(March 7, 2007- Oklahoma City) Shawnee High School was the runner up in the final round of competition for the Oklahoma High School Mock Trial Championship. Ada High School won the competition and will represent Oklahoma in the national competition, to be held in Dallas May 10 – 12.

“We are extremely proud of the work performed by both teams,” said Oklahoma Bar Association President Stephen Beam. “This is the first time Shawnee has competed in the mock trial finals. Its team members demonstrated excellent presentation and reasoning skills, and it was a close competition.”

The competition was held Tuesday evening in the Bell Courtroom at the OU College of Law in Norman. The two teams argued a civil case that alleged wrongful termination of employment under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The annual competition is sponsored by the Oklahoma Bar Association Young Lawyers Division and the Oklahoma Bar Foundation. Teams are paired with a volunteer attorney coach.

The judges evaluated the students based on their familiarity of the case and the formulation of their arguments. Students received points for each phase of the trial, opening, direct and cross examination, closing argument and how well their witnesses responded.

This year’s winners of the best attorney awards were Quaid Johns of Ada and Marco Del Moral of Shawnee. Gessica Sewell of Ada and Anne Alger of Shawnee were chosen as the top witnesses.

Shawnee’s mock trial team is coached by Sharon Davis. Returning to the team for a fourth year are Marco Del Moral, Rob Elliott and Lindsay Houston. Logan Foster and Kelsie Tucker have participated for three years. Second-year participants are Heather Swadlely and Stephen Whitmore. New to the team are Anne Alger, Jacob Compton, Sam Crosby, Kayla Dixon, Tifani Harris, Michael McLaughlin, Jamelle Payne, Dalton Smith and Kelsey VanHorn.

Out of the 49 teams that began competing in January, the top finishers are, in third place, Christian Heritage Academy; fourth, Clinton High School; fifth, Catoosa High School; sixth, El Reno High School; seventh, Broken Arrow High School; and eighth, Jenks High School.

Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals Judge David Lewis served as presiding judge during the contest finals. Scoring judges were U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Niles Jackson, Oklahoma City; Judge Millie Otey, Tulsa; retired Judge Ken Dickerson, Piedmont; Judge Daman Cantrell, Tulsa; and retired Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Hardy Summers, Oklahoma City.

More than 400 judges and attorneys volunteered their time to work with mock trial teams as coaches and to conduct the competitions. Jennifer Scott of Oklahoma City served as chairperson of the Young Lawyers Division Mock Trial Committee.

The 15,000-member Oklahoma Bar Association, headquartered in Oklahoma City, was created by the Oklahoma Supreme Court to advance the administration of justice and to foster and maintain learning, integrity, competence, public service and high standards of conduct among Oklahoma’s legal community.