ECC Mock Trial team still has shot at Nationals
When the Elgin Community College Mock Trial team went into its final round of a four-round tournament Sunday, the students knew they needed to win to make it to nationals.
Winning would be their only chance, according to Ronald Kowalczyk, an ECC team coach and paralegal studies professor.
“If we lose the last round, our season’s over,” Kowalczyk said, before the final trial against Illinois State University.
But only eight teams made it past the regionals level of competition after the two-day tournament in Joliet and, unfortunately, ECC was not one of them.
The team tied in the final round and got an honorable mention, but did not get a bid to the Opening Round Championship Series in Waukegan next month.
But the honorable mention finish will give the team another chance.
Because each school is only allowed to send two teams to nationals and some schools qualify up to four teams, extra spaces are filled in an open-bid process by teams like ECC.
“There’s still hope,” said Rebecca Koper, a current coach and former ECC Mock Trial member.
This is the team’s third full season in existence. Last year the team made it to the first stage of nationals, but it has never been to the final round, a record the team was trying to change this season.
The students have garnered national attention in the last few years, nonetheless, beating Ivy League teams that have longer histories of mock trial and arguably more intimidating reputations.
This year’s case argues product liability. A child died after swallowing Princess Beads — small plastic beads that can be strung on cords to make children’s jewelry — and the case revolves around who is at fault. The plaintiffs, the boy’s parents, claim the toy company is to blame because the beads had a chemical substance on it they say killed him. The toy company, in its defense, argues there wasn’t enough of the chemical for that to be true.
ECC students play witnesses and attorneys on both sides of the case for each tournament they go to.
Team Captain Jennifer Rieger, a senior from Wayne, earned an Outstanding Attorney award for her role at Regionals.
Though the team’s fate is in limbo, she said she is pleased with her teammate’s performances.
“I’m pretty proud of how everyone came together and worked hard,” Rieger said. “I think we definitely did the best we possibly could.”
The team will find out by the first week of March whether they should continue preparing for the Opening Round Championship series in Waukegan March 11-13.