Coming off a strong third-place finish at William & Mary, EKU Mock Trial rolled into Bloomington, Illinois, last weekend and departed with its first tournament title of the season. EKU placed first in the 32-team Illinois State University Invitational Tournament with a 7-0-1 record in rounds against the University of Iowa, Washington University in St. Louis, Carthage College and North Central College.
EKU also earned the Spirit of AMTA Award, given to the team rated highest by its opponents for collegiality and professionalism at the tournament. Brianna Palmer, a senior political science major from Richmond, earned her second Outstanding Attorney Award of the season for her performance at the tournament. Kate Richardson, a sophomore political science and EKU Honors program student from Richmond, won an Outstanding Witness Award for the second straight tournament.
Other members of EKU’s first-place team were Ruth Speidel, a senior forensic science major and EKU Honors program student from Jerseyville, Illinois; Cole Bailey, a junior accounting major and EKU Honors program student from Richmond; Riley Alexander, a sophomore broadcasting and electronic media major from Lexington; Houston Abbott, a freshman pre-art and design studio major from Corbin; and Abigail Birch, a freshman criminal justice major from Union.
EKU’s second team posted its first winning record of the season, going 4-3-1 and placing 14th out of 32 teams. Members of EKU’s second team included Ethan Fowlie, Noah Jones, Austin McGowan, Alyia Maulden, Brooke Morrow, Samantha Smith, Elizabeth Swofford and Danielle Underwood.
EKU will host its own Colonel Classic Mock Trial Invitational on the weekend of November 23-24, 2019, at the Fayette County Courthouse in Lexington. Attorneys, legal professionals, law students and college mock-trial alumni are encouraged to sign up to judge on the tournament website, mocktrial.eku.edu/judges-classic.
EKU’s Mock Trial program is sponsored by the EKU College of Letters, Arts, & Social Sciences (CLASS). Tom Parker is the coordinator of the Mock Trial program; additional coaches include EKU Department of Government faculty Lynnette Noblitt and James Pennington, EKU Appalachian Shakespeare Center Education Director Sarah Jo Jacobs and CLASS Dean Sara Zeigler.