Junior Mock Trial Team claims second at state

Junior+Mock+Trial+Team+members%2C+Hannah+Archuleta%2C+Kira+Duff%2C+Emma+Hansen%2C+Emily+Karabeika%2C+Cira+Kelly%2C+Kendra+Ogden%2C+Leah+Olson+and+Elizabeth+Torralba+receive+their+award+after+claiming+second+place+at+State.+The+Mock+Trial+season+is+over%2C+but+they+will+resume+practice+for+Empires+in+August.+

Junior Mock Trial Team members, Hannah Archuleta, Kira Duff, Emma Hansen, Emily Karabeika, Cira Kelly, Kendra Ogden, Leah Olson and Elizabeth Torralba receive their award after claiming second place at State. The Mock Trial season is over, but they will resume practice for Empires in August.

West Linn’s Junior Mock Trial team claimed second at state on 14, losing only to Village Home, a group of homeschooled students, and beating both Jesuit, who placed fourth and Riverdale, who placed third in earlier rounds. The senior team did not place.

“We thought we had really bombed our first round, and that we had lost our chances of doing well,” Kendra Ogden, sophomore, and member of the junior team, said. “But we managed to beat the other team [Jesuit] even though we weren’t at our best.”

Neither junior or senior teams will be advancing to nationals, as other West Linn Mock Trial Teams have done in the past.

“We are looking forward to the upcoming season more than the one behind us,” Ogden said. “Its going to be hard losing the seniors, we’re going to miss all of them, but I’m excited for the next season.”

Seniors Emily Rissberger, Kevin Layoon, Lucas Evans, Rochelle Biancardi, Rachel Dawson, Claire Baumgardner and Anne Robinson will be leaving the team.

The remaining students will begin practicing in August, and will be spending the remainder of the year  fundraising for the Empires, a competition held in New York City.