Denison University’s moot court team finished first in total team score at this year’s Midwest Moot Court Regional Competition, held on Nov. 21-22 in Wooster, Ohio. Seven schools competed at Midwest tournament: Aquinas College, Drake University, Marietta College, Vanderbilt University, Youngstown State University and last year’s national champion, the College of Wooster.

Moot court competitions, described as simulated legal argumentation before hypothetical appellate courts, are sponsored by the American Collegiate Moot Court Association.

Denison had eight of the top 25 individual orators, including first-year students Christina Bazak (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.) and Steven Profitt (Carlisle, Ohio); sophomore Amy Lyon (Wilmette, Ill.); juniors Betsy Fisher (Toledo, Ohio) and Greg Kendall (Westlake, Ohio); and senior Tiffany Allen (Cincinnati, Ohio). Two students won top 10 individual orator awards: sophomore Brandon Haas (Fayetteville, Ark.) and senior John Burzynski (New Brighton, Minn.). Six teams won on Friday and moved on to compete in the head-to-head rounds on Saturday.

The team consisting of this year’s co-captains, Allen and Haas, advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Based on the competition, Denison’s Allen-Haas team and Burzynski-Kendall team both received automatic bids to the National Tournament to be held at Chapman University School of Law, Orange, Calif., in January 2009. In addition, at-large bids (based on team scores and the “strength of schedule” of the Midwest region) were awarded to two more DU teams consisting of juniors Blair Cathcart (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) and Elizabeth Zak (Broadview Heights, Ohio), and junior Ian Darrow (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) and senior Erin Kelly (Hudson, Ohio).

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About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

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