The Tyrone Mock Trial team tested their wits against former Pennsylvania state mock trial champions, the Altoona High School’s “A” Mock Trial Team on January 28th, 2016 at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg.  

After a hard fought, and nearly won battle, the Golden Eagles were defeated by Altoona by a razor thin margin on two of three jurors’ ballots.

“Honestly, it felt like an underdog movie,” said Tyrone senior Adam Zook.

Altoona is perennial mock trial powerhouse and was the 2014 Pennsylvania state champion. They field two squads and the students involved are enrolled in a class during which they work on the case as part of the course curriculum.

By contrast, Tyrone’s team is completely extracurricular.  The students practice two or three times a week after school and on weekends.  They do not receive a grade or academic credit for mock trial and do not work on the case during school hours.

The odds seemed insurmountable.  But after a successful 3-1 run at the 2016 Pitt Mock Trial tournament in Pittsburgh, Tyrone was confident and ready to face the Altoona squad.

Both teams offered their opening statements and got the ball rolling. From the outset, it was clear that this would be a trial for the ages. Both teams argued the case well, were well versed in the rules of Mock Trial, and responded to each other’s objections properly and confidently.  

“I definitely feel like we were prepared. We put a lot of time and effort into perfecting our direct and cross examinations and felt we knew the material well,” said senior witness Erika Voyzey.

Tyrone plaintiff witnesses Voyzey, Makayla Ritchey, and Zack Webster had their knowledge of the case put to the test as Altoona’s attorneys skillfully tried to bring out the worst in them on cross examination. However, the trio of witnesses held strong for the duration of the trial. Then came the defense cross examinations of Altoona’s witnesses. Attorneys Haley Butina, Adam Zook, and Chloe Makdad were tasked with disproving the defense’s arguments and attacking their witness’s knowledge and credibility. 

When both sides delivered their closing statements, the teams waited anxiously for the jury to deliberate.  It was clearly a close trial and both sided nervously waited for the verdict.

“I honestly thought we’d lost,” said senior Tyrone attorney Adam Zook, “I knew we’d given it our best effort, but I didn’t expect a winning verdict.”

However, the scorekeeper emerged from the judge’s chamber and declared Tyrone, the plaintiff, the winner over Altoona.  

The team rejoiced, congratulated each other and took celebratory pictures after the surprising upset.

“I felt that we’d accomplished something we’d talked about for a very long time,” said Head Coach Todd Cammarata, “Our county is highly competitive and it was a great feeling to know that, win or lose, we were able to play up to that level of competition.”

Unfortunately, their glory was short lived, as it was revealed shortly thereafter that after a four point deduction for going over the allocated time limit, the Golden Eagles had actually fallen short by a single point.

“We gave it our best shot, and it was a tough pill to swallow.” said Zook, “It’ll be tough to get over but time heals all wounds, I suppose.”

The presiding judge and Pennsylvania Mock Trial State Chairperson Traci Naugle congratulated both sides on a job well done and acknowledged how far both teams had come since they first began competing in mock trial.

Erika Voyzey won Best Witness Award for Tyrone and Chloe Makdad received the Best Attorney Award.

Members of the team are seniors Erika Voyzey, Marlena Wagner and Adam Zook, juniors Paige Umholtz, Haley Butina, and Mikayla Ritchey, and sophomores Chloe Makdad, Zack Webster, Morgan Bridges, Molly Harris, and Jonathon Clifton.

The team is coached by Tyrone teachers Todd Cammarata and Matt Elder.  The attorney adviser is Aimee Willett, who practices as a partner in the firm of Fanelli & Willett in Altoona.

Despite the loss, the team looks to finish the season on a winning note against Hollidaysburg next Thursday, February 11th.