Published September 26, 2016
MONROE, La. — The University of Louisiana Monroe Mock Trial teams competed in the
Jackson Joust this past weekend at Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., with the Gold
squad sweeping all rounds to take first place.
ULM sent three teams to the event to compete against teams from Millsaps College,
Mississippi University for Women, and Mississippi Valley State University.
The Gold squad finished first, with a 68-point margin of victory over the second place
finisher. The Maroon squad finished fifth, and the White squad finished eighth.
Adam Nettles (Gold squad), Isaiah Chavis (Maroon squad), and Carsyn Smallwood (White
squad) received awards for Best Attorney.
“I am honored and humbled to have won a Best Attorney award at the Jackson Joust,
which I could not have done without the support of my teammates and coaches. Mock
Trial at ULM is a great program,” said Smallwood.
Laralee Herron (Gold squad), Elliott Gonzalez (Gold squad), and Briana Robertson (Maroon
squad) received awards for Best Witness.
The squads are coached by attorneys Bob Noel, Kyle Moore, and Brooke Michiels.
Noel indicated that he was very proud of how the students performed in their first
competition of the year but that some improvement was needed.
“It is always satisfying to win tournaments and we will certainly celebrate our success;
however, we also recognize that we still have a lot of work to do and a lot of improvements
to make in order to obtain our goal of qualifying for the American Mock Trial Association
(AMTA) National Championship,” said Noel.
ULM’s Mock Trial Team was founded in 2013 by Noel, with assistance from political
science professors Dr. Joshua Stockley and Dr. John Sutherlin. ULM is affiliated with
the AMTA, founded in 1985 as the governing body for intercollegiate mock trial competition.
Approximately 600 teams from over 350 universities and colleges will compete in 24
regional tournaments, eight opening round championship tournaments and a national
championship tournament each season.
ULM’s Mock Trial team is the only team from Louisiana to ever advance from their regional
tournament to the national tournament. ULM’s Mock Trial team has accomplished this
feat for the last two years.
ULM has been invited to compete in the Hustle City Challenge by the University of
St. Thomas in Houston, Texas on October 6-9, the Mid-South Invitational Mock Trial
Tournament hosted by Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn. on November
10-13, and the Argo Invitational hosted by West Florida University in Pensacola, Fla.
on January 12-14.
ULM will host the 3rd Annual Warhawk Mock Trial Jamboree in the Spring on campus in
the E. Orum Young Courtroom situated alongside Bayou DeSiard.
Team Members
Gold Squad
Attorneys: Adam Nettles (Captain), Olivia Sage, Jorden Johnson
Witnesses: Erin McManus, Sarah Cheathem, Laralee Herron, Trinity Coates, Bree Bowie,
Elliott Gonzalez
Maroon Squad
Attorneys: Charles Dupree (Captain), Isaiah Chavis, Laura Moore (also witness), Nick
McBride
Witnesses: Brianna Robertson, Molly York, Shelby Joyner, Taylor Houston
White Squad
Attorneys: Dorae Dadgar, Edna Rogers, Carsyn Smallwood
Witnesses: Aja Dozier, Kezia Manning, Drew Fenske, Jeremy Jones, Jazmine Belton, Devin
Ford, Antonia Harris
