For the first time in history, Oak Park High School’s Mock Trial team became the winner of Ventura County Mock Trial competition on Feb. 17.

After seven nights of the competition — which consisted of 450 students, 30 teams and 22 high schools according to the Oak Park Weekly newsletter — OPHS’s Team A finished in first place. The topic of the 2022 case was “People v. Cobey: Homicide in the Desert.”

“While I certainly feel more pressure to do well, getting first place is an accomplishment in of itself,” senior Shreya Maddhali said. “I’m so thankful that I can end my senior year knowing that the six years of mock trial I did were worth it.” 

The competition was held virtually due to COVID-19 safety procedures. 

The team, consisting of 19 members and their coach and U.S. history teacher Dr. Victor Anderson, will head to the California Mock Trial contest from March 17-20. 

“I still can’t believe that we’re going to state because it’s never happened in Oak Park history, but it’s a well deserved achievement,” Mock Trial co-captain and senior Sandhya Sridhar said. “We’re definitely going to continue to work hard and we’ll do our best at state!”