Eastern Kentucky University's mock trial program kicked off its season in style, finishing second at an invitational tournament hosted by EKU at Fayette County Circuit Court in Lexington, Kentucky, Oct. 6-7. EKU's second-place team went 6-2 in the tournament, taking both ballots from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and the University of Cincinnati, and splitting ballots with Loyola University Chicago and Bellarmine University.
Ryan Wiggins, a senior from Georgetown, Kentucky, pulled off the impressive feat of winning both outstanding witness and outstanding attorney awards on opposite sides of the case for EKU's second-place squads. Other members of EKU's second-place team included Riley Alexander, a freshman political science major from Lexington, Kentucky; Megan Baumgardner, a freshman political science and psychology major from Georgetown, Kentucky; Lexi Fellows, a junior Spanish and communication studies major from Hebron, Kentucky; Ethan Fowlie, a freshman fire, arson, and explosion investigation major from O'Fallon, Missouri; Maya Gulliford, a junior psychology major from Cincinnati, Ohio; Kaisee Riddell, a senior political science and communication studies major from Irvine, Kentucky ; Reagan Roberts, a junior paralegal science major from Monticello, Kentucky ; and Ashley Thompson, a junior paralegal science major from Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. Baumgardner, Fowlie, Roberts and Thompson are all members of the EKU Honors Program.
EKU's other two teams in the tournament also performed well, going 5-3 and 4-4 respectively. Brianna Palmer, a junior political science major from Richmond, Kentucky, was honored as an outstanding attorney at the tournament. Yeimy Pina-Perez, a junior communication studies and Spanish major from Frankfort,Kentucky, and Kenny Hopper, a senior political science major from Corbin, Kentucky, earned awards as outstanding witnesses.
The EKU mock trial program is sponsored by the EKU College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences, and is coached by Tom Parker, James Pennington, Lynnette Noblitt, Kristeena Johnson, and Sara Zeigler.