Don't count them out:
CMC's Mock Trial Team
is Heading to Nationals

No one thought it was possible: A second-place, six-and-two recorda finish above mock-trial powerhouses UCLA, Berkeley, and USC, and a bid to the American Mock Trial Association National Championship Tournament in Memphis, Tenn., in April.
That's what happened earlier this month when CMC's Mock Trial team made its strongest showing to date during the opening round of the championship series in Irvine, and sent a message to its competitors: Do not underestimate CMC. They left the tournament--the national feeder event for the American Mock Trial Association's national championship--with a second-place finish. To boot, Abhi Nemani '10 won the distinction of "Intercollegiate Attorney" for ranking as an "Outstanding Attorney" in the competition, the first time a CMCer has ever received that honor during a national tournament.
The Irvine tournament, held March 6-7 at the Harbor Justice Center, featured the top 24 teams on the West Coast, including the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, and the University of California, Los Angeles. Competing for a bid to Nationals next month in Memphis, organizers describe the field as the toughest in the country, with only the top six teams advancing.
"We were expecting tough competition, and that's what we found,'' says Jacinth Sohi '11. "Two of the four teams were at the championships last year, and each were in the top eight of their region."
Following their final round, as the students waited for the awards ceremony to begin and feeling unsure of their performance, the tournament host walked up and asked whether they wanted to know the results, Sohl recalls. Somewhat reluctantly, they accepted, to which the host excitedly replied, How do you like Memphis BBQ? In the middle of the courthouse, she says, the CMC team erupted in cheers.
Considering that just a week earlier the team thought its season had wrapped, this was incredible news. That was because during regional tournaments in Fresno and Los Angeles, two of CMC's four mock trial teams placed ninth and 10th, earning honorable mention recognition, but coming up just short of a bid to the Western regional championship series in Irvine. "We had worked so hard for so long, each teameach studentworking on the case since September," said Roxanne Phen '10, "and we didn't want it to be over."
Then came a welcome phone call. Five days before the start of the Irvine tournament, CMC Mock Trial was offered the last spot in the opening round. By the next day, a CMC "super team'' was assembled to battle some of the top mock-trial programs in the country.
"We were able to do it," says Nemani, "because CMC has a big program, with more than 25 talented competitors spread across four teams. So we were able to take advantage of that depth, and make one large, specialized, and strong team rather quickly."
The CMC team finished the weekend placing second overall, just a tie break away from first place.
This year's AMTA National Championship Tournament is being hosted by Rhodes College April 16-18. From a national field of more than 530 teams, only 48 advance to the venue. This is just the second time CMC has been invited.
"It wasn't exactly how we expected to get there," admits Nemani, "but we'll take it. A coach came up to me after the tournament and said he didn't think we had it in us. After qualifying two years in a row, I'm just hoping they won't say that again."