Country Day Mock Trial will be competing for the Sacramento County championship against Elk Grove this Wednesday, Feb. 15, at the Robert T. Matsui Federal Courthouse (501 I Street).

The championship trial, held in the courthouse’s ceremonial courtroom, will be followed immediately by an awards ceremony in the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria (828 I Street).
The Cavs triumphed against St. Francis High School in the quarterfinals (518-500) and Del Campo High School in the semifinals (519-475), acting as the defense in both trials, to earn their spot in the finals.

This will be the fourth time Country Day competes in the championship, with the last bout in 2022 ending with a second-place title.

Team coach Rick Lewkowitz described the team’s performance so far as “outstanding.”
He highlighted the performance of the opening and closing attorneys for the defense, junior co-captain Grace Zhao and senior co-captain Samhita Kumar, respectively.

Kumar, who received the Most Valuable Player award and achieved perfect scores on her closing argument in the quarterfinals, said the team’s effort this year has been invaluable.

“Everyone’s worked so hard this year, and our scores reflect that,” she said. “Whether it’s our witnesses brainstorming new ways to improve their character on cross, or us attorneys working on theme flips during trial together, I’m really proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish as a group.”

Another exceptional performance came from senior Garman Xu, Lewkowitz said.

“He has just skyrocketed over the past couple of weeks,” he said. “He was constantly improving every season, but has really, really been shining in the last couple of weeks.”

Xu netted 18s and 20s on his pre-trial argument concerning voluntary consent and resigned inevitability, receiving praise for his legal acuity from scorers in both Saturday trials.

Heading into the finals, Lewkowitz emphasized that the Cavs should maintain their current performance and trust their team.

“When you change things, it can impact the confidence of the students,” he said. “So, you want to be a little careful about that, especially right before a championship.”

However, he recognizes that no trial can run perfectly.

“They’re bound to make little mistakes and they just need to keep going, but I think the team has adapted well to that over the past few months.”

Kumar agreed.

“We’ve spent all year polishing our case, but at the end of the day, we can’t control what happens on Wednesday night,” she said.

— By Staff