USN sent two teams to the District Mock Trial Competition in February, and our A Team secured an invitation to the state tournament. Congratulations to Most Valuable Players Evan Giles ‘26 and Bronson Schmidt ‘25 as well as Ophelia Cherry-Pulay ‘25, who was awarded Best Attorney for the Defense for the entire tournament.
By Wilson Hubbell, HS Mock Trial Coach
Over the weekend of February 22, USN competed at the Mock Trial Districts competition. The Davidson Co. district is known at the national level as one of the most competitive districts in terms of raw talent in the entire country. Even before the tournament began, it was pretty clear that USN (who won state last year and placed 7th at nationals) would eventually have to face off against MBA (who won state the year before and placed third at nationals).
Both our A and B teams competed well, but after four rounds, it was announced that the top 2 teams (in no particular order) were USN's A Team and MBA's A Team. In a final match that evening, USN narrowly lost. However, everyone still had their heads raised high since both of these teams are invited to compete at the state competition on the weekend of March 22. Wish us luck.
Along the way, Evan Giles ‘26 was awarded the MVP of the B Team and Bronson Schmidt ‘25 was awarded the MVP of the A Team. Additionally, Ophelia Cherry-Pulay ‘25 was awarded the Best Attorney for the Defense for the entire tournament!
Here were the players:
A Team: Sevi Bruce ‘28 Ophelia Cherry-Pulay ‘25 Bryce Cochran ‘26 Binyam Dunne ‘26 Henry Gatto ‘25 Erin Joyce ‘25 Alice Littlehale ‘26 Bronson Schmidt ‘25 Caroline Stinner ‘27
B team: Z Aulino ‘26 Lorenzo Barrera-Vinha ‘26 Gigi Compaglia ‘28 Kate Disher ‘28 Lexa Drewry ‘27 Cody Farr ‘26 Isaac Fulton ‘26 Evan Giles ‘26 Mason Lack ‘26 Mohraeel Mahoud ‘27 Greta Molvig ‘28 Emerson Unertl-Coffman ‘28
Students in grades 5-8 and their families can take USN Evening Class 702: Mah and Pah Jong and Me to learn to play a board game together while benefiting USN's need-based scholarship endowment.
The Helen Meador Summer International Fellowship funded a summer of professional development in South America for Lower School Naturalist Carrie Riley. Through this profound experience, she said she plans to bring these lessons into her teaching, grounding her voice in wonder, joy, and a commitment to protecting the natural world, which she loves.
The impact of USN’s Art Department is not confined to art studios in the Christine Slayden Tibbott Center. Students often engage with art in ways that transcend traditional classroom learning, such as at the opening reception for artist Yanira Vissepó's “Fantastical Views.”
Tiger golfers have officially qualified for the region tournament, and our other teams are not far behind. Volleyball sits near the top of the district, finishing up regular season play next week with Senior Night. Girls soccer continues to hold first place in the district after another 9-0 win, and our cross country runners are chasing after some school records. To round it all out, our mountain bike team traveled to Oakfield to continue to improve on their times for the season. There’s plenty more where that came from- so be sure to come out to the River Campus, Sperling Gym, or out on the road to cheer on our Tigers before their seasons end.
Middle School volleyball and tennis teams are nearing the final games of their seasons, with the competition heating up while the Tigers play to determine their HVAC rankings. Cross country was finally able to race at the River Campus despite the heat, and our mountain biking team traveled to Oakfield, Tennessee, for a high-temperature race weekend.
The MTB team returned to the the twisty trails of tranquil Oakfield, TN on Sept 13th to take part in the second race of the season, as part of the 5-race series hosted by the NICA/TICL League.
USN Mission: University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.