THOUSAND OAKS : La Reina Places 5th in Mock Trial Contest

La Reina High School in Thousand Oaks finished fifth among 27 teams in the state mock trial competition this past weekend in Sacramento.

“I am very proud of the young ladies in the team,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald C. Glynn, who is one of the team’s coaches. “They put a lot of time and effort in preparing for the competition.”

The 19 girls in the team spent an average of five hours a week from October through February preparing for the competition, Glynn said.

“We knew that we would be one of the finalists because we worked very hard,” Glynn said.

The team, representing the 360-student Catholic girls school, has won the county’s high school mock trial competition three times in the past five years. This year’s fifth place was their best finish yet. Team member Joanna Dransfeldt, 18, who won this year’s best prosecutor award at the county level, also received an award as an outstanding attorney in the state competition.

“It was a lot of fun,” Dransfeldt said. “It was part acting, thinking on your feet and part just learning a lot.”

The hypothetical case argued on the state level dealt with child abduction and grand theft.

Glynn said that after he and the other coaches trained the students on how to conduct themselves in court and the laws involved in the case, the students put together their own questions, cross-examination and opening and closing statements.