Washington Courts: Press Release Detail

Seattle Prep High School is Washington State 2025 Mock Trial Champion

The Seattle Prep High School (Blue) Mock Trial team won the title of Washington State 2025 Mock Trial champion Sunday, March 16, after a final competitive trial at the Pierce County Courthouse in Tacoma. The team qualifies to move on to the national Mock Trial championship in Phoenix, Arizona in May.

Seattle Prep’s Blue Team competed against the school’s second Mock Trial team, Seattle Prep’s White Team, in the final trial. The two teams emerged as the top contenders following four rounds of competition between 26 teams from across the state in the finals tournament, which began Friday, March 14.

The championship trial was presided over by Washington Supreme Court Justice Sal Mungia and was recorded by TVW.

Following the championship trial, Mungia said he was impressed by the confidence, strong presentation and clear trial knowledge of the student competitors. “You have very good presence. Whoever is coaching you, I’m telling you, is doing a great job,” he told the students.

The tournament involved 26 teams from 21 high schools and YMCA centers, and included more than 150 volunteer judicial officers and attorneys who presided over trials and served as jury “raters,” scoring the different elements of trial presentations such as opening and closing statements, witness testimony, presentation of evidence, cross examination and more.

The top 10 high school finalists of the 2025 competition are:

• 1st: Seattle Prep - Blue
• 2nd: Seattle Prep - White
• 3rd: University Prep HS
• 4th: Franklin HS - Obsidian
• 5th: Skyline HS - Green
• 6th: Seattle Academy
• 7th: Franklin HS - Malachite
• 8th: Columbia River HS
• 9th: The Oaks Christian Academy
• 10th: Wenatchee HS

The William Downing Values Award was presented to the Marysville YMCA team. The award goes to the team best exhibiting values of sportsmanship, respect and professionalism promoted through the YMCA Mock Trial mission.

The Outstanding Attorney award for the tournament was presented to Rudy Vazquez of the Marysville YMCA team. The Outstanding Witness award was presented to six students with tied scores:   Kisaya Canada – Franklin High School; Niles Cowan – Columbia River; Willow Hales – Mount Si; James Koepke – Wenatchee; Lizzie Pittsinger – Wenatchee; Trapper Rayburn – Cascadia Tech.

“You all have the ability to shape the future,” said Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown, who served as a guest speaker at a YMCA breakfast for all tournament teams Sunday before the championship.

Justice Mungia also spoke at the breakfast. “Being an attorney is the best thing in the world,” he told students, parents and coaches. “Lawyers can change lives. The legal profession can change society.”

The 2025 Mock Trial competition featured the final year the statewide program will be led by Clark County Superior Court Judge Robert Lewis, who has served as program chair for more than a decade. Lewis has authored the fictional criminal and civil cases that students learn each year to compete in the mock trials.

The incoming YMCA Mock Trial program chair is Pierce County District Court Judge Lizanne Padula, who has been co-chairing the competition for two years and will author next year’s case.

The YMCA Mock Trial program began in 1987 and 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 courtroom drama before real judges and attorneys, gaining an understanding of the law and the role of the judiciary, as well as developing skills in public speaking, advocacy, and more.

CONTACT: Lorrie Thompson, AOC senior communications officer, Lorrie.Thompson@courts.wa.gov, (360) 705-5347; Nolan Martin, Executive Director, Washington YMCA Youth & Government, (360) 367-8738.