MARIANAS High School continued its winning streak, besting seven other teams in the highly competitive CNMI high school mock trial competition at Guma’ Hustisia on Feb. 20-21, 2025.
It was the Dolphins’ fifth consecutive victory since 2019. (There were no mock trial competitions in 2021 and 2022 due to the pandemic. In 2024, MHS won by default because there were not enough teams participating.)
This year, MHS brought home the trophy by defeating Dr. Rita Hocog Inos Jr.-Sr. High School, which settled for second place. Saipan International School finished third.
Also competing this year were Kagman High School, Saipan Southern High School and Tinian Middle School & High School.
MHS will represent the CNMI in the mock trial championship in Phoenix, Arizona in May 2025.
The MHS mock trial team members are Juan Bancia, Angelica Calvo, Mary Grace Legaspi, Steven Lian, Hannah Lim, Jia Nicdao, Prapti Mondal, David Park, Trixia Singca, Jim Sison, Reese Tolentino and Irene Wang.
Mondal, the team captain, said their victory was a result of collective effort, with numerous meetings and practices leading up to it.
“It’s hard work, for sure. I think every one of the team members is very committed, and since everyone is willing to progress and help each other out…that brings our team together on the same track,” Mondal said.
“This is a team effort, not an individual one, and because we are all so connected, we have a bond that sets us apart from others,” she added.
Their teacher-coaches are Robyn Spaeth and Jacoby Winkfield, while attorneys Michael Dotts and Rebecca Wiggins served as their attorney-coaches.
Mondal expressed her gratitude to their coaches.
“They’ve helped and supported us and came to every single meeting, giving us their precious time to help the team,” she added.
Mondal said she is considering a career in the legal field in the near future.
“At first, I was just interested because I watched a lot of criminal shows. But then, as I continued joining and participating, I’ve become very interested and passionate about it…and so, in college, I want to take something in the legal field,” Mondal said.
Asked about their preparation for the national championship, MHS team co-captain Mary Grace Legaspi said, “We’re thinking of doing the same thing that we did for the regionals — almost daily meetings, maybe late-night meetings, practicing with ourselves and with the whole group. We’ll also get individual feedback from attorneys, coaches and team members.”
She said they feel nervous about facing other high school mock trial teams across the United States.
“That’s definitely a given…since we’re coming from a small island with little resources compared to others, but we’re excited to be there nevertheless,” Legaspi added.
According to MHS freshman and team member Steven Lian, “At the beginning, [mock trial] was not that really interesting for me… but once I got into the specifics of the case and started practicing more, I really started enjoying it because it was really a team effort, everybody helped each other.” He intends to compete again next year.
Spaeth said the team’s preparations were intense — “students needed to be really committed.”
“This group especially, I want to say, this year, I’m so impressed with how committed they’ve been to the team…. Showing up to the meetings, even working on weekends, giving up their Saturdays. They really wanted this,” Spaeth said.
Winkfield said the MHS students “worked really hard, and they rose to the challenge. It’s a very intellectually challenging competition and they know what it entails.”
“We been really fortunate with [our] great lawyer-coaches,” Spaeth said. “This year, it’s great to have both a male and a female coach, Mike and Becky, on the team, and then, in the years past, we had [Public Defender] Doug Hartig, who put in a lot of heart and soul into the team. We also had a lot of help from the CNMI Bar Association.”
The 2025 MHS mock trial team members pose for a photo with their trophy.
2025 MHS mock trial team captain Prapti Mondal
MHS teacher-coaches Jacoby Winkfield and Robyn Spaeth.
