After four grueling trials over the past two days, the Dos Pueblos High School Mock Trial team did it! The Chargers went 4-0 to advance to Sunday morning’s final round in the California Mock Trial championships in Sacramento.

Dos Pueblos faces defending champion La Reina, a Thousand Oaks school that also won a world invitational last November. But the Chargers are ready to take them on.

Via a coin flip, the Dos Pueblos prosecution team — headed by Connie Wang, Emma Steinkellner and Paisha Fellows — was selected for Sunday’s round. The rest of the starting lineup for the prosecution includes Wes Cooperman, Agnetta Cleland, Hannah Cruz, Alison Mally and Madeleine Centrella.

The defense, led by the spectacular Cheryl Wilson, had to go three times Friday and Saturday and defeated three of the top teams in the state for Dos Pueblos to advance.

Late Saturday, the team returned from the tournament’s dance and announcement in front of all 750 students and coaches, and the kids were bouncing off the walls with excitement. This year’s squad is the first Dos Pueblos team to advance this far since 1994 and it will be competing Sunday with nothing to lose and a chance to advance to the national championships!

The California Mock Trial Finals are organized by the nonprofit Constitutional Rights Foundation, which is dedicated to educating America’s youth about the importance of civic participation in a democratic society.

Dos Pueblos Mock Trial Team

» Joel Block

» Delia Bullock

» Scott Campbell

» Madeleine Centrella

» Agnetta Cleland

» Wes Cooperman

» Ray Cothern

» Hannah Cruz

» Paisha Fellows

» Maureen Grattan

» Niranjanna Jeeva

» Bela Lafferty

» Alison Mally

» Madeline Matthys

» Nadine Pearson

» Brian Pinner

» Ryan Polito

» Nimisha Shinday

» Emma Steinkellner

» Sean Strong

» Ami Thakrar

» Connie Wang

» Jake Wiener

» Cheryl Wilson

» Camille Wyss

» Sophia Zheng

— Bill Woodard is coach of the Dos Pueblos High School Mock Trial team. This article was originally published by The Charger Account at Dos Pueblos High and is republished with permission.