University of Iowa Mock Trial

In one of our favorite tournaments we attend every year, UIMT kicked off its season by competing at the Arch Invitational hosted by Washington University in St. Louis. We sent four teams of 26 total competitors down for their first official tournament of the year. Our competitors went head to head with many familiar foes from the Missouri and Illinois areas. UIMT went 11-7-2 against these schools that we will see often during the rest of the season. We were also able to get experience against schools from a little further away in Rhodes College in Memphis and the University of Tennessee. With WashU being the first tournament of the season, it provides a great opportunity to test out the new case and make our first strides in a long journey of improvement. Even with the focus being put on learning and improving, it still feels good to bring home some trophies. One of our teams of more experienced members battled one of the toughest schedules of the tournament and came away with a 4th Place finish to win our first trophy of the season. Additionally, we had SIX individual award winners, our most since WashU in 2012. Ellen Wandro and Serena Qamhieh showed a strong start to their senior seasons with their performances as the defendant to earn Outstanding Witness Awards. Ellie Hoeper showcased her talents as an attorney with her award while Danica Merrill and Thomas Finn showed their promise their second year in the program holds with their Attorney and Witness Awards respectively. UIMT had 9 new members competing in their first collegiate mock trial tournament and they showed off a lot of talent and future success. This was lead by Tess Paxson as she earned Outstanding Witness honors. While this was Tess' first collegiate tournament, she is certainly no stranger to the activity as she has a number of years of experience in mock trial from high school. We expect we'll see many more awards from our new competitors during the rest of the season.