The Albert Lea High School mock trial team is heading to the state tournament after winning the regional championship Wednesday.

Coach Neil Chalmers said this is the second year in row the team has been regional champions, and the team is excited to go to the state tournament again. This year’s competition will be held in Duluth on March 8 and 9. Team member Carlton Stripe is excited to get to go to Duluth and see the other teams compete.

“It’s been a lot of fun this whole year,” Stripe said.

Chalmers said the team is hopeful going into the state tournament because a few of the members were in the state tournament last year, so they’ll be more familiar with how it works.

“Everyone was new to the state tournament last year,” Chalmers said.

He said that the team is excited to go to Duluth and tour some local landmarks, as well as seeing the other teams. Chalmers said all mock trial teams in the state are given the same case by the state bar association, and this year’s case is the state of Minnesota v. Robin Caldwell.

All teams must study the case and be prepared to act as defense or prosecution. The case is about the infamous murder of Elisabeth Congdon in Duluth. All teams perform three rounds before going to a regional competition. At the regional competition the team anxiously waited to see if they had beaten Northfield High School’s team.

“It was nerve-wracking to wait to find out how we did,” said Shelby Lageson, one of the captains of the mock trial team.

The team didn’t end up having to worry. They beat Northfield and get to go on to state. Chalmers said the team has been working hard since they were given the case in October.

“We spend the first couple of months getting familiar with the case,” Chalmers said.

The mock trial team gets help from many community members to prepare for their case. The team practices at the Freeborn County Courthouse and has received advice from Judge Steve Schwab. Local law clerks Jocylyn Poehler and Megan Siecel, local lawyer Bob Sturtz, Assistant County Attorney David Walker, detective Ben Mortenson and Natalie Runden from Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services all helped the team with various aspects of the case.

“We got a lot of help from the community,” Chalmers said.