Ivy League wins, community support, boost ECC mock trial team
After defeating two elite universities in Harvard's annual Crimson Classic Mock Trial Tournament in November, Elgin Community College has been on a roll.
The mock trial team, which consists of about 40 students, will head into the spring competition season with a stellar record.
"I definitely think the wins at Harvard let us know that we're capable of doing really great things," team President Anastasia "Asia" Toufexis, of Elgin, said Wednesday.
After their victories over Yale and Villanova at the Crimson Classic Nov. 7-8, ECC competed against 47 other teams in the Macalester Trials Invitational Tournament in St. Paul, Minn. There, according to a college news release, team member Natalie Smith of South Elgin won an outstanding witness award.
Two weeks later, at Lewis University's Fantastic Flyers tournament, ECC Captain Jennifer Rieger of Wayne won an outstanding attorney award and ranked second as a defense attorney. Eleni Bala of Montgomery was named an outstanding witness.
On Dec. 5 at the University of St. Francis Midwest Challenge Tournament in Joliet, the pair was honored again - Rieger netting another outstanding attorney award and Bala two outstanding witness awards.
One of only two community colleges to compete in American Mock Trial Association tournaments, ECC will head to a competition at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, in late January, before the association's regionals in February.
In the new year, Toufexis said, positions on the team will change. Students used to competing as trial witnesses will switch over to the attorney side.
Over break, Toufexis said, the team will practice several times. Since campus will be closed, they plan to hole up at local coffee shops and the Gail Borden Library.
Along with practice, Toufexis said local support has added to the team's confidence.
"It has meant so much for us to get (accolades) from our school. From the president. It means more than it would from another 4-year school we're competing against."