On Jan. 9, Morro Bay High School’s exceptional Mock Trial team took off to Menlo, California, for a two-day tournament called Bay Area Bash. Bay Area Bash is a highly competitive tournament that many Bay Area schools participate in to prepare themselves for the county competition next month. If they advance, they will go on to the state-wide competition in March, usually held in LA. This is Morro Bay’s third year participating, and the team couldn’t have been more excited. “We went to the opening ceremonies in the morning, and then we had a prosecution round, a defense round, and then another prosecution round, and then the following morning, the defense went again, and then we went to the closing ceremonies, and then we went home,” said junior Vena Fryer. The trip surely had plenty of room for bonding for the team, knowing they will spend most of their time together these next two months, it’s nice to know the close, tight-knit bonds they have with each other. From spending every Thursday evening together practicing to intense court room competition, this team has truly curated every single detail down to the best of their abilities.
“I mean, it’s a really, really competitive tournament. It’s pretty much the best teams in California and us. And it’s a really good opportunity to learn a lot of things from others, really successful teams,” said Fryer, “It is very difficult, but I was super excited. I felt like we were pretty prepared. I mean, this year we’re pretty young. We have a lot of freshmen, because we had a lot of seniors who graduated last year. So in that element, there are a lot of people that aren’t too familiar with the tournament setting, but I think other than that, we were all mesmerized, and we were pretty prepared.” This team has truly poured their all into this club and is ready to lay down the foundation for the next generation to shine through and continue to lead the club to victory year after year.
One of the most notable highlights of the weekend was when freshman Eden Rea won the award for best overall witness in the tournament. “I felt really excited and surprised,” said Rea. Just being a freshman, Rea has already shown much promise in her mock trial future, and the team is very excited to see what she is capable of moving forward into county competition. Many upperclassmen recount being very proud and excited for Rea, with all the amazing, hard-working schools. It was amazing to see one of MBHS’s students up there.
