The National Trial Team at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law had another excellent season this past year! The Trial Team advanced to Nationals at both major competitions for the second year in a row, won or finished as finalists at several other competitions, and rose twelve spots in the 2025 U.S. News rankings for Trial Advocacy programs. Here are a few highlights from this past season:
Hosting and winning at both NTC and AAJ
For the second year in a row, the National Trial Team advanced to Nationals at both major national competitions - the American Association for Justice Student Trial Advocacy Competition (STAC) and the Texas Young Lawyers Association National Trial Competition (NTC). These two national competitions are the only open-registration tournaments in the country, and advancing to Nationals at both competitions is a very difficult accomplishment. Additionally, Maryland hosted or co-hosted both regional competitions, and had two teams advance to semifinals or finals at each regional.
Maryland hosted our NTC Regional Tournament for the second year in a row, bringing 22 teams from Maryland, Washington D.C., Virginia, West Virginia, and Delaware to Baltimore for three days of challenging competition. One of Maryland's team advanced to Nationals! The advancing team was comprised of Alex Tamayo '25 and Ashley Travis '25, and was coached by Becca Wells '24 and Thomas Kiley '24. Maryland's other team advanced to Regional Semifinals! That team was comprised of Giovanna Monti '25 and Abdullah Khan '26. The semifinalist team was coached by Lindsey Rennie '19 and Gus Glazov '24.
In addition to hosting NTC, Maryland also co-hosted our AAJ Regional Tournament along with the University of Baltimore School of Law. AAJ's regionals were held in-person for the first time since 2019, and our regional tournament was held at the H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse in Washington D.C., home to the D.C. Superior Court. One of Maryland's AAJ teams advanced to Nationals! The advancing team included Hannah Elster '25, Milly Sasu '25, Lauren Helbig '26, and Allison Paul '26. That team was coached by Lindsey McCulley '12 and Colin Miller '24. Maryland's other AAJ team advanced to Region Finals! The finalist team was comprised of advocates Marisa Koontz '25 and Trevor Patschorke '25, and was coached by Lindsay Hemminger '23, Pat Dillon '17, Kelly Robier, and Ashley Fellona '18.
Champions, Finalists, and More
In addition to advancing at both national competitions, Maryland had numerous top finishes and victories at elite nationwide invitational tournaments.
In the fall, Maryland traveled to New York City for the Fordham Judge Paul Joseph Kelly, Jr. Invitational. Maryland's team at Fordham went undefeated and won the championship! The championship team was comprised of Abdullah Khan '26 and Alex Tamayo '25. In addition to the championship, Alex Tamayo was named Best Overall Advocate for the entire competition! The team was coached by Lindsey McCulley '12 and Becca Wells '24, along with assistance from Dylan Rogers Elliott '20 and Summer Akhtar '21. Fordham Kelly is a unique and challenging competition where two advocates prepare both sides of the case.
Maryland also sent a team to the Quinnipiac/ABA Criminal Justice Competition, held in New Haven, CT. Our Quinnipiac team advanced to the final round and finished as National Finalists! The team was made up of Hannah Elster '25, Maria Lukens '25, Giovanna Monti '25, and Peighton Stirt '26. In addition to finishing as finalists, Maryland was given the award for Best Suppression Motion (shared by Monti and Elster), Hannah Elster won Best Cross Examination, and Peighton Stirt won Best Opening Statement. The team was coached by travel coaches Lindsay Hemminger '23 and Tohan Okojie '23, along with support from Justin Wallace '15, Stephanie Haddad '21, and Veronica Mina '21.
Early in the fall semester, we sent a team out west to the UCLA/UC San Diego "First Chair" Competition. That team advanced to Semifinals! The First Chair team was comprised of Ashley Travis '25 and Alex Tamayo '25. First Chair is a unique competition where two advocates each prepare one side of an entire case file. In addition to advancing to semifinals, both Alex Tamayo and Ashley Travis both won Outstanding Advocate awards. The First Chair team was coached by Salsbury Director Ben Garmoe '16 and Becca Wells '24.
Maryland traveled to sunny Florida in February for the Nova Southeastern Shark Beach Showdown, where our team finished as Semifinalists! Our team at Shark Beach was comprised of Maria Lukens '25, Kaelyn Starrs '26, Ashley Travis '25, and Ellie Williams '25. In addition to their semifinal finish, Ashley Travis won the award for Best Direct Examination. This team was coached by Tohan Okojie '23 and Salsbury Director Ben Garmoe '16.
Maryland sent a large contingent of new members to South Carolina's Trials & Tribulations, a competition designed to give advocates as much practice as possible with six preliminary rounds. Our T&T team advanced to the break rounds and finished as Quarterfinalists! The team was comprised of Ben Atkins '26, Greg Deyesu '26, Moonisha Huq '26, Henry Jones '26, Genaro Petruccelli '26, Peighton Stirt '26, and Dana Wallace '26. In addition to this accomplishment, Genaro Petruccelli was also named an Outstanding Attorney. The T&T team was coached by Ian Anthony '13, Lexi Smith '24, and Sydney Branch '24.
Finally, Maryland won awards at additional tournaments throughout the year. Our National Flash Trial Competition team of Marisa Koontz '25 and Milly Sasu '25 was named Most Professional Team. At the National Civil Trial Competition, Ashley Travis '25 won the award for Best Closing Argument.
Returning to Top Gun
On the heels of this outstanding season, Maryland was invited to Baylor Law's Top Gun for the second year in a row. Top Gun is widely considered to be the most difficult mock trial competition in the country, and only the top sixteen advocacy programs are invited each year. Each school sends one advocate to Top Gun, and that advocate is allowed to receive assistance from a second chair who handles courtroom technology, as well as a coach. Each team receives the case materials a mere 24 hours before the first trial, and the advocate, second chair, and coach spend those 24 hours preparing to present both sides of the case.
Maryland was invited to Top Gun last year for the first time in over a decade, and finished as semifinalists. You can read more about last year's Top Gun performance here. This year, Maryland will be represented at Top Gun by advocate Ashley Travis '25 and second chair Abdullah Khan '26. The team will be coached by Salsbury Director Ben Garmoe '16. Travis, Khan, and Garmoe will travel to Waco from May 28 - June 1 to compete at Top Gun.
Rising in the rankings - again
These accomplishments have not gone unnoticed by the broader advocacy community. Maryland's Trial Advocacy program was ranked 24th in the 2025 U.S. News & World Report rankings for Trial Advocacy programs. This represents a 12-rank increase in Maryland's U.S. News rankings, which are determined by votes from advocacy directors across the country.
Additionally, Maryland will likely be ranked in the top 10 of both internal advocacy ranking systems, Fordham's Trial Competition Performance Rankings (TCPR) and Hofstra's GAVEL Rankings. Maryland is ranked 5th in the country for the 2024-25 GAVEL Rankings, which were recently released to the public. This is Maryland's highest-ever ranking in GAVEL, which uses a proprietary formula to measure each team's successes across the entire season.
These successes and rankings are a testament to the outstanding work done by the students and coaches on the Maryland Carey Law National Trial Team. None of this would be possible without the support of the Maryland Carey Law administration, the broader Trial Team alumni community, and the generous support of Stuart Salsbury '71 and Suzanne Salsbury '73.