La Reina takes mock trial win
By Joann Groff joann@theacorn.com

The La Reina High School mock trial team took their case all over the state, first winning the Ventura County championship March 1 and then moving on to take third in Oakland at the California State Mock Trial competition.

The third-place finish came among 34 teams competing. Unfortunately, the group of students missed qualifying for the championship round by eighttenths of a point.

"It would have been really fun to participate in the final round, so it was frustrating," said sophomore Christina Sinner of Newbury Park. "But the highest we've ever been before was fifth, so this was a really big deal."

Freshman Caitlyn Hardy, who watched both of her sisters (now La Reina grads) compete in La Reina's mock trial program, said it was a whole new experience being in front of the crowd.

"I basically knew what it was and I knew what happened, but it was pretty nerve-racking," Caitlyn said of her first big competition at county. "We'd had a few scrimmages, but nothing like this."

La Reina has won eight county championships in the last 10 years.

"It's always a challenge," Christina said. "It's never a sure thing. It's always great to have that sensation of winning. We feel like we've raised the bar of competition. Other teams are competing to our standards, and it really gets harder every year."

Team members, who come from Agoura Hills, Camarillo, Moorpark, Newbury Park, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, include: pretrial attorneys Lauren Dansey and Amanda Turk; attorneys Julianne Brauer, Tera Lutz, Amanda Mundell (captain), Cathy Pringle (captain), Alexa Shaw and Michelle Thomas; witnesses Caitlyn Hardy, Karina Malad, Tierney Mason, Sarah Merriman, Piper Nunez, Angela Peate, Christina Sinner and Katherine Waskul; alternate witnesses Tina Nikoomanesh, Annie Pierce and Vienna Vasquez; bailiff Ali Clark; clerk Sarah Volkmann; artist Erika Harlacher; and journalist Nicole Reber.