UF’s mock trial team, the Liti-Gators, once again landed at the top of a regional competition.
The Liti-Gators placed second among 22 schools in the Georgia Regional Tournament in Atlanta, behind the Georgia Institute of Technology, the weekend of Feb. 14. The team earned seven of the 20 awards and a bid for the Opening Round Championship, the tournament that determines which schools make it to nationals.
This victory follows the two bids earned at the Florida Regional Tournament on Feb. 8, making it the most bids the team has earned since its founding in 2007.
The Liti-Gators will compete in the ORCs on March 20. Teams of eight to 10 members will act as both attorneys and witnesses and will compete against schools as either the plaintiff or defendant.
Virginia Stanton, president of the Liti-Gators and a UF philosophy and biology senior, said this was expected to be a rebuilding year because a lot of members graduated.
“I was very adamant about meeting the standard that had been set last year, and so far we have exceeded it,” Stanton, 20, said.
Last year was the first time the Liti-Gators advanced past the ORCs, competed in the National Championship Tournament and ranked among the top 40 teams in the nation.
TK Yang, a member of the team and a UF history, philosophy and French senior, said the team works hard together.
“My teammates are really like my family,” Yang, 21, said.
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 2/23/2015 under the headline “Liti-Gators pushing for nat’ls"]
