A local university announced the names of its king and queen for the 2020-2021 homecoming during a ceremony Tuesday afternoon.

Both selectees are actively involved in campus life and were chosen by their peers from a list of university students previously nominated for the positions.

According to Michelle Ball, Executive Director of Strategic Communication and Marketing at Muskingum University, Corey Lancaster and Mariah Ridgeway both received the most votes for homecoming king and queen respectively.

Lancaster is an accounting major from Cincinnati, Ohio. He is also the Vice President of the fraternity, Kappa Sigma. Like many students on campus, Lancaster is a student-athlete, on the university’s football team. Employed on campus, he is one of the Chess Center’s supervisors.

Ridgeway is a neuroscience major from Jackson, Ohio. She is a member of the sorority Theta Phi Alpha, having also been accepted into the undergraduate Greek society of the Order of Omega, and academic honorary Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK). Ridgeway is also actively involved in both Outdoor Initiatives Club and the Neuroscience Club. She has three on-campus jobs and during the spring is a softball student assistant. In the summer, Ridgeway assists incoming students as a Muskie Preview Leader.

Usually, the king and queen are selected in the fall during a series of activities for alumni and students during Homecoming Weekend. Due to the pandemic with events being virtual, the crowning of both was postponed till spring.

Michael Malone, Associate Vice President of Student Affairs at Muskingum University, said he was happy the time-honored tradition was still able to occur.

“We were thankfully able to host Reunion Weekend virtually giving our alumni and students an opportunity to come together in the fall,” Malone continued. “However, we could not end this unprecedented year without recognizing our homecoming court and crowning our queen and king.”

The homecoming king and queen were selected from the following nominated lists of candidates.

King:

• Jared Alberts, a nursing major from Wooster, Ohio
• Drew Eaches, a psychology and criminal justice major from Marysville, Ohio
• Jonny Hummel, an environmental science major from Zanesville, OH
• Chris Hupp, a general engineering major from Caldwell, Ohio.
• Chayce Lundell, a communications major from Zanesville, Ohio
• Zach Mason, a health fitness and business management major from Zanesville, Ohio
• Sam Pinckert, a sport administration major from Santa Claus, Indiana
• Nicholas Proctor, a general engineering major from Marietta, Ohio
• Zach Simmons, an environmental science and earth science major from Hamilton, Ohio

Queen:

• Bailey Harris, a nursing major from New Lexington, Ohio
• Raiyah Johnson, a business marketing major from Cleveland, Ohio
• Alexandria Lee, a political science major from Zanesville, Ohio
• Anne Marie Pickworth, a health and fitness and nutrition major from New Concord, OH.
• Anna Sellers, a marketing, business management, and economics major from Zanesville, Ohio
• Caitlynn Spinks, a nursing major from Zanesville, Ohio
• Sabreina Torres, an athletic training major from Lowellville, Ohio
• Breanne Wilkins, a psychology major from New Concord, Ohio
• Brooke Wilkins, an English and marketing major from New Concord, Ohio