Category: Sports

“I’m so sorry.”

Those words were senior Penn Manor tennis player, Holly Mancinelli’s, to her head coach, Diane Vickers, after losing one of her matches.  But so far this season, this has been a repeat story of Penn Manor girls’ tennis.

Having only one returning varsity starter from last year may have something to do with it.

Penn Manor hopes to improve on their record (currently 1-4) by “working hard” but yet “having a good time because that’s half of it too,” Vickers said.

On top of the list at number one, and the lone returning varsity starter from a year ago, is Janine Haberstroh. Last year she was number three on the team and shot up to one after four of the top five girls, Brittney Miller, Sydney Durenburger, Alissa Zikmund and Christi Wertz left Penn Manor as seniors last June.

Although Haberstroh may have a lot on her shoulders, head coach Diane Vickers has high hopes for her top player.

“She should be able to do very well,” Vickers said, noting she has a 2-1 record so far in both singles and doubles.

At number two on the team is senior Maeve Snyder, who played junior varsity tennis last year and has earned three total wins this season – one in singles, two in doubles.

Next on the list is Mancinelli, working hard, but waiting to post her first win so far in the season.

“She needs to step up and win some,” Vickers said, knowing that Penn Manor’s schedule ahead is challenging – especially with Manheim Township and Hempfield “right at the end.”

“Those are the two big ones,” Vickers said, referring to Township and Hempfield who are at the end of Penn Manor’s season, a season that is very short with multiple matches mashed into a short amount of time.

Vickers said it is “hard to breathe” with two or three matches a week and still practice in the meantime.

At number four sits Natasha Fletcher, twin sister of Morgan Fletcher (who also plays and is just out of the top five).

Vickers said of Natasha: “she’s doing well” and has earned herself one doubles win although still looking for a singles win this season.

Ella Perry won her challenge matches against Elena Hart, Laura Revelt and Morgan Fletcher, who all round out the top ten, to earn the fifth and final varsity spot. Those challenge match wins against her own teammates are her only wins so far this season.

All top five varsity players are seniors this year so, again, there will be a lot of empty spaces to fill a year from now.

The sixth and seventh spots belong to junior Emily Sisson, and freshman Katie Carle.   Carle  has become a “pleasant surprise” in Vickers’ eyes, and is one the top freshman on the team. A glimpse of hope for the near future?

Vickers believes so.

By Alex Geli

The Comets lost to a tough opponent last Friday, Lampeter-Strasburg, but Penn Manor’s football coach has a solution to every problem.

Head coach Todd Mealy said his team must be ready this Friday night.  He plans to work hard this week to ensure that happens.

The Penn Manor football team started off the season with a win at Solanco. After that win, the team felt confident. Feeling prepared for their first home game, the Comets came out Sept. 10 under the lights ready to beat Lampeter-Strasburg.

But it didn’t happen.

Instead, they lost, and badly, 44-7.

“We have no choice but to move on,” said head football coach, Todd Mealy.

One way the Comets plan to move forward this week is by practicing hard until Friday night, according to assistant coach Gordon Eck. He also said one unsung hero, Kevin Kann, Penn Manor’s wide receiver and safety, is going to be a leader all week during practice.

Mealy agreed.  “Kevin is not too loud of a player, but he leads by good example.”

The Comets were confident coming into the L-S game.  The game kicked off, and within 12 seconds L-S was on the board. Penn Manor struggled to get it going but in the second quarter, Teon Lee scored. Lee’s touchdown wasn’t enough the Comets lost 44-7.

“Lampeter-Strasburg is quite a good football team, but it wasn’t our best effort,” said Mealy.

Mealy also pointed to Kann as a quiet but strong player.

In typical style, Kann, a senior, was modest.

Kann said, “I just like to work hard and it seems to get everyone going the right way.”

Kann said he is the type of player that when people screw off in practice he will speak up and get them focused again.

Kann recalls his best moment in football was when he picked off a pass at the end of the Solanco game this year to shut down the offense and turn the momentum toward the Comets.

Another player who is looking forward to Friday night is Teon Lee.

Lee said, “ We’re going to come back this week and practice more, play harder, and get ready.”

Lee’s plan to beat Dallastown is simple.

“Do what we gotta do, I’m going to have a big game,” said Lee. “Whatever comes my way is getting picked, we’re gonna be prepared come Friday.”

The Comets said fans should look forward to a hard fought game come Friday, when they head to Dallastown to take on the Wildcats.

By Brian Dunne and Tyler Funk

Expectations are always high for Penn Manor field hockey and its coach, Matt Soto.

State champs in 2008, and 2009 district-three champions, Coach Soto and the Comets hope to repeat their success.

“Our expectations are always the same every year. To play excellent field hockey, to win every game and be the best program around,” Soto said.

That shouldn’t be too hard considering they are replete with athletic talent, according to Soto.

“All of our players are fast, strong and capable players,” Soto said.

Senior co-captain Katie Breneman said the team’s strengths are that “we work as a team and we all get along.”

Breneman described the privilege of being named a captain on the team, “It’s an honor to be a captain. I have to be a good role model for the younger players and help lead them to be their best.”

Madelyn Hess, a senior for the field hockey squad, has already scored three goals and one assist in five games. Even though she’s not a captain, she looks to be one of the key leaders on the field this year.

“The whole summer we had Monday, Wednesday and Friday workouts. We lifted weights, ran and played a lot of field hockey. I feel like it’s really paid off,” Hess said.

“We have a ton of great players on this team. It’s ridiculous how committed and dedicated our girls really are,” Soto said.

The field hockey team is off to a great start, 5-0 in conference and non-conference play, with wins over Cocalico (extremely strong in section-2 this year), Lehighton, Conestoga Valley, Elizabethtown and Wilson.

By Jessen Smith

Jessen Smith, number 50 on the Penn Manor squad, recounts what it was like preparing for the upcoming season.

When Coach Mealy made the 2009 football season’s motto “Building Tradition,” it was for a reason. I would know, I’m experiencing it.

Being a senior on the football team comes with a lot of pressure as well as responsibility. Coming from two back-to-back stellar seasons, expectations are high for us and we know it.  We’re aiming for tradition, alright, a tradition of winning.

As the 2010 school year was winding down, we began spring practice. For two-and-a-half weeks, three hours a day after school we learned the offense and defense. Coach Mealy expressed to us how fast the year would go and the need for us to savor every single practice, game and play. It’s amazing how much we progressed through the spring, entering the summer.

School ended abruptly on June 10, at that point football consumed my life. I personally didn’t go on a vacation all summer for this reason. Three days a week for three hours we lifted weights, and continued to learn about the game, and we conditioned ourselves. Did I mention conditioning? It was a brutal, hot summer and conditioning just added to the grocery list of stuff I had to do. It may not seem like much, but it became my life, and my main focus. This continued all summer until two-a-days began.

The two-a-days season is the most crucial part of the year. Progression is key! It now becomes a football boot camp, 8 am to 6 pm every day. As I entered practice each  day, fatigued and drowsy from the day before, I still knew it will be worth it. Our team of 42, which is unusually small for high school division 4-AAAA football, made progress. At the same time, we weeded out those who were not fully committed to our goals, or as coach Mealy would say, “their hearts aren’t in it.” Our goals are to be better than we were the year before and at least win a section title, which we haven’t done ever in our history. For this to be accomplished, everyone must be on board and completely committed. As a senior, my job is to lead by example and make sure everyone is always focused and getting better.

During the two-a-day time period, we had two scrimmages. These are our “auditions” of sorts. These also are to get the kinks out before our first game, our first real test, Solanco. Everyone young and old gets a chance to prove who really wants it, and who should be starting at each position. I can’t ever be satisfied with how I perform, because I know I can always do better. Yet, I did pretty well and earned my starting spots at offensive tackle and defensive end.

The school bell rings for the first day of school on August 30, and our season begins. The first week of regular practice begins and we are also in class, which is part of our responsibility. One of our goals as football players is to not only be leaders on the field, but off the field as well. As a team rule, we must sit in the first three rows of our classes, and we have to maintain passing grades to continue to play. Having to do well in my classes as well as maintain focus on football is a real challenge.

As Friday night football approaches, the tension increases and so does the intensity. Everyone buckles down. We know we have a job to do, to win on Friday night. Every day goes by  like a flash as it gets closer and closer, and soon enough it will be Friday night, my senior and last year of Penn Manor football, what I have been waiting for my entire life.

by Jessen Smith

To learn more about the team, read this story: https://www.pennpoints.net/?p=5784

From freshmen to varsity. Must be nice.

Well, nice for some of this year’s sophomores – seven to be exact – who are moving from freshmen level football last year right into varsity to fill 24 empty roster spots.

Those 24 spots used to belong to last year’s seniors.

That’s right, only 40 percent of Penn Manor’s football team is returning from last year’s record-breaking season. While coach Todd Mealy has some inexperience to worry about, he also has something to look forward to.

“This sophomore class may be the most successful class around,” Mealy pointed out.

One guy in particular in that sophomore class is 5’10” – 160 lb. Adam Sahd, brother of former player Austin Sahd who graduated last year. The younger Sahd will be replacing P.J. Rehm, a three-year varsity starter who also graduated a year ago.

Sahd has experienced the Friday night lights before, when a helmet-to-helmet hit detoured Rehm to an unfamiliar place – the sidelines.

Wanting to be careful with his starting quarterback before last year’s playoffs, the choice was easy for Coach Mealy. While Rehm got stuck at a red light, all Sahd saw was green – the green, green grass of Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium

Sahd led the team to a 36-35 victory that day against Cedar Crest which gave  the Penn Manor team home-field advantage for their first district playoff game.

There’s surely going to be some tension and some nerves in the air while Sahd and the team’s seven other sophomores take the varsity stage on Friday night at Solanco.

“There’s a lot of butterflies,” Mealy said. He added that they will have to “play with confidence” and “limit mistakes.”

Mealy recalled an inspiring instance that relates to Penn Manor’s challenges this year.  It’s the story about starting running back in 2007, Carl Christmas.

It was Christmas’ first game starting at varsity and on that night it was obvious that he had his own butterflies fluttering around in his stomach.  He fumbled not once or twice, not three, but four times in that game.

Christmas took that bad game and strove to get better and better as the season went on and prove to the head coach that he was worth the starting position.

He went above and beyond – literally.  He ran all the way to the top spot in rushing for section one that year.

Mealy uses stories like Christmas’ to keep an optimistic approach to the season. There will be a couple fumbles, maybe some interceptions and dropped passes, but maybe there’s another Christmas coming around other than the 25th of December this year.

It’s possible that he’ll be one of the seven sophomores making the leap to the varsity level this upcoming season.

Penn Manor’s first test is against Solanco at their home field this Friday night. While they are no pushover, Mealy didn’t have them on his list of teams Penn Manor may have to worry about.

Wilson and Manheim Township were on his list, along with his sleeper team, McCaskey.

Mealy, a former coach in the city school district, said that McCaskey will be the “best group of athletes” they will face this season.

Coming off their second straight school record-breaking season of 10-3 (previous school record was 9-3 in ’08) and a visit to the first round of states, Mealy is expecting his young guys to step up and his varsity veterans to stay consistent.

Penn Manor’s “seasoned,” as Mealy called them,  linebacking core of Garret Young, Ande Olson, and Teon Lee are all returning from last year. Also, if Mealy chose one guy to be in the spotlight, someone who he says is the “best wide receiver around,” would be three-year starter, Demetrius Dixon, who will be a nice big target for the sophomore quarterback at 6’2.”

Amateurs and veterans alike will be showing off their stuff this 2010 season which could go either way considering all the seniors who departed for college.

To check out Penn Manor football, go to their recently created website, http://www.pennmanorcometsfootball.com/index.php. From roster to schedule to apparel, you can find it all there.

And for a first-person account of “training camp” check out this story:

https://www.pennpoints.net/?p=5838

By Alex Geli

With eight wins and eleven loses some might say that the Comets softball record wasn’t anything to write home about, but the players say they had more fun than ever.

Varsity third baseman, Brittany Wright said, “I had a lot of fun this season, we managed to squeeze in eight wins which isn’t bad because our softball teams past records aren’t exactly great, we should have won a few more though”

Wright’s most memorable moment of the season was when the team “ten run rolled Catholic.”

She said it was the first time in ten years they had accomplished that..

Saying the final goodbyes to all the senior players and captains during senior night was another of Wright’s unforgettable moments in softball.

Kirsten Bechtold, a senior first baseman who is going to be attending Penn State University, and is considering playing softball there, but isn’t sure.

“It is a great possibility,” said Bechtold.

Although their record was not the best, all in all the girls still had fun, including a great senior night where the girls got to thank their coaches and parents for paying their respect by coming out and supporting the teams, and thanking the senior girls for their leadership.

“Capping a fun filled season off with a cake and silly string fight was fun too!” said Bechtold.

Third baseman, Lauren Gerlach, a former sophomore on the junior varsity team enjoyed watching and cheering on the varsity players and is looking forward to joining this year’s varsity girls season.

“Kirsten was a great member to the girl’s team,” said Gerlach.  “She really seemed like she had a good bond with the whole team and really knew how to pick everyone up from an upsetting game with great words of wisdom.”

These Comets know how to accept the fact that it’s not always about winning, it’s about having fun.

“I’d have to say losing to Township was pretty devastating.  We should have played better, we definitely could have won if we hadn’t been overly confident in our skills. It’s the little mistakes that add up and cost you a game,” said Bechtold.

“The biggest thing I think our team needs to work on is our team work.  The more we work as a unit the better we play,” said Wright.

“They had a good season and it will be a hard job for our coaches to find replacements for the amazing seniors we’re losing,” said Gerlach.

By Kayla Pagan

Another blown call,  another reason for Major League Baseball to extend their replay ability.

On June 2,  the MLB replay system cost young Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga a chance to be in the history books by throwing a perfect game, when first base umpire Jim Joyce made a bad call on what should have been the last out of a perfect game.

Nobody is perfect, I don’t blame Joyce for costing Galarraga a perfect game, I blame the MLB replay system.

Ask Lancaster Barnstormer’s manager and former major league player Tom Herr or Danny Cox for another example of a bad call that could have been overturned by replay, and they would say in the 1985 World Series when a missed call in the ninth inning of game six cost their Cardinals the game, and according to Herr, the World Series.

With the Cardinals leading 1-0 in the ninth inning, a similar misfortune to the Galarraga play occurred, and once again the first base umpire arguably cost somebody a chance from being in the history books.

The ump called the runner safe, although television replay showed the runner was out by half a step. The Cardinals went on to lose the game 2-1, and then lost the series the next game.

“We know because of that call we ended up losing that game,” said Cox.
 The only way to make sure all the calls made are the right calls is by extending the MLB replay system.

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig needs to propose a system  like the NFL, where each team has the option to challenge two calls a game. This would ensure that the game changing plays are called right, and the game would not be delayed too much.

Even if both teams use each of their challenges it would only delay the game 10-15 minutes. That is not a long time to make sure the calls are the correct calls. If this replay system was in place now then, instead of everyone talking about Jim Joyce’s blown call, they would be talking about Armando Galarraga’s perfect game.

It is obvious that the MLB replay system must be expanded from just being able to review home runs or potential home runs. Players, umpires, and fans will sleep better at night knowing the correct calls were made for any close play.

The only way to stop cheating the people that make the MLB so great is to make sure the right calls are made by extending the MLB replay system.

By Cody Straub

“We don’t play with balls,” said Henry Stewart, referring to a potential new sport at Penn Manor – Ultimate Frisbee.

The effort to make Frisbee into a recognized sport is being led by mostly seniors.

The team practices every Thursday  and the team welcomes anyone who is interested in joining the team.

“We play until we get too tired to move,” said senior Brendan Stoeckl.

The team has made a name for themselves after entering several tournaments and being invited to a few others, including a Solanco tournament.

The average practice for the team consists of a 10 versus 10 game against each other, getting ready for any competitions they might play.

“The biggest turnout we’ve had so far was 45 people,” said another senior.

So far it has been a struggle to make Frisbee an official school sport, mainly because the team consists of seniors who will be leaving this year.

“Frisbee deserves to be a school sport just as much as any other sport we have here,” added another senior from the team.

With the majority of the team already graduating, the remaining players hope enough students will turnout next year to help them make Frisbee official.

By Paul Slaugh

It is the simplest of ideas – bring the most elite teams from around the world to challenge each other, and see who has the right to to be called the best on the globe. This is much more than just a game, it has the power to make men into gods.

“Before the match, I told myself that Pele was just flesh and bones like the rest of us. Later I realized I’d been wrong,” said Tarcisio Burgnich, an Italy defender who competed against Pele in the 1970 World Cup Final.

Futbol, Calcio, Football, Soccer, Futebol, Fußball. However you say the name, it still has the same rules, the same two nets and the same referees that will always be wrong.

El Mundial, yes I’m throwing a bunch of words from other languages at you but this one is translated as, The World Cup. I grew up speaking Spanish and with that playing soccer and talking about soccer and watching soccer or futbol. How I learned how to say it was a way of life. I never got as good as I wanted to at soccer but I still knew that you didn’t need to be the best in the world to enjoy yourself and to enjoy watching a game.

One thing I will never understand is why the popularity of soccer is so minuscule in the States. Yea everyone plays when they are young, but most let it fade away after the middle school rec leagues. This is the worlds game even if you’ve never heard of the sport, and it won’t take you much to learn, which is one reason that I think the world follows this simple game as a religion.

The World Cup had the ability to stop a war that had been going on for years and that had ruined thousands of people’s lives. Before the last World Cup in 2006, the Ivory Coast called a truce when the small coastal country qualified, for the first time ever, to play in the 2006 World Cup. It amazes me that a game that many people just look over could have that much power and that much influence on a countries well-being.

To me this is much more than “just a game.” Soccer is a religion to millions all over the world. The consequences of these games can include an actual life or death situation.

“Vincere o morire!” were the words telegraphed to the Italian national team before their final in Paris against Hungary in the 1938 World Cup. The telegraph was sent by Benito Mussolini and literally translates to “Win or Die!”

“I may have let in four goals, but at least I saved their lives,” said the Hungarian goalkeeper, Antal Szabo.

Colombian soccer player Andres Escobar scored his own goal in the 1994 World Cup group against the Untied States. The Colombian side was eliminated from the group stage with a 2-1 loss to the States. Escobar was found shot dead in Medellin, Colombia two weeks after the match.

This tournament is meant to bring together, the people from every region of the world and bring them together for one thing and one thing only: soccer.

Now the stage is set for a new chapter and a new king to be crowned.  Thirty-two countries have submitted their clubs of 23 players for the month-long tournament that is being held in post-apartheid South Africa.

“Everybody’s going to be rooting for you. And although sometimes we don’t remember it here in the United States, this is going to be the biggest world stage there is. And you’re going to be representing all of us,” announced President Barack Obama, to the United States national team before departing to South Africa.

The honor that a country receives after they have qualified for the World Cup is tremendous. The glory of winning isn’t the only reason for this tournament. This is a tournament that brings together millions of people from small pubs in the most dense parts of London, to villages in Africa that only have a single TV.

Soccer has always been a poor man’s game, but now with a billion people watching, every nation that was fortunate and talented enough to make it to the World Cup stage, will have to play for themselves and their countrymen.

“Show me something more thrilling than a perfect volley, tell me you never dreamt of the immaculate strike, or being part of that moment where an entire nation holds its breathe, tell me that football is not our one common language when the whole planet stops for 90 minutes to be a witness to one thing we all understand. Yeah, you can tell me that I’m wrong. Some may say it’s just a game….but this is about heroes and tribes, loyalty and devotion, it’s our commitment and our passion, our battle and our belief. This is our Faith!,” said Eric Cantona who was deemed “King Eric” by Manchester United Football Club.

Well now I can only say to the players that will be on the pitch starting June 11 through July 11, go and play beautifully for the world to see.

By Juan Montes