As UC San Diego’s mock trial team recently accomplished a feat it hadn’t reached since 2019 — traveling beyond the West Coast for a national tournament — one of its went even further.
Santiago Larson, a fourth-year political science major, finished as the highest-ranked witness in the American Mock Trial Association’s National Championship Tournament April 4-6 in Cleveland. He was one of nine students and five coaches to represent Triton Mock Trial at the competition and was a team captain.
The group is a student-run organization of 37 , bolstered by ’ dues and from volunteer coaches.
Larson and his peers competed in four rounds against the likes of Miami University (Ohio), Boston College, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and the University of Kansas as part of the Flora Mather Division.
Though the team finished 12th in the division, Larson achieved the highest witness rank in the competition, four points shy of a perfect score. He also was only the fourth Triton to receive an All-American award and the first to do it as a witness.
Current coach Keshav Nair, who was the second Triton to be named an All-American competitor, praised Larson, who ed the group nearly two years ago.
“Santiago, as the results show, is just a really next-level witness,” said Nair, who aided the team virtually during the competition. “There were some specific roles that we felt nobody could quite portray the same way he does and give these difficult explanations but make them smooth and believable the way he does.”
The National Championship Tournament pool consisted of the 48 top-performing mock trial programs in the country. The University of Chicago ultimately defeated Miami University for the championship.
Larson channeled the persona of a Southern mechanic with a bolo tie, belt buckle and thick accent. The inspiration for the voice came from his father, Kurt, who worked as an entertainer.
“At home he was kind of the guy that was always doing impressions, voices,” Larson said. “And the cowboy one was a big one. And I think growing up listening to him really ingrained [that] in me, so it’s kind of just a second voice for me now.”
“I sound really realistic [and] really chill,” he added. “I paint the facts in a way that still sounds good for us somehow. And I guess the judges ate that up.”
Larson also credited the rest of his team, in particular coach Virginia Stanton and Triton Mock Trial directing attorney Ellie Wang, for their .
Larson’s convincing performance, Nair said, speaks to his hard-working nature and how quickly he can absorb information and strategy.
“He can be soft-spoken sometimes when we’re in the student-coach setting or in a larger group setting,” Nair said. “But when the spotlight shines on him, he really just steals the stage and is the most credible, personable, likeable person you’ll ever hear.”
Since ing Triton Mock Trial as a transfer student from Palomar College, Larson has been in the role described as “the tank,” being placed as a witness on cases that are a tough sell and handling hard-hitting questions.
“It’s kind of like a sense of improv, but it’s improv based on rules,” Larson said. “You don’t just get to do whatever you want. [It’s] based on a large knowledge set that you have to really ingrain. And that’s something you can really take into life.”
Working as a lawyer in a trial court has always been a dream for Larson. His grandmother just sent him a fill-in-the-blank activity he did in third grade, asking about his future career.
His answer was becoming a lawyer. Because, he wrote, “I want to charge people a lot of money.”
Larson said he still hopes to work in trial court, whether as a prosecutor or judge.
As for the Triton Mock Trial team, eight of the nine competitors in the National Championship Tournament are set to return next school year.
Nair said he sees a parallel to his experience in Triton Mock Trial. In 2012, he said, his team placed low in the standings at the national tournament, but the next year, it fell just short of reaching the championship round.
“Seeing these students approach what they learned, how to apply it, how to improve what they’re already doing at a very high level was really great,” Nair said. “And it kind of gave me a little bit of deja vu to 2013, when we took those lessons and came within a hair of a championship.”
Before the tournament this year, Triton Mock Trial sought $10,000 in donations to cover travel and accompanying expenses. The group was able to secure $8,333, enough to ensure that costs didn’t prevent anyone from going.
The team has received contributions from family and friends but also from of other mock trial competitors, including Arizona State University. ♦
