BRICK – The Brick Memorial High School Mock Trial team has been named Ocean County Champions after a powerful performance in this year’s annual competition.
Under the guidance of advisor Diana Corde-Leone, students participated in the 2025 New Jersey State Bar Foundation’s annual Vincent J. Apruzzese High School Mock Trial Competition. This year the students worked on a civil case: Capella v. Petzicon Products, Inc. Carmen Capella is suing Petzicon Products for the death of their beloved show dog Sally, after using a flea treatment produced by the company.
After several rounds competing against seven other Ocean County teams, Brick Memorial High School (BMHS) went into the semifinals as the number one seed. BMHS then secured a win against Central Regional, sending them to the finals.
On February 5, BHMS faced off against MATES. The team delivered compelling arguments, with Katie Andras and Sophia Salsa leading the team as plaintiff lawyers.
Miranda Maneiro, Jude Smith, and Sophie Daly took the roles of key witnesses each having a convincing testimony.
This was the first Ocean County win for Brick Memorial since 2016 and Corde-Leone’s first win as a Mock Trial Coach, who has been in the role for the past seven years.
Corde-Leone expressed that this year’s team had the “strongest overall team performance” she’s ever seen.
“This is the seventh Mock Trial team I have coached, and I can authentically say that I am in ‘awe’ of this crew. There has never been an ‘I’ moment throughout the season. Instead, the ‘we’ moments fulfilled every meeting. They are the true definition of a team, and I’m proud to call them mine,” Corde-Leone said. “At the start of every season, I get nervous thinking of how I will recruit talent to replace the talent lost to graduation. Truth is, this team will forever be irreplaceable.”
The team now prepares to go against Salem County during the Southern Regional competition on February 26 at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick. They will continue to advance until they lose, with the ultimate goal of winning the Southern Regional Title on March 12.
In addition, BMHS is gearing up for one last courtroom battle to defend the Mayor’s Trophy against Brick Township High School. The annual Mayor’s Cup competition against is scheduled for March 3 at the Municipal Courthouse.
“To each of them, I say…thank you for your commitment. Thank you for your passion. Thank you for sharing your intellect, and talents. But most importantly thank you for the laughter and memories we have created together this season. Bouncing ideas off each other has been my favorite part of this journey, and watching it come to life in a courtroom brings me more pride than I could truly describe in words,” Corde-Leone added.
