HART HIGH TO REPRESENT COUNTY IN MOCK-TRIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS.

Byline: SIMONE SCHRAMM Community columnist

Hart High School took top honors and Valencia High won second place in the Los Angeles County Senior Division Mock Trial Championship.

The Hart team will represent Los Angeles County in March during the state championship, to be held in Riverside.

``It's a really neat experience because it's as close to a real-life trial as they can make it,'' said Brett Newman, captain of the Hart team.

During the competition, students acted as attorneys, witnesses and defendants in a fictional murder case.

Members of the Hart team are:

Alina DeBellis, Scott Drapeau, Gisele Feldman, Gonzalo Freixes, Ashley Hanna, Brittany Ifergan, Shannon Ifergan, Rivka Ihejirika, Kyle Kleckner, Alex Kudroff, Leslie Littman, Brett Newman, Melissa Park, Roxanne Phen, Meredith Symonds and Sharon Zhang.

Members of the Valencia team are:

Eugenio Bautista, Robert Brady, Heather Corcoran, Dana Huber, Victoria Huber, Katelyn James, Jessica Knudtzon, Erik Larsen, Kevin Le, Jay Lubow, Joseph Marcucilli, Nicole Martinez, Eric Miller, Adam Neiberger, Lina Otero, Jessica Pipes, Mala Tejwani and Kari Walsh.

Four dancers from the Great American Dance Factory in Chatsworth represented the United States during the recent World Tap Dance Championships in Riesa, Germany.

San Duran Rojas, 13, of Northridge, scored sixth for male junior solo; Lauren Giangregorio, 15, of Northridge was fourth for female junior solo, fifth for female junior duo, and first for junior small group; Katie Kaufman, 11, of Woodland Hills, took first in female children's duo, children's small group, and children's formation; and William Myers, 16, of Northridge took fifth place for male adult solo.

Manzanita Hall at California State University, Northridge, was among 41 projects chosen for an American Architecture Award from the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design.

The $21 million building was designed by Robert A.M. Stern, a nationally recognized architect.

Gayle Sickinger Maffeo of Sherman Oaks was recently honored at the Distinguished Alumni Dinner at Centenary College in Hackettstown, N.J.

A 1961 graduate, Maffeo received the award due to her personal and professional achievements as well as her continued service to the college.

Twins Geral E. and Jodi D. Silverberg of Northridge both accepted memberships in the Golden Key International Honour Society and were individually honored during ceremonies at their respective campuses.

Geral currently attends California State University, Northridge, and Jodi attends Purdue University.