Mock Trial team, individual students win awards in early contest

North Central College’s Mock Trial team defeated 13 other teams to win a third-place trophy at the annual Bradley University Mock Trial Invitational, held Oct. 25-26.

At the team’s second of seven tournaments held throughout fall and winter terms, three students claimed top individual awards. Philosophy major Brandon Sarkauskas ’15 earned Outstanding Attorney Awards for his work as an attorney for both the Plaintiff and the Defense. In their first year on the team, political science major Emily Salomone ’18 and economics major Alex Benson ’17 earned Outstanding Witness Awards.

Held at the Peoria County Courthouse in Peoria, Ill., the tournament hosted 16 teams from 12 schools, including the University of Iowa, University of Kansas, Illinois State University, Northern Illinois University and DePaul University.

The team is coached by attorney Ron Kowalczyk, a partner at Kowalczyk Law Offices, P.C.; Rebecca Koper, a legal manager for Hyatt Corporation; and Josh Bailey ’11, development associate at Teen Parent Connection.

“We are exceedingly proud of our students’ performance at this tournament,” said Kowalczyk. “Because of our academic calendar, our students start preparing the case almost a full month after the majority of their competitors. To see such success at this point in the season, especially with two brand new competitors earning Outstanding Witness Awards, is truly a testament to the amount of work our students put into this activity.”

For more information about the North Central College Mock Trial team, contact Bailey at jjbailey@noctrl.edu.


Photo, back row, from l.: Sarkauskas; Ross McWethy ’18, business marketing and psychology; Jacob Magyar ’16, Spanish; Benson; Zack Ledlow ’16, political science; Brian Rotunno ’17, biology. Bottom row, from l.: Lucrecia Guerra Galdamez ’15, international business/global studies; Katie Madel ’16, English/political science; Samantha Guttenberg ’15, management; Josie Smith ’18, East Asian studies/Japanese; Salomone.