The National Finals competition, held between March 30 and April 2 in Des Moines, Iowa, pitted 64…
By Daniel Arimborgo
Students on St. John’s University’s Mock Trial Team finished in a three-way tie for 10th place in the 2001 National Intercollegiate Mock Trial Tournament.
The National Finals competition, held between March 30 and April 2 in Des Moines, Iowa, pitted 64 teams against each other. It was the eighth time in 10 engagements that the Red Storm team finished in the top 10 in the country.
“The students should be very proud of their accomplishment,” said Professor Bernard Helldorfer, the team coach.
Team captain Kareem Vessup, a senior from Brooklyn, tied for the highest-ranked student attorney in the finals and was placed on the National Mock Trial All-Star Team. He was also named an Academic All-American.
Helldorfer said with only Vessup returning to the team from last year, just making it to the National Finals was a huge accomplishment. “Finishing 10th is even more incredible,” he said.
Vessup has won an individual award in every one of his years on the team at both the regional and national levels of the tournament, marking the first time a St. John’s student has ever accomplished this feat.
The other team members were: Melissa Coppola, a senior from Levittown, L.I.; Lori Iadovito, a junior from Astoria; Sherrise Palomino, a junior from Atlanta; Brian Simon, a sophomore from Hollis; Lisa Wong, a fourth-year pharmacy student from Douglaston; and Adam Zabrocki, a freshman from Brooklyn.
