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Mock trial team can’t pull off fifth win

Amanda Holt MillerPost Independent Staff

Glenwood Springs High School was dethroned this weekend when it failed to win the mock trial state championship for the first time in five years.Although Glenwood didn’t advance to the final round, they lost only the third round against eventual winner St. Mary’s Academy of Englewood, according to Stacy Chesney, a spokesperson for the Colorado Bar Association, which organizes the mock trial competitions. St. Mary’s defeated Regis High School of Aurora for the championship and advances to the national tournament in Oklahoma City, Okla., this May.All of the teams in the state competition were prepared to try the prosecution or defense side of a case concerning an aggressive high school basketball player who injured a rising star after shoving the player on the court.Glenwood’s first team won three rounds and lost one, Chesney said. Final placement for the teams and results for Glenwood’s second team were not available at press time. “We didn’t lose this competition,” said judge Victor Zerbi, who oversees coaching for the Glenwood mock trial teams. “We were beaten by a very, very good team. Traditionally if someone wants to go on after state, they have to go through Glenwood Springs. (St. Mary’s) did.”Junior Brendan Cochran was disappointed that his team won’t be going on to the national championship. He’s participated in mock trial all three years at Glenwood High School, but this was his first year on the No. 1 team.”I have one more year to come back and make it happen,” Cochran said.Sarah Lewis is a senior who went to the national competition last year.”This year the competition was a lot tougher than it has been in the past,” Lewis said. “There were more teams and as soon as we saw who was going to state, we knew this wasn’t going to be easy.”Both Cochran and Lewis agreed that the round against St. Mary’s was a stressful and trying round that ended too close to call and too close for comfort.”In that particular round, I don’t think we were on top of our game,” Lewis said. We made some mistakes we could have avoided. St. Mary’s is a very good team.”Lewis said Glenwood faced a number of worthy opponents last year as well and made mistakes, but was able to overcome them in a way they couldn’t this time around.The loss came as a shock, though the team knew it would face fierce competition.”I think we had a target on our backs because we’ve won four years in a row, and rightfully so,” Zerbi said. “There was nothing nasty about it. Everybody wants to win. It’s difficult to lose after that type of success.”Contact Amanda Holt Miller: 945-8515, ext. 529ahmiller@postindependent.com


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