By JONATHAN DALE, Staff Writer
January 12, 2007
Printed courtesy of Imperial Valley Press, El Centro, CA

Erik Landeros headed into the opening night of Imperial County mock trial feeling as though he had certain responsibilities on his shoulders.

The 17-year-old is the head attorney for Desert Oasis High School’s first-ever mock trial team this year. No other continuation school in the Imperial Valley has ever participated in the yearly competition that kicked off Thursday night.

“I was nervous, but I was confident,” Erik said of his first evening pacing the carpeted floors of the Imperial County Superior Courthouse.

“Being that this was the first time for Desert Oasis, I felt good because we’re starting something new for the school,” he said.

Erik seems to be all business when it comes to how he expects his school to perform this year against proven mock trial programs, such as Southwest High and Central Union High.

“We don’t want to be seen as troublemakers,” Erik said. “We want to be seen as people that can do something with their lives.”

Desert Oasis is receiving a huge coaching boost in its rookie season of competition, as former CUHS coach Ron Nicholson, who has both local and state titles under his belt, has been working hard to prepare his new team.

“We’re very excited about it,” Nicholson said. “I’m very proud of (the students) for just walking in the courtroom and showing up.

“I think they’ve done a very credible job for never doing it before,” he said of the match-up the continuation school faced against Calexico High.

With the voluntary assistance of assistant coach Jorge Sanchez and attorney Ben Warren, Nicholson is hoping the next few weeks of competition will prove to the Imperial Valley that alternative high schools can compete with the bigger and higher-profile schools.

“I hope this will be the beginning of alternative schools getting involved,” Nicholson said. “I want these kids to know that they can compete with these other schools.”

One coach who admits she is still in the dark as to how Desert Oasis will perform this year is Catherine Drew, who helms two-time defending champion Southwest High, which will face the continuation school Tuesday night.

“Desert Oasis makes me nervous,” Drew said. “Every year there is a team that presents a challenge to us in a different way, and we don’t know where it’s going to come from. I just don’t know what we’re going to get with Desert Oasis.”

Assisted by John Weis of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and local attorney Mitch Driskill, Drew expects her team to be as competitive as it has been the past two years, during which time Southwest assumed the mock trial crown from Central.

“I think our chances are as good this year as any year,” Drew said. “We’ve got six returnees and eight newbies.

“A couple of our first-timers tonight blew me out of the water,” she said, commending first-year attorney Katelyn Driskill and first-time mock trial participant Jack Mills.

Thanks to eight teams participating this year and a slew of volunteering judges and attorneys from throughout the area, Imperial County Office of Education mock trial coordinator Denise Cabanilla believes this year will be great for competition.

“Everything looked fantastic,” Cabanilla said of opening night, which saw schools trying to either convict or defend a fictional high school student accused of placing an explosive on a school campus.

“There was a lot of energy, a lot of excitement,” she said. “For the most part, everyone was pleased with the night.”

>> Staff Writer Jonathan Dale can be reached at 337-3440 or at jdale@ivpressonline.com