Mock Trial attorneys met on Feb. 26 to practice opening and closing speeches before county competitions at the Hamilton County Courthouse.

Robert Browning, Mock Trial sponsor and business teacher, said after placing high enough in the Mock Trial regionals, all three teams had advanced into the state finals, which will take place at the Marion County Courthouse.

“We’ve been in the throes of competition finally and with the state regionals, there’s four different regions but in each one you just have to get into the top nine. Fortunately all three of our teams made it,” Browning said. “The state finals on March 15 and March 16, since all three of our teams qualified from regionals, this is the culmination of everything we have been working on since we’ve made our teams. And so we’ve got three weeks to work on it and I’m always proud of their growth. They’ve come so far since the beginning of the year.

Atharv Sahu, Mock Trial member and freshman, said being able to compete at the county courthouse has been a great experience and that he is looking forward to state finals.

“We went to state regionals and qualified for state, but although we lost at semifinals I think we can learn from our experiences,” Sahu said. “Some people might think that sitting there in front of a real judge, but it’s been really exhilarating and all our competitions have been pretty good so far. It’s really fun since you get to do the trials in an actual courtroom, so it feels like the real thing.”