A team of six Elon students finished fifth in a recent mock trial tournament held in Tucson, Ariz.
Will Warihay, Lauren Nichols, Patrick Elliott, Amanda Haefner, Amanda
Morrissey and Casandra Turner represented Elon in the Desert Classic, a
mock trial tournament held Jan. 21-23 at the Pima County courthouse.
Twenty-two teams representing 16 colleges and universities from across
the nation participated in the tournament.
Elon scored victories over teams from the U.S. Air Force Academy,
Chicago University and the University of California, San Diego. Warihay
won honors as the tournament’s third-best attorney, while Nichols was
recognized as fifth-best witness.
Fifteen students are members of Elon’s mock trial team. Matrice
Williams, adjunct in the political science department, serves as the
team’s coach. Founded in 2003, the team typically participates in 4 to
6 tournaments each academic year.
The team’s next tournament will be in Washington, D.C., Feb. 16-18.
Twenty teams representing 11 schools will take part, including teams
from Johns Hopkins University, University of Richmond, George
Washington University and the University of Virginia. With a fourth- or
fifth-place finish in the tournament, Elon would move on to the St.
Paul National Tournament, hosted by Hamline University in St. Paul,
Minn., March 16-18. A top-three finish would qualify Elon for the AMTA
National Championship tournament, hosted by Stetson University April
13-15 in St. Petersburg, Fla.