Ella Root charged ahead to a strong fourth-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke on Saturday, March 6, in the girls' District Three Class 3A Swimming Championships at Cumberland Valley High School. The Hempfield junior posted a time of 1:05.99 and earned 15 team points for the Black Knights, who finished 11th in the standings.

"She had a very good swim," said Hempfield coach Casey Lear. "Her time was very close to what she has been swimming all year. I was very happy with the way she swam."

With COVID restrictions, the events were designed with every other lane being used in the pool.

"She wasn't competing right next to someone," Lear pointed out. "But she was able to overcome that challenge."

Root was also part of the 200-medley relay team, which placed eighth with a time of 1:49.91. Sophomore Caroline Schweigert led off the foursome followed by Root, senior Maggie Shaffer and sophomore Anna Koger at anchor.

"We started strong with one sophomore and Anna Koger was the anchor," Lear explained. "Anna dropped almost a full second as she swam a 24.93 - our freestyler at the end. She came out and impressed."

The relay squad earned 22 of Hempfield's 44 team points. In the team standings Wilson and Hershey battled it out with the Hershey Trojans finishing second - only two points behind Wilson's first-place total of 324.

Shaffer finished 16th in the 200-individual medley (2:15.62) and rebounded with an 11th-place finish in the 100 butterfly. Her time of 58.94 was 1/10 of a second behind 10th-place finisher Ally Weller of Hershey.

"Maggie came ready for the relay," said Lear. "She improved her time in some events but wasn't too happy with her 200 IM. She came back and ended the day with high spirits."

More impressive was how she rebounded with the impressive 100 fly immediately after the 200 IM.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

The Hempfield boys' basketball season came to an end on Friday, March 5, with a loss at Wilson in the quarterfinals of the District Three Class 6A playoffs.

The Knights were coming off a thrilling first-round victory at Lebanon, topping the seventh-seeded Cedars 62-58. Number two seed Wilson defeated Hempfield 56-30, improving to 19-1 and advancing to the semis. Hempfield ended its season at 13-5.

The Bulldogs' Stevie Mitchell led all scorers with 23 points. Hempfield was led by Cole Overbaugh and sophomore Miguel Pena, each of whom scored eight. Brandon Hagel finished with five points.

WRESTLING

Reagan Lefevre competed in the PIAA Class-AAA West Super Regionals at Altoona on Saturday, March 6. He came away with two close, heartbreaking defeats.

In the first round, the Hempfield star suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of eventual 145-pound champion John Altien of Norwin.

In the consolations, Lefevre was unable to wrestle his way back in a 2-0 decision won by Hempfield Area Spartan Ty Linsenbigler.