Morro Bay High School Mock Trial Team is aiming for state competition.Photo submitted
The Morro Bay High School Mock Trial team is back in action at the San Luis Obispo County Mock Trial tournament with a handful of returners from last year’s county championship team. The competition runs from through February 15 (post press time) at the San Luis Obispo County courthouse.
Building on last year’s success, the team spent the fall and winter scrimmaging in the Bay Area, on zoom, and in Santa Barbara.
“Mock Trial is a strange competition in that you don’t want to scrimmage with teams that you’ll face at county,” said MBHS teacher and coach, Josh Waldman. “If you scrimmage your eventual competitors, they’ll know your arguments. We looked to other schools in the area to build our skills to get ready for competition. Scrimmaging seventeen times, we feel like we’re entering competition with the skills that we need to make it to the second week of competition and beyond.”
Morro Bay High School Mock Trial is a group of eighteen 9th through 12th graders who meet in the evening and work with a staff of volunteers throughout the year. The team is coached by retired attorneys Dan Clement and Gary Ottoson, both of Los Osos, SLO City Attorney Christine Dietrick, also of Los Osos, former Cal Poly Mock Trialer Mckenzie Taffe of Morro Bay, and MBHS alumni and Morro Bay resident Curtis Bradley.
“The coaches log hundreds of volunteer hours to get the students ready. I couldn’t ask for a more dedicated group of positive role models and mentors,” said Coach Waldman.
The competition has a spot at the state competition in Los Angeles on the line. To help support Morro Bay HS, visit their fundraising page at: https://www.fanangel.com/campaigns/3922/story
