After losing half its members to graduation last year, the mock trial team competed for the first time against other schools in an invitational on Jan. 17.

This Mock Trial Invitational, hosted by the Santa Clara County of Education, invites 20 teams from across the state to take part in a practice competition.

“It was very different from [weekly] practices,” senior co-captain, prosecution attorney Michael Chang said. “The case booklet is over 80 pages of equally important factual materials, and each team has the freedom to create a unique case.”

Sophomore witness Jennie Werner, a returning member, agreed.

“I thought the invitational was a really good opportunity to practice in front of a real crowd,” Werner said. “It made me feel more confident about how our team would actually do in competitions.”

She added that it was interesting seeing the way different schools chose to play their witnesses because at weekly practices everyone knew what to expect.

At the invitational, the prosecution faced San Luis Obispo High School, and the defense competed against Aptos High School.

Chang said the invitational was a helpful experience for newcomers to the team.

“In actually competing against another team, I knew that I had to step up my game because it wasn’t just another Tuesday night practice with crosses and directs I was familiar with,” sophomore Casey Takahashi, who joined mock trial this year, said.

Takahashi felt that the team had performed better at the invitational than it had during any other practice.

“Most of the team has never competed against other schools, and everyone really impressed me with the way each was able to stay calm and remember lines,” Takahashi said.

Concurring on this point, Chang also believed that the team performed very well in comparison to its relative inexperience. The witnesses were in character, and the attorneys made quick, efficient objections.

Although he was impressed with the team’s overall presentation, Chang knows members need to practice hard before the county competitions come around.

Werner and Takahashi both agreed that the team still needed work.

“I don’t think we’re nearly as prepared as we were last year,” Werner said, “but we’re getting there.”

The team will now be fine-tuning its performance before the first official county competition on Feb. 2.