The Palo Alto High School Mock Trial team lost to Lynbrook High School on Wednesday by 48 to 52 percent, eliminating Paly from the Constitutional Rights Foundation‘s tournament and ending its season.

On Tuesday, Paly lost to Prospect High School, also by 48 to 52 percent. With the loss to Lynbrook High School and two previous victories against Monta Vista and Saratoga, Paly’s record came to 2-2, which was not enough to advance.

Senior Nick Dumas said he was surprised by the outcome.

“I was surprised that we got eliminated in prelims [preliminary rounds], because in terms of how strong the team was, I thought that we had a shot at making it to finals, although we ended up getting ninth out of 20 schools in the county, which is the best county in the state, and seeing as we are a student-run team, I think that’s really impressive,” Dumas said.

Junior Katie Maser, who played Ryan Howard, a comedy club owner and second prosecution witness, said that the CRF tournament was the first in which the entire prosecution was able to work together.

“Due to absences earlier in the season, this tournament was the first time that the Paly prosecution performed as a team,” Maser said. “Although we were not as prepared as we could have been, we gave a solid effort.”

Despite the loss, Dumas said that he is very pleased with the team’s performance this year.

“I am thrilled with how the team performed,” Dumas said. “We were quite behind in the beginning, but a few weeks before competition, we really came together, and everyone did their part to the absolute best of their ability. As the judge at the last trial pointed out, there was not one weak link. Everyone was phenomenal.”

Although the Mock Trial team will not continue to compete this year, Maser is excited about preparing for next year’s season.

“We are gearing up for next season and ready to come out stronger than ever,” Maser said.