Mustangs Take 1st Place in Model UN Competition

After debating world issues for four days, Mira Costa High School students returned to the Beach Cities from New York on Saturday with the coveted Award of Distinction and 1st Place showing in the national Model United Nations Conference.

More than 3,000 students from 175 high schools from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Italy, Venezuela and Germany descended upon New York City last week to compete in debates from Wednesday to Saturday. Mira Costa High School advisers Wayne Knutson and Bob Timberlake are still ecstatic with their teams’ performance.

"Model U.N. is fun, but our kids work their butts off when it comes to preparation and competition. We take on all comers,” Timberlake told Patch.

The competition was held at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Debate rooms were filled with active critical thinking and competitive spirits.

"We make sure that we apply our mantra of ‘adapt, improvise and overcome’ at all times," Timberlake said.

Centennial High School from Georgia took 2nd Place and the Award of Excellence. East Brunswick High School of New Jersey garnered 3rd Place and the Award of Merit. 

The Mustangs took home the Award of Distinction for the fifth time in school history. Mira Costa claimed previous victories at the national conferences in 1997, 2000, 2002 and 2009.

This year’s triumph was in many parts thanks to Costa’s largest team to ever attend the conference, a mix of 47 sophomores, juniors and seniors.

“Individuals need to be aware that when they are members of a team it requires duties and discipline,” Timberlake said. “Successful teams are possible only if there exists a balance between creativity and discipline.”

The Mustangs team was given the task of representing the nations of Brazil and Libya with choice topics ranging from Internet access in Africa to the protection of national marine resources. 

The students also debated interdiction of the international drug trade and the current rebellion in Libya. In preparation for competition, the Mira Costa squad worked tirelessly with prepared and impromptu speeches, as well as spending copious amounts of time researching and writing. 

The Mustangs bested traditional rivals Cerritos and Huntington Beach high schools for the top spot at a UC Berkeley competition this month, enduring 14 hours of debate representing China, Libya, Ethiopia and Djibouti with more than 50 schools and 1,500 participants.

After the Bay Area competition, the Mustangs boarded a plane for New York City the following morning for their trip to the Big Apple.

Coming up: a Mira Costa student recounts his experience on the East Coast with his fellow Model United Nations teammates.

Here is a list of the students who participated.

1. Alka Nath

2. Trent Fuji

3. Jordan Martucci
4. Michael McPherson
5. Zeena Bhakta
6. Ari Howorth
7. Jack Rosenberg
8. Jordyn Irwin
9. Chris Bickel
10. Abby Watkins
11. Zack Gill
12. Elika Mazhar
13. Selena Feliciano
14. Nick Jones
15. Noah Granow
16. Brian Linnel
17. Alyssa Mattocks
18. Adam Gerard
19. Roxy Lyter
20. Claire Schiff
21. Jessie Somberg
22. Christina Regan
23. Zach Kay
24. Victoria Southwood
25. Laura Vaughn
26. Lindon Chen
27. Shelby Brand
28. Dani Sepanek
29. Brad Baechleur
30. Gabby Armato
31. Taylor Lewis
32. Eli Mulvihill
33. Sanjana Sinha
34. Michelle Nwoke
35. Tyler Julius
36. Maddy Fredrick
37. Alec Kane
38. Nick Zobel
39. Adina Luo
40. Yuan Wang
41. Braden Currey
42. Mackenzie Austin
43. Emily Rheinstein
44. Austin Ahn
45. Trevor Thorpe
46. Kate Hubbard
47. Catherine Dam