The Iona College Mock Trial team’s change in coaching has not stopped these underdogs from making their way to their first round of championships.

“For us to get to our regional tournament and place high enough to move on was significant just because this year is more difficult than other years,” said Coach Isaac Gilwit.

They have practice during the week and on weekends all in preparation for the trials.

“After something we’ve worked for four years to reach our goals, the pressure is on,” says senior and co-captain of the team Anastasia Nitis.

The team has less than a month left until the Opening Round Championship Series (ORCS) is on March 22 in Washington, D.C.

The team likes their chances. Even if Iona College isn’t a big name school like many of their opponents, the team uses this to their advantage as they show the competition what they’re really made of.

“It’s always kind of fun being the underdog, at least in name, going into a round because they have no idea what’s going and they’re totally unexpected with what we hit them with,” said Nitis.

Getting to this point in the competition was no easy task, despite how well prepared the team tries to be, as the changes they encountered this year were out of their control. Their coach of 11 years stepped down from his position, leaving the team to adjust to new leadership.

“It’ll be a rebuilding year, I think we can still be really competitive,” said Gilwit.

The team will soon face another leadership change as two of their captains are graduating this year, and three of the juniors the next. However, this inevitability isn’t stopping them from keeping a positive outlook about the changes.

“The loss of experience kind of creates a new challenge, but I think it’ll allow other people to come and step up to the plate,” said co-captain and senior Mary Ann Gallucci.

They aren’t letting the change distract them from the upcoming competition though, as the members have been working towards it for a while. Their spirits seems to be high, and even the soon-to-be graduates are looking forward to competing in the ORCS.

“We do this for ourselves, so at least we know we gave our best effort. At the end of the day that’s all you can ask for,” said Gallucci.

The team has a small window of opportunity for tryouts which seems to be one of the more difficult challenges in creating a larger team, but that shouldn’t deter students from signing up. Tryouts are at the beginning of the fall semester. They determine the team for the rest of the year.

“We’re always looking for more people,” says Nitis.