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
The girls lacrosse team ended its season in overtime to become state runner-up. Tennis players Carter Kojetin '29 finished as a state quarterfinalist, Sophie Oliver '26 and Mary Kate Adler '28 finished as state semifinalists, and Veer Kodali '29 and Max Parker '29 finished as state champions. Meanwhile, eight runners competed at the state track and field meet in Knoxville, where Griffin Davidson '27, Caleb Freifeld '28, Drew Zwerner '28, and Jack Fruin '27, sprinted to first in the 4x800m relay and Jack also placed first in the 800m dash.
For the entire USN community: an invitation to give in gratitude, in celebration, and in honor of the woman who has given so much to our school. Make a gift at usn.org/giving to support students with needs beyond tuition and honor Interim Director Juliet Douglas.
The Middle School Quiz Bowl finished off another successful season with a trip to the Middle School National Championship Tournament in Chicago. The team fought hard and ended the season as a top-100 program in the country, finishing 75th overall. Congratulations to the team on a great performance and to Lucas Lupu ’31, named an All Star for being the fifth-highest scorer nationwide.
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.