This article was written by Amber Bhutta, class of 2019.
With years of past victories under its belt, the Mock Trial team has set expectations high yet again after winning first place at the Broward County FLREA Mock Trial Competition.
“It was against all the teams in this district,” senior Tiffany Pages-Sanchez said. “There was a lot of competition.”
Pages-Sanchez joined the Mock Trial team last year as a junior. Since then, she has assumed the role of the attorney who delivers the closing argument at the majority of competitions.
“The team is really fun and we all get along well. Our coaches always make sure we have fun on our trips and encourage us to compete at a high caliber, which fosters a winning attitude,” she said.
In order to prepare for competition, Mock Trial team members not only practice after school but sacrifice hours on the weekend as well. Practice occurs on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30 to 6:00, in addition to Saturday and Sunday practices from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm.
As every coach likes to say, practice makes perfect,” junior Lara Olsson said. “Practice definitely takes up most of my schedule. If we need extra tweaking, we’ll add in other days throughout the week as competition approaches.”
A member of Mock Trial since her freshman year, Olsson finds most of her schedule filled up with practice and competitions. Despite the long hours, she finds that the competition experience makes it worth the work.
“My favorite part of mock trial is seeing a case evolve. We always add our own flair to the case in order to differentiate ourselves from other teams,” Olsson said. “I love working with my team, and seeing our hard work pay off.”
With the victory at the county level behind it, the Mock Trial Team will travel to Orlando in late March for the state competition.
“I definitely hope to get my second state title this March,” Olsson said. “If we make it to the final round, we’ll be competing in the courtroom where Casey Anthony’s case was tried.”
With the clear goal of succeeding at the state competition in mind, Mock Trial hopes to continue its winning streak.
