KIMBALL -- Ten Kimball students formed a team of Longhorn Lawyers to join the Nebraska Mock Trial Competition for the first time in years.  

It’s unclear how long it has been since Kimball last competed, said English teacher Virginia Splichal; however, in her three years at Kimball, this is the first time students have formed a group to compete.  

The Kimball Longhorn Lawyers won runner-up at the Nebraska Region 1 Regional Championship Competition at the Scottsbluff County Courthouse Monday. 

“I am just so very proud of them,” Splichal said. “I think it’s great that these kids challenged themselves to something like this, and it was a great experience for them to be in that environment.” 

Kimball was one of five teams competing in the Region 1 competition; Scottsbluff had two teams, and Gering had two. 

The Kimball students first participated in two preliminary competitions in October where the judges – Leo Dobrovolny and Kristen Mickey – gave them feedback, which Splichal said they were told “you’re incredible, you’re a force, go practice objections, go memorize your statements and your opening and closing.” 

Kimball’s team recruited local attorneys Pam Olsen and Dave Wilson to help in preparation and learn the logistics of how to try a case.

Splichal said, “Half of our team went to the national FFA, so we had one practice between the preliminary competitions on Oct. 20 and the competition on Nov. 10,” she said. “We were a force, we were just so green and needed more practice.” 

The inspiration for creating a team to compete started with a student expressing interest in becoming an attorney. 

“A senior, Sam Anderson, had expressed an interest in wanting to be an attorney, so I thought let’s get a team going, and I ended up with 10 dedicated kids,” Splichal said. 

Other students on the team are also interested in going into law or related fields and said this was a good experience to prepare them for their future endeavors. 

Junior Faith Bohac said, “Mock Trial just showed all the important parts of what you need to do to become a lawyer; it showed the struggle and all the great things like winning a case.” 

Junior Luke Berger said he wants to go into law enforcement, and this experience helped him understand how the court system runs. 

“If I were to be a police officer, there would be situations where I would need to testify, so I think it helped a lot in understanding the process of how it works between the defense and prosecution,” he said. 

For other students, it was a fun extracurricular that built skills they can apply to any aspect of their lives and offered a look into a possible career path. 

Junior Parker Frederick said, “At first, I was really doing it for fun but as the year progressed, I really took some thought into maybe going into law.” 

Mock Trial President Mallory Hottell, who is a senior, said it helped build on her public speaking skills that she can apply to her life no matter what career path she chooses. 

The students collectively said they were impressed with the whole team for the hard work everyone put in. 

Bohac said, “I think it went well overall for the first year being runner-up, and I think that that really showed the commitment that all of us had to make this a good program.” 

Hottell added: “Being the first year, we went in with a lot of nerves, but it turned out better than what we had expected. Having that perseverance to push through and starting a legacy in Kimball was really cool.” 

Berger received two Most Effective Witness Awards, and Carly Norberg received two Most Effective Attorney Awards. 

The remaining students who were also on the team are: Skyla Stierwalt, Trey Cook, Wyatt Cook, and Cameron McGinnis. 

Splichal said she hopes to continue Mock Trial in future years because it will benefit students by highlighting confidence in public speaking, being able to quickly analyze and articulate problem solving, and learning to strategize as a team. 

“It goes with sportsmanship, progressional and learning to win and lose with dignity and respect, and that’s what they did,” she said.