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
Middle and High School Art Teacher Emily Holt will be honored with the Tennessee Association of Independent Schools’ Hubert Smothers Excellence in Teaching Award on Monday, November 9 in Memphis.
Third graders visited Mound Bottom State Archaeological Area for an immersive history lesson and guided site tour that will set the stage for this year's studies in Tennessee history and Native American history.
Middle School and High School Chinese Teacher Josephine Huang has been involved with USN as a volunteer, a parent, and a teacher. Now in her 20th year as a faculty member, Huang's innovative lessons and belief in relationships continue to instill in students a lifelong love of learning.
With trail names like Megawatt, Electric Avenue, High Voltage and Livewire, the mountain bike team knew it was time to pedal out some extra watts for their NICA/TICL State Championships at Raccoon Mountain, and survive the technical trails above Chattanooga full of boulder gardens, rock drops and sandy rubble.
Winged Deer Park and trails in Johnson City hosted our 4th race on Sunday October 11th, and despite a bit of hurricane outwash winds and showers - and reduced team numbers due to fall break and distance from Nashville - our racers utilized all available skills and speed which helped “wing" Sophomore Claire Dehner to a 4th place podium spot, our first podium appearance and medal for the season.
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.
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.