Student lawyers, witnesses, court clerks and other team members from Temecula Valley High School tied for third in the Riverside County Mock Trial competition last week at the Riverside Historic Courthouse.

The Woodcrest Christian High School team finished first, and will compete March 19-21 at the California State Mock Trial Competition to be held in San Jose.

Temecula Valley High lost its semifinal round on March 6 to returning champion Riverside Poly High School. Poly High, which won last year’s competition, finished in second place last week.

Temecula Valley defeated Great Oak High School, which is located in the same city, to last until the Advertisement

Primus Golf Academy final day of the competition. Murrieta Valley High School lost to Poly in a preliminary round of the contest.

More than 450 students from 26 Riverside County teams started in the initial rounds of the 28th annual competition, which began Feb. 10 at regional courts in French Valley, Riverside and Indio.

Mock Trial involves students arguing cases in front of real judges and scored by real attorneys and community leaders. The case this year was People v. Bratton, a murder trial. The event was sponsored by the Riverside County Office of Education, Riverside County Bar Association and Riverside Superior Court.