Regis Middle School wins state mock trial title Coach Jim Efting named to Iowa Mock Trial Educator’s Hall of Fame

CEDAR RAPIDS - Determination and public speaking skills have taken a team of eighth-graders from Cedar Rapids to the top of the mock trial mountain.

Earlier this month, Regis Middle School took top honors at the State Middle School Mock Trial competition in Des Moines. Team members Samantha Semelroth, Maria Gamez, Britt Bowersox, Rylee Beardsworth, Justin Scherrman, Joanne Lee, Hank Esker, Virginia Russell, Samantha High and Miyako Coffey said they are thrilled to carry on a tradition of winning for their coach - Regis teacher Jim Efting.

Jim Efting was honored by the Iowa State Bar Association as being one of the first educators named to the Iowa Mock Trial Educator's Hall of Fame. Efting - who started coaching middle school mock trial in 1985 at St. Pius X School and continued to coach at Regis when the middle school opened - has had more than 40 middle school teams make it to the state competition and has won 17 state titles.

Efting said there are two things that set this year's team apart.

'They all are great public speakers and they had incredible determination. They were not going to let anyone beat them. They were one of the hardest working teams I have ever coached.”

Local attorney Tim Semelroth - who was actually coached under Efting and made it to the state tournament in 1985 - serves as a volunteer coach for the state championship Regis team and said he was equally impressed.

'They are a team of smart kids who set a goal at the beginning of the school year to be the best in the state,” he said. 'They then worked very hard - before school, after school and on weekends - to achieve that goal. It is exciting to witness that kind of dedication.”

Semelroth's daughter, Samantha, was recognized with the Outstanding Attorney award during the state competition, held Nov. 14-16.

'As a lawyer and a coach, I was very impressed with these students; I know how hard trial advocacy can be,” he said. 'And as a dad, I am ridiculously proud. All of my friends on Facebook are probably tired of all the mock trial photos I have posted from the state tournament.”

The students participated in five trials during the state competition. Their final trial lasted three and a half hours.

But the team from Regis was prepared, said Efting.

'I was so excited for this group of eighth-graders because they have worked so hard these past three months, putting in so many long hours in practice, sometimes three to four hours a day,” he said.

Team member Joanne Lee, who played the role of a lawyer, said the hard work was worth it.

'I've done mock trial since I was in sixth grade and every year I get better and better at public speaking,” she said. 'And I really enjoy the teamwork element of it, helping my teammates out when they have to cross examine a witness.”

Samantha Semelroth agreed, noting that their pretrial team huddles were very inspirational.

'You definitely get a mock trial high,” she said. 'Pretty much this same team was at state last year as seventh-graders and we've become like a family. We really get to know each other as a team and care about one another. If we all keep doing mock trial together through high school it will be awesome.”

Miyako Coffey, who played the role of a witness, said the moment Regis was announced as the winning team is memorable.

'We all screamed and hugged each other. We couldn't believe it,” she said. 'It can be nerve-wracking as a Regis team to compete at state because so many teams before us have won. And you can't account for the surprises that will happen, but we came back from a lot and made it happen.”