The story is updated with the results from March 3.
After barely losing in semi-finals to rival Rio Americano’s prosecution two days before, the Mock Trial team placed fourth with another loss against the Kaleo home-schooled team’s defense on March 3.
“We were all sort of surprised by (the loss). It was weird because we thought it was pretty clear we were the better team,” said junior Aishwarya Nadgauda, team captain.
“They were a nice team, but they didn’t know the intricacies of (Mock Trial),” she said.
However, Nadgauda was more upset about the semi-final match against Rio.
“Some of the things (Rio) does are not in the spirit of Mock Trial,” she said.
Junior George Cvetich, also a team captain, agrees and described Rio’s team as “dirty.”
“The tone of voice they use is as if they’re always right and we’re always wrong. It’s a very entitled tone, and it’s very snobby,” Cvetich said.
Furthermore, both Cvetich and Nadgauda said that Rio had an advantage because the school is a perennial winner—Rio places in the top two every year, according to Cvetich.
“We beat Rio the team, but didn’t beat their reputation,” Nadgauda said. “To beat (Rio), we have to pummel them. The judges just expect them to win.”
Overall, the team lost by less than 1 percent in points.
“We were just so close. Rio just takes advantage of the scoring judges because they aren’t as familiar with the rules,” Nadgauda said.
Despite the loss, Cvetich said the team did well against Rio.
“That was probably the best trial we’ve ever done as a team. I think it’s just that (the judges) enjoyed (Rio’s) performance more,” he said.
The season came to a close at the awards ceremony, which was held right after the team’s last match. Compared to last year’s two, the team won a total of seven awards.
Nadgauda, Cvetich and sophomore Emma Belliveau all received attorney awards, while sophomores Akilan Murugesan and Belliveau and junior Grant Miner won witness awards.
