BY STEPHEN WALL
The thrill of victory never gets old. For the fourth year in a row, Riverside Polytechnic High School won the Riverside County Mock Trial Competition which was held Saturday, March 1. Poly defeated Martin Luther King High School in Riverside for the championship at the Riverside County Historic Courthouse. With the win, Poly advances to the California Mock Trial Competition March 21 to 23 in San Jose. “I can’t stop smiling,” Misha Perinova, a 17-year-old Poly senior, said moments after the winning team was announced. “It’s the greatest feeling in the world.” The semifinals of the contest were held Saturday morning. Great Oak High School in Temecula squared off against King, and Poly faced Hemet High School. The finals pitted King as the prosecution and Poly as the legal team that successfully represented the defendant. More than 540 students from 26 high schools entered the mock trial competition this year. The event, in its 31st year, is co-sponsored by the Riverside County Office of Education, Riverside County Bar Association and Riverside County Superior Court. Mock trial students argue cases in front of real judges and are scored by real attorneys. Teams consist of eight to 20 students filling courtroom roles of defense and prosecution attorneys, witnesses, clerk and bailiff. This year, students argued the fictional case of a high school student charged with second-degree murder in the death of a fellow student. Judge Virginia Phillips presided over Saturday’s championship round. Afterward announcing the verdict, she congratulated both schools for an outstanding performance. “It was an inspiration to me to see the results of all that hard work you put in over many months,” she told the students. Despite being defending champions, Poly students said they struggled early in the competition. “We lost a round,’” said Jared Kanouse, 17, a junior. “I think it kind of woke us up and made us realize we needed to go all out. We practiced hard and we were able to pull it out.” Kendall Morris, 17, said it was an intense feeling sitting in the courtroom waiting for the results to be announced. “Our coach basically prepared us to lose because of how close the round was,” said Morris, a senior. “We were prepared to get second place. We didn’t know which way it was going to go.” Josh Hanks, one of Poly’s coaches, said the team will continue putting in long hours to prepare for the state competition. “The last two years, we lost in the quarterfinals by a combined four points,” Hanks said. “We lost last year by one point. We’re hoping this year to overcome that hump.” Contact Steve Wall at steve [email protected]