POSTED 2/23: The Oxford Regional saw the Miami varsity team sweep through the competition with a 7-0-1 record with the only road bump being a tie against Indiana in the last round with the second ballot being a clear win for Miami. That record was more than enough to secure first place ahead of Ohio State, Kentucky, Indiana, Notre Dame, and Cincinnati. It is Miami’s 17th consecutive first-place finish at a regional qualifying tournament. Coached by business legal studies professors Lawrence Hilton and Gus Lazares, the team also brought home two individual awards: John Spear, third year chemistry and business double major, grabbed an all-regional attorney award while his teammate Najeeb Ahmed, third year Political Science major, grabbed an all-regional witness award.
The real surprise of the competition was Miami’s “white” squad. Coached by fifth year senior and mock trial All-American attorney Alex Block, the six-person (smallest team one can have and still compete), first year team took sixth place with a 5-2-1 record, sweeping Notre Dame in the first round, tying and losing only by 2 to a veteran Ohio State squad which would finish second in the tournament, splitting the two ballots with the top Xavier team, and then sweeping the University of Cincinnati in the final round to secure their stellar finish. But, this squad was not done! Political Science major Chase Shelton brought home an all-regional witness award while his teammate Austin Worrell, also a Political Science major, not only won an all-region attorney award but was the highest ranked attorney of the tournament receiving six #1 rankings and two #2 ranking on all eight ballots.
