York Law Team began their season with fervor yesterday, Jan. 25, with a second place win at the 5th Annual NSBA High School Mock Trial Competition at the Skokie courthouse.

The law team normally competes in about six competitions each winter in preparation for the state meet at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The competition at Skokie has traditionally been the first in that series, and the team has placed in the top three for the past three years.

“We were really nervous before going in because we were feeling the pressure to keep our streak going,” senior Hollie Albin said. “When we heard our name announced, we jumped up and screamed.”

Each competition includes two mock trials: one in which the team plays the defense, and another in which they play the plaintiff. The first mock trial was against Evanston Township High School, where York played the defense, and the second was against Bartlett High School as the plaintiff.

“Our trial against Evanston was a good matchup between our two teams, since they are typically very strong and help bring out the best in the students,” sponsor Amy Mueller said. “The Bartlett team seemed to have lost a lot of their seniors and was a younger team, so I felt that our team was more prepared and experienced.”

Now having one competition under their belt, the team is eager to start preparing for their next one in the hopes that they can keep the streak going.

“We were competing against a lot of really high-level schools like St. Charles North and Chicago Christian that placed at State last year,” Albin said. “If we were able to win against them, I have high hopes for our performance in future competitions, and especially at State.”