Washington Courts: Press Release Detail

Franklin High School wins state YMCA Mock Trial championship

OLYMPIA—MARCH 25, 2018 — Franklin High School of King County took top honors Sunday as the 2018 YMCA Mock Trial state champion after a 3-day competition in Olympia at the Thurston County Courthouse. Franklin is now eligible to compete for the national Mock Trial title in Reno, Nevada in May.

Washington Supreme Court Justice Steven González presided over the championship trial on Sunday with Franklin High School and Seattle Preparatory School competing for the statewide title. The championship trial was recorded by TVW and will be available for viewing at www.tvw.org.

The final competition included 26 teams from high schools across the state who advanced through their regional competitions to earn a place at the state competition.

The top 12 finalists include:

• Franklin High School A
• Seattle Prep white
• Wenatchee High School purple
• Seattle Prep blue
• International Community School
• Chief Sealth High School
• Kings High School red
• Kings High School white
• Port Townsend
• Franklin High School B
• The River Academy
• Tri-Cities Prep

The Best Attorney Awards for the four competition rounds went to MacKenzie Palmer of Franklin High School and Maria Morrison of Port Townsend. The Best Witness Awards for those rounds went to Allison Chen of the International Community School, Alaya Mays of Camas High School and Marlett Hawes of Cascadia Tech Academy.

For the Championship round, the Best Attorney Award went to Zoe McGough and the Best Witness Award went to Ashleen Neur, both of Franklin High School.

This is the 31st year for the YMCA Mock Trial program in Washington, which began in 1988. Mock Trial is part of the YMCA’s Youth & Government program, which helps students experience democracy in action. Mock Trial allows students to participate in true-to-life criminal and civil cases before real judges in real courtrooms, learning about the law and the judicial branch while arguing cases against teams from other schools.

PROGRAM CONTACTS: Judge Robert Lewis, Washington State Mock Trial Program Chair at 360-397-2226; Brent Gaither, Executive Director, YMCA Youth and Government Program at (336) 918-2090.