After two days and three rounds of regional competition, the Frisco CTE Mock Trial team has advanced to the semifinal round of regionals on Saturday. With COVID-19 still amiss and the inclement weather conditions, the team will be competing virtually from the CTE Center. 

While many on the team anticipated moving on to the semifinal round, the unforeseen weather conditions almost caused a sudden change to the team’s plans.

“We typically compete from the CTE Center, but it did seem like we were going to have to compete from home because of the weather,” Memorial High School junior Jackson Price said. “As a team, we decided that it would still be best for us to go to the CTE.”

While the weather may have been unexpected, the competition will still go on as usual. For the CTE team, and those across Region 10, three attorneys, six witnesses, and a timekeeper will be the members actively competing. In the competition, teams will be arguing the case that Texas High School Mock Trial released for this season.

“In October we’re given a case packet with all the information that we need to compete,” Wakeland High School freshman Avishi Pandya said. “We’ve been working on this for months, since October, and I am so proud of each and every person for making it to the next round.”

Last weekend, the team worked through 3 rounds of the Region 10 Competition, with each round lasting around 2 hours. The team was successful in each round, landing them in the top 12 out of all teams in Region 10. At the end of the competition, team member Prisha Mehta was nominated for outstanding advocate, and team member Nivy Manikandan was nominated for outstanding witness. 

As an attorney, Centennial High School senior Adhithi Ramprakash played a large role in breaking down the case and getting the CTE team to the semifinals.

“We all worked incredibly hard to break down the case, and for me, working on my cross examinations was the most difficult part of the season,” Ramprakash said. “I was pretty confident that we were going to move to the second round, we have such a well-rounded team and we all work really well together.”

This Saturday, the team will compete in a semifinal round, and if they win, they proceed to a final round the same day. After the final round, the top three teams in the region proceed to the state competition, so the final regional round determines if the team’s season will end or not. 

“I’m preparing for the next round by practicing with the witnesses and memorizing my closing statements,” Independence High School senior Diksha Krishna said. “I hope that we make it to state once again.”