(November 23, 2004) — Clark’s mock trial team members started off the year hoping to be the first team in the history of Clark to go on to the third round in the Constitutional Rights Foundation’s mock trial competition. Unfortunately, they were not able to break the curse. The defense team faced West Covina High’s prosecution team at the L.A. County Courthouse Nov. 1. It was West Covina’s first time participating in the Mock Trial program, so it made the defense team’s job a little easier. Clark’s defense lawyers seemed like real lawyers. They knew what questions to ask and when to object to the other team’s questions. “West Covina put up a good fight. We were just like them in our first year. They were nervous, but they put up an excellent fight. Unfortunately for West Covina, our experience turned out to be the deciding factor in our victory,” said senior Andrew Abraham, who played the role of Brett Williams for the defense. Clark’s prosecution team did not fare as well, however. On Nov. 8 they faced King Drew High School’s defense team. Although the trial was very close, the judges ruled in favor of King Drew High. “[The prosecution] team did well. They seemed a little nervous, but they showed their experience. However, [King Drew’s] team fought very well, and in the end they turned out as the winners,” said junior Anthony Abraham, one of the defense lawyers. The five seniors on this year’s mock trial team hoped that this would have been the breakthrough team. “Making it to the next round would have been the icing on the cake for this phenomenal team, but we definitely met our match,” said senior and team manager John Reyes. “It’s unfortunate that the ‘veterans’ have to retire this year. I had really hoped that this team would have gone on to the next round. It’s fine however; we all had a great experience,” said senior Harish Venkitaramanan. Team members have high hopes for next year’s team. “The underclassmen in Mock Trial are experienced and skilled enough to be able to step up to bigger roles and responsibilities and hopefully take us even further,” said Reyes. The team met one last time last Friday for the annual mock trial dinner. They will not reconvene again until next school year.