The Illinois State University mock trial program hosted its 22nd annual intercollegiate tournament during the first weekend in November. Thirty teams from seven states participated in the tournament that took place at the McLean County Law and Justice Center in Bloomington.
University of Missouri-Columbia won the tournament. The other teams that placed in the top five competitors were Wheaton College (second), Loyola University (third), Illinois State University squad 1069 (fourth), and Eastern Kentucky University (fifth). The top four teams each won seven ballots and lost one. Their place was determined by tiebreakers.
Illinois State squad 1069 split ballots with the third place Loyola team and took both ballots from teams from Columbia College, University of Illinois-Chicago, and Loyola University. Team members are Leah Carcasson, Ava Knapp, Nick Kniebusch, Jackie Mykytuik, Sara O’Dowd, Emmalie Parson, and Kyleigh Weir.
Squad 1070 is composed of Grace Betts, Denise Flores, Viv Garcia, Jake Podvrsan, Jamani Reed, Audrey Salamon, and Katie Schafer. This squad went 3-4-1, facing squads from University of Missouri-Columbia, Loyola University, Wheaton College, and Northern Illinois University.
The mock trial team is led by head attorney coach A.J. Blodgett, a Bloomington attorney in private practice, and assistant coach Spencer Chikahisa, a McLean County assistant state’s attorney.
Students interested in participating on the 2025-26 mock trial team must enroll in the spring 2025 section of POL 283: Trial Advocacy I. If you need an override to enter the class, please contact Professor Tom McClure, the mock trial educator coach. His email address is temcclu@IllinoisState.edu.
