Category: Sports

The Penn Manor girls soccer team has received their eighth straight NSCAA All-American Team Academic Award, one of only 242 high schools in the nation to achieve this outstanding honor.

The girls varsity soccer team maintained a 3.76 GPA last year. For the team to be considered for the award, members of the team must have a 3.25 or higher grade point average among them. With a GPA of 3.76, the Penn Manor girls ranked number one public school team in our league and one of the top public schools in the state.

“My academics come first,” said senior Emmy Hess. “Because without academics you can’t be on the field.”

The girls from the 2009-2010 team are:

Ambria Armstrong, Jen Bennis, Katie Breneman, Jeni Dellinger, Kayla Drexel, Shannon Henry, Rachel Hess, Emily Hess, Emily Hutchinson, Logan Kramer, Alysha Kreider, Nikki Kremer, Brittany Lapp, Bridget Reinhart, Erika Roop, Nancy Stehman, Ashley Velluci, Danielle Warfel, Hannah Willett, Veronica Willig, and Megan Wilson.

“It takes hard work and dedication,” said senior Megan Wilson. “It’s a lot of traveling, and then you have to come home and do homework as well.”

Receiving one of these awards is remarkable… But eight straight!?

“We take academics very seriously,” said coach William Zapata.

“We have study sessions for the girls every time we have a night game. This gives the girls time to make up work, and do some homework,” said Zapata.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that these girls do well academically. They understand our expectations, even during the off-season,” said Zapata.

Hopefully the excellence displayed by the girls in the classroom, will translate to the field this coming spring.

by Christa Charles

With two games into the season, the Penn Manor girls basketball team wants to get on the board with their first win.

The goal they had set out on Thursday was slowly diminished as the Comets fell to a record of 0-2 after losing to the undefeated Elizabethtown Panthers, 26-44.

There were times in the game where the girls looked as they would be going off, but they always seemed to get shut down. Turnovers and missed shots haunted the Comets in their loss.

A winless Comets girls basketball team, “on the season”, will host the Ephrata Mountaineers on December 20th at 8:00pm.

Penn Manor, in the Lancaster-Lebanon Section one, and Ephrata, in the Lancaster-Lebanon Section 2, will both try to climb the ladder in their standings.

Everyone knows it’s a bad start to the season when the loss column is heavier then the win side, but everyone also knows that it only matters how you finish. The girls from Penn Manor are trying to find a way to win their first game, and working really hard during practice to get better.

“Jon Zajac has us working out everyday with bands, tires, and just conditioning that really makes us work. He is becoming a big part of making our team stronger and more athletic,” said Comets’ guard, Abby Newport.

The amount of work and time the Penn Manor girls put into the game of basketball may soon begin to reflect on the progression of their season.

By Ryan Mays

“I want to win states…,” said Bobby Rehm, jaw set, eyes filled with determination, “I want to win everything.”

This must have been the Penn Manor senior’s motto as he helped lead his team to a victory Wednesday night at the team’s first dual match, posting an astounding 52-second pin for the win over Hempfield’s 130 pound wrestler. This was the first dual meet of the 2010-11 season and the Comets are soaring, on their way to a winning season.

“The win was alright but I think we have the potential to have done better,” said Rehm, very hopeful about the rest of the season, “I think we can have a good season if everybody puts in the effort. I want to win states… I want to win everything.”

Also chalking a big “W” for the Comets is another senior and returning wrestler, Evan Singleton. Singleton, who wrestles in the heavyweight division, was also victorious pinning his opponent, although it took about a minute longer than his 130 pound teammate.

“We’re shaping up to have a great season as long as the team continues to practice hard and give 100 percent,” said Singleton. “Solanco will probably be the hardest dual meet of the season, but I’m confident we’ll be able to demolish Columbia, we usually do.”

With last year’s already prestigious record of 29 wins and 9 losses, Singleton certainly has dreams of grandeur.

He wishes to go to states with “as many Penn Manor wrestlers as possible.”

Penn Manor wrestling coach Steve Hess has a positive outlook on the season as well.

(We have the potential as a team to do) “good, and Mr. Rehm certainly has the ability and the drive to go to states and come back with gold. I’m very proud of Bobby,” said Hess.

“We had a pretty good first tournament, placing seventh, and we placed even higher this past weekend, taking home silver,” said the wrestling assistant coach Mike Fowler,” if we hadn’t had so many injuries and forfeited those points we would have certainly done better.”

By Ben Embry and Dillon Walker

Big play, score. Big play, score. Rinse and repeat.

This will be pretty common come January 10, 2011 in the National Championship game between the Auburn Tigers and the Oregon Ducks.

Both offenses are explosive and speedy, with both averaging a ton of points.

Oregon averages 49.3 points per game, while Auburn averages 42.7 points.

Auburn will be led by Heisman trophy winner Cam Newton, who has been surrounded by a surplus of controversy this year, although no wrongdoing has actually been proven.

Newton has scored 49 TD’s this season, 28 of which went through the air, and 20 on the turf.

Newton has been in the conversation for being one of the best college football players of all time.

Oregon will be led by Heisman finalist LaMichael James, who has rushed for over 1600 rushing yards and 21 TDs.

The big question is who will be able to defend whom.

Oregon will struggle to defend Cam Newton, a duel threat quarterback that has passed for 2589 yds, and rushed for 1409 yds.

His elusiveness, ability to scramble and throw on the run will cause problems for the Oregon defense.

Auburn will be tested by a well-versed Oregon rushing attack led by James and quarterback Darron Thomas, and the nation’s number one scoring team.

It’s easier to see Auburn coming on top on January 10. With an amazing play maker in Cam Newton, and a schedule that screams difficult, Auburn looks to squeeze past Oregon for the National BCS Title.

by Jessen Smith and Christa Charles.

The Comets boys basketball team took to the court looking for a win, and finished Elizabethtown off with a convincing defeat.

Thursday night was a big game for the team. It was their first home game, and they needed a win to prove that they can still be effective even with five of last year’s seniors gone.

Seniors Dan Elliot, Brian Ramsey and Jaq Presbery, and Juniors Landon Alecxih and Marc Summy are this year’s starters.

Early on, the Comets took advantage of their size in the low post, snagging board after board, not to mention creating 15 turnovers.

Pressure on defense and some good offensive strategy led the Comets to a 63-49 win over the Bears.

“We had some bigger bodies, and Landon did a fabulous job for us,” said Comets Coach Charlie Detz in an article on Lancasteronline.

By Brian Dunne

With a close loss to Lancaster Mennonite, the Comets girl’s basketball team looks to bounce back with a win over an undefeated Elizabethtown Panthers at Thursday’s away game.

The Comets had a slow start this year. They placed third out of four teams in their own hosted tournament the Comet Classic.

The Comets lost four dominant players from last year’s team. The team lost two guards, Bianca Ygarza and Ashley Velluci, and forward Julie Falk.

Although they lost some weapons, they have confidence and hope in this season.

Six seniors, Hannah Willet, Katie Breneman, Devin Yecker, Caroline Lovett, Abby Newport, Maddie Hess and Alicia Ygarza, a lone junior, have taken the leading role for this basketball team.

The younger class, who have to step it up this year, consist of Megan Schlegelmilch, Sarah Nagy, Alex Evans, and Kelly Shertzer.

Along with change, the basketball team inducted a first year coach, Scott Long, who believes the girls have enough talent if they play more of a team game.

In last year’s meeting between the Comets and the Panthers, the Comets won by a score of 51-40.

The Comets look to repeat their success and get their first win this season in regular season play.

The game starts at 8:00 pm at Elizabethtown. The team and the fans are hoping that the search for the team’s first win  ends tonight.

These numbers might be dumbfounding since they are swimming scores, but Tuesday night, the Penn Manor boy swimmers defeated Ephrata 107 to 61. The girls, on the other hand, lost 72 to 98.

A.K.A. the Comets’ male swimmers made it look easy while the girls had a bit of a tougher time.

The meet started off slow with both the girls and boys getting second in the first event of the 200 medley relay, but Penn Manor’s Cooper Lindsley and Brian Dunne came in to break the streak. Lindsley got first in the 200 freestyle with a winning time of 1.51.60 while Dunne came in shortly behind him for second place.

Jess Burkhart took the win in the 50 freestyle with a dominating time of 24.91 seconds and also won the 100 freestyle with a time of 57.35 seconds.

The girls took first in the 200 freestyle relay getting a time of 1.47.82. The swimmers were Jenna

Reel, Jess Burkhart, Joelle Williamson and Jillian Heckman.

Joelle Williamson destroyed the other swimmers with a time of 1.05.31 in the 100 backstroke.

The boys 200 freestyle relay, with Dunne, Lindsley, and brothers Travis and Casey Wells taking the reins, was determined by, a mere, six-hundredths of a second with the edge going to the Comets.

The girls trailed behind Ephrata the entire meet, but still kept the team on their toes.

By Liz Lawrence

Roll out the mats and wipe off the dust. It’s on.

Penn Manor takes on Hempfield tonight in a rival brawl here in Millersville.

Penn Manor will be led by coach Steve Hess in his 13th year.

The Comets will also be behind veterans such as, seniors, Bobby Rehm, Kevin Kann and Evan Singleton, and, junior, Tyler Funk.

The Comets will be missing four wrestlers to illness. Seniors, Brock Kauffman, Sam Zegley and Ryan Costarella will not wrestle. Adding to that list is, junior, Bo Perez.

Hempfield will surely not be a pushover, especially with coach Jude Bervinchak and his 17 years of experience at the forefront.

The Knights will also have their go-to-guys Austin Miller, Woodie Hermann, Nathan Kulp, Gary Pabon, Chris Cain, Dakota Minnich, K.J. Pederson, Austin Gattuso and Kyle Mogyorossy.

Tonight, the lights will dim and the fans will cheer as they witness Hempfield and Penn Manor duel it out for their first win of the year.

By Jessen Smith

Bigger, faster, stronger, better.

Penn Manor High School is home to more than just great students. Some of the best athletes in the Susquehanna Valley reside here in Millersville.

There were four in field hockey, one in soccer, one in volleyball, one in football and a cross-country prodigy to boot.

In all, Penn Manor had eight Lancaster Newspaper All-Stars. Three of which are players of the year.

Katie Breneman, Helen Doolittle, Madelyn Hess, and Renee Suter were named field hockey All-Stars, more than from any other school.

“It’s a great honor. We all worked really hard for it,” said Doolittle.

“All four of the girls are remarkable athletes. They have been blessed with athletic talent,” said field hockey head coach Matt Soto.

Willie Chalfant, a Temple soccer recruit, received the “Boy’s Soccer Play of the Year” award. An award given to a single player in the league.

Garrett Young, senior captain for the football team, was selected as an All-Star at linebacker.

“It’s very humbling,” Young explained. “I credit it to my hard work, coaching, and my faith in God and Jesus.”

Young also is ranked in the top 5 in his class academically, and plans to attend school for premed studies.

Girls cross-country runner of the year is no surprise. Gretta Lindsley, a freshman, dominated the L-L league not losing in league play. Expectations are high for her in the next three years.

“I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing,” said Lindsley.

Penn Manor’s spiking All-Star was found in Elly Rausch. Rausch was voted the Girls Volleyball Player of the Year.

“It feels great to have such athletes at our school,” said athletic director Jeff Roth, who himself was named Lancaster/Lebanon Athletic Director of the Year and District 3 Athletic Director of the Year award. “We have three league MVPs  of the eight sports in the fall.”

Roth said, “I think our coaches are some of the finest in the league.” Our athletes reflect how far our programs have come in the past few years.”

By Jessen Smith

Penn Manor swimmers are making a splash as they have been preparing themselves for Tuesday’s meet against Ephrata.

The swim team will battle against Ephrata at 4 p.m. at Ephrata Rec Center, close to Ephrata high school, right behind the middle school.

“This is one that we have a chance,” said head coach Cece O’Day. “Often we go in knowing what’s going to happen.”

Tomorrow’s meet will be a surprise for both teams as they see for the first time how they do without their seniors from last year and what new freshman they have to compete against.

“We don’t know how our new swimmers are going to do,” said O’Day.

“I am counting on our upperclassmen,” said O’Day. “Sophmores are being counted as upperclassmen because we have so many freshman.”

The girl’s team has 29 girls, 19 of them freshman. This is a young team and many of them need to get through the first meet and see how everything goes and how the team works together t come out with a win, according to O’Day.

“Travis Wells, Cooper Lindsley and Steven Armstrong need to come through for us because our boys team is so small,” said O’Day.

The boys team consists of only 15 swimmers who need to swim several different events  at every meet to compete against the larger teams.

“It will be interesting,” said O’Day.

By Liz Lawrence