The Hinsdale Central High School Mock Trial team began working on law theory, closing arguments, cross examinations and other aspects of law in October, just about when the professional baseball season ended.

On May 10, the team finished fourth at the 2009 National Mock Trial Championship in Atlanta, the highest finish in the school’s history.

“It’s a long, long season, as long as baseball,” said Chris Freiler, social studies teacher and one of the team’s two coaches. “This team worked hard all year, and did a tremendous job.”

In March, the team won the state title, earning a trip to the nationals in Atlanta.

Team members play various roles in mock court cases, and the research put into competition is as arduous as running laps and lifting weights, members said.

“As a witness, I have to research everything about the witness I portray, and need to know everything that is being talked about. The hardest part is dealing with the unexpected,” said Sean Donovan, who was named Outstanding Witness at the end of the competition.

“The final case dealt with the Trail of Tears and an art fraud. I was a detective, so I had to understand the evidence, and it required a real grasp of technical information,” said Sean, a Burr Ridge resident who will study international relations at  Dartmouth College. “I had to memorize a four-page affidavit.”

Preparing for the national championship required intense practice because the team had only one month to prepare from information supplied by the National Mock Trial Championship organization, Freiler said.

More than 40 teams from around the United States, as well as teams from Guam, South Korea and the Commonwealth of Northern Marianna Islands, competed in the championship.

Hinsdale Central earned the right to advance to the championship by winning the state title in Springfield March 20, Freiler said.

The high ranking was particularly satisfying because the school used to regularly make the national finals in the 1990s, and finished 22nd in 2005, he added.

Junior Vinay Nayak of Oak Brook who has been on the team three years, played the role of prosecutor in the finals.

“I got to give the closing argument and cross-examine the defendant, and I liked doing it so much I might want to one day be a prosecutor,” Vinay said.

Junior Kelsey Chetosky of Hinsdale said understanding the subtle nuances of presentation in a case can make the difference between winning and losing.

“You have to be very aware of using the right language when dealing with judges. You have to be respectful while still making the point,” said Kelsey, who added she would like to be a judge one day.

The team already is gearing up for 2009-10 school year, Kelsey said.

“We want to go back. We lost to the eventual champion by three points in the third round,” Kelsey said. “We’ll go back.”