court case, with students playing the roles of attorneys and witnesses for both plaintiff and defense. Points are awarded for the students’ individual performances. St. John’s now looks forward to its next tournament at Tufts University in Massachusetts on November 9–11 and upcoming competitions at Drexel University and Fordham in January.