The Rancho Cucamonga High School Mock Trial team concluded its season with the purple team placing seventh in the count and the silver team placing sixth.

Both teams placed third in the west region of San Bernardino County. From their performance in the county competition, two students were invited to compete in the state competition: seniors Cecilia Lloyd and Alexandra Rose Mirman.

In a four-round competition, the team has competed against multiple high schools including Yucaipa, Los Osos, Oak Hills, Cajon, Granite Hills, and the Academy for Academic Excellence.

This season did differ from past seasons because competitions were held online instead of in person due to Covid-19, but many students on the team gave it their best effort and it definitely paid off.

RCHS senior and mock trial captain Ellie Park felt that the team did very well considering the circumstances and met expectations. Park said, “Both teams won numerous awards at the County Awards Ceremony and we performed well at the competitions.” 

Some students stood out to the team because of hard work and a great competition. Park felt that two students in particular, Diana Corona and Sophia Paradowski, stood out a lot this season. Park said, “Everyone on both teams did amazing but Diana and Sophia stood out because they were new to the Mock Trial program and did extremely well this season.” 

RCHS senior Anna Keum felt that her teammate, Soffee Khalilieh stood out in a trial. Keum said, “My favorite highlight at one of our competitions was Soffee keeping up with the objections and they consecutively got sustained.”

RCHS senior Soffee Khalilieh was very happy with the results from the trial against Los Osos. She said, “My favorite highlight was shutting down Osos’ lead attorney’s redirect examination with my objections.” 

Khalilieh also felt that the team as a whole did extremely well despite the obstacles they faced this season. She said, “I’m incredibly proud of our team and our ability to adapt to new situations, such as competing over zoom, and circumstances like learning new roles cause we lost team members.”

Park has high hopes for next year’s mock trial season. She said, “I do believe that our new captains will do an awesome job in forming a new team for the next season. I also hope that many of our members will return to the program year after year.”

Soffee Khalileh looks forward to the coming seasons and the future of the Mock Trial team. She said, “I’m super excited to see how the season goes next year. I’m confident they will do great!”

As far as conditions, it is still unknown whether next season’s competitions will take place in person or on Zoom. 

The RCHS Mock Trial Team had a great run this season and many have high hopes for the next.