The Stanford Mock Trial team returned from the Intercollegiate National Mock Trial Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, last week with three new All-Americans — the best record of individual awards in the team’s seven-year history. The tournament consisted of 64 teams in two divisions and was held the weekend of April 7 through 9.

Ed Piper, a freshman, and Bryan Heckenlively, a senior, were both honored with All-American Attorney awards.

“[Being honored] feels great,” Piper said. “It’s really bolstered my confidence for next year.”

Philip Henry, a senior, was also recognized as an All-American Witness.

“[The award] was really satisfying,” Henry said. “After I was announced it was a great thrill, because I have reached the pinnacle of mock trial. I was named an All-American at the national tournament. There is no higher honor that can be given.”

The feat, which was unparalleled in the competition, could be looked at as the triple crown of Mock Trial.

“Well, it would have been nice to have had all the Stanford attorneys and all the witnesses get All-American status, but it is certainly impressive to have three people on a team of eight receive the award,” said coach Frances Lewis, Class of 2005. “Given the way the ranking works, it’s incredibly hard for two attorneys on the same side to both get All-American.”

According to Piper, at the end of every trial, the two scorers rank the top four attorneys and witnesses. Each ranking is assigned a set amount of points, and at the end of the tournament the 10 or 15 “mockers” with the highest-ranking scores are recognized as All-American.

However, the Stanford team as a whole did not fare so well, finishing with a record of three wins, four losses and one tie. The team had recently come off an 8-0 undefeated streak at the regional championships in Portland and a 4-4 run at the UCLA National Invitational. The team attributed its disappointing record to losing points from judges on stylistic factors.

“Mock trial is tough because the scoring is so subjective — two local judges or attorneys who have never done mock trial before assign point values to each aspect of the trial,” Lewis said. “Our record was 3-4-1, which was a good showing but still fairly disappointing, given that there was nothing in any of the trials that we could point to and say, ‘See, this is what we did wrong.’”

The team attributes a large part of its recent successes to its gifted coach.

“She is a godsend,” said John Fowler, a junior, of Lewis. “She is so talented and so understanding, and she deserves many, many praises for her contributions. Without her, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”

The trip, which most team members said was relatively uneventful, was livened briefly when they discovered that they were staying in the same hotel as ex-vice-presidential candidate John Edwards, and again when Piper was rushed to the emergency room after an allergic reaction to prunes.

Said Henry, “After all, we were in Des Moines.”