As the men’s basketball team heads to Atlanta in pursuit of a national championship, Georgetown Mock Trial is gearing up to compete in the American Mock Trial Association National Championship Tournament for the first time in five years.

Of the two teams that GU Mock Trial sent to the National Mock Trial Tournament in Minneapolis, Minn., on March 16, the squad captained by Will Dreher (COL ’09) and Dan Shindle (COL ’09) earned a bid in the championship tournament. Their team placed first out of the 22 teams in their division, while the other Georgetown team, composed of mostly freshmen members, finished 15th. The three top teams from the division qualified for the national championship.

Sixty-four top-performing teams from around the country will compete in the National Championship Tournament, which begins April 13 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Dreher said that his team will use its practice time to prepare for the tournament.

“We’re basically going to be working over the next couple weeks to keep memorizing our case and keep presenting the best case,” Dreher said.

Ryan Guptill (COL ’10), a member of Dreher’s team, said that the team’s experience at its last tournament, which featured competition from around the country, will also be a help.

“We saw a lot of great teams in Minneapolis and we’re trying to incorporate what we’ve learned,” Guptill said.

None of GU Mock Trial’s four teams earned one of the two automatic bids for the national championships at their regional tournament at Easton, Penn., in February, but two of the teams qualified there for the tournament in Minneapolis, which gives its top finishers bids in the national championships. Dreher said that the showing at the Minneapolis tournament was encouraging.

“I was really impressed with our teams. Our freshman team showed a lot of promise and performed very well,” said Dreher, who also serves as secretary of GU Mock Trial.

Ryan Guptill (COL ’10), a member of Dreher’s team, earned a distinction of Outstanding Attorney for his performance at the tournament. Guptill said that his award came as a result of “constant feeback” between him and his teammates.

“I was given a great opportunity to be involved on this more senior team,” Guptill said. “It feels really great to be honored like this, but I know it’s the result of a team effort.”

In addition to Guptill, Ariel Azoff (COL ’09) also achieved individual distinction at the Minneapolis tournament, earning one of the Outstanding Witness honors.

Mock Trial President Stacylyn Dewey (COL ’07) said that the team has become a more cohesive group since Georgetown’s last national championship appearance in 2002, when a team finished second.

“A lot of people on the four different teams never really knew each other,” Dewey said. “What we’ve done over the past four years is make a more friendly environment . We know that we don’t have to be cutthroat and critical to succeed.”

Guptill said that team chemistry has been an important factor in its success.

“We have a lot of fun together and we like working with each other, so it’s never a chore to do mock trial,” Guptill said.