Despite finishing the season with just two wins, Penn Manor's boys' track team placed seventh out of 21 teams in the Lancaster-Lebanon League Championships held Friday and Saturday, May 13-14 at Hempfield High School.

Jaryd Kleinhaus was Manor's top place-winner, grabbing gold with a 50-1.5 toss in the shot put while Leo Medvedkin settled for silver in the pole vault. Both Medvedkin and E-town's Carlton Wise cleared 13-0 but Wise earned gold with fewer misses.

Evan Jurgenson added a seventh-place effort in the shot, missing sixth place by one inch.

Also in the field, Jael Cruz-Santos was fourth in the discus, Dhamir Wesley was seventh in the javelin and both Trevor Schneider, in the high jump, and Drew Lebo, in the triple, earned eighth place medals.

"Trevor and Drew were both seeded 18th," noted head coach Robert Koenig, "and Drew's jump of 40-2.75 was a personal best."

The girls team finished with just one medal winner, a third-place effort by Gertrude Moenga in the shot put and missed a pair of eighth place finishes. Maddie Whited placed ninth in the triple jump, missing a medal by one inch while Cassidy McCollum was three feet from a medal in the javelin.

BOYS' LACROSSE

The boys' lacrosse team earned a tight 10-9 victory at Red Land Tuesday, May 17. The No. 7 seed came in with a 14-2 record and took an early 3-0 lead before the Comets, No. 5 (13-5), worked their way back.

"Despite falling behind 3-0, the guys never stopped believing and fighting together," said head coach Connor Rowe, recently voted as Section One Coach of the Year. "We ended the half up one and stayed close to that until the end. The guys believe they can go up against anyone right now and are playing with confidence.

"Erik Hinkle dominated the face off X and controlled the game," he continued. "He truly is one of the best competitors to come through Penn Manor High School. He has so much fight inside of him."

The Comets held a three-goal lead in the fourth quarter before a couple of offensive mistakes cost them two goals.

"Our defense, led by Connor Brumbaugh and sophomore goalie Nick Hollinger, held strong," said Rowe.

SOFTBALL

The softball team rode a four-game winning streak into Tuesday's Lancaster-Lebanon League semifinal tilt opposite Section Two runner-up Solanco at Millersville University on Tuesday, May 16 and punched their ticket to the finals with a dominating 10-1 victory.

Miscues played a key role in igniting Manor's offense. The Comets batted around in the third inning, taking advantage of back-to-back errors, two walks, a wild pitch and two timely hits to go up 4-0. It was all the momentum they needed.

"We were able to capitalize on a couple of their mistakes," said head coach Dave Stokes. "And Julie Bowmaster continues to hold teams in check. She needed just 58 pitches to get through the first four innings. Emily Riggs shut the door with five strikeouts in the final two innings."

Manor, who topped Solanco 12-5 during the regular season, pushed across two more in the fourth before Solanco finally got on board in the top of the fifth. Sara Defrancesco led off with her second hit of the day and two outs later Emily Sims cracked a triple that pushed in Zoey Evans, running for Defrancesco. It should have been a two-run triple, but Comet catcher Jordan Bailey picked off Alyssa Schlagnhaufer, who reached on an error.

"That was a big play," said Stokes of the pickoff. "We work on that every day, and it paid off."

Solanco committed another error in the bottom half and the Comets responded with two run doubles by Kira Green (2-3, 3RBI) and Regan Soboleski, to push the lead to 10-1. The visitors came up empty in their last two at bats, striking out five times against Comet reliever Emily Riggs.

Despite the lopsided final, Solanco looked to take the opening lead in the first inning. Kendal Janssen ripped a hit past third and two batters later Becca Foulk singled to left field. With the outfielder booting the ball into foul territory, head coach Brett Miller waved the speedy Janssen home, but the relay throw was on the money and Bailey tagged Janssen out at the plate.

The Comets were coming off a solid 5-1 opening round victory over Manheim Central Saturday morning, May 14. After two scoreless innings, the Comets took a 2-0 lead. Kaitlyn Ream walked, was sacrificed to second by Amelia Trout and scored on a Riggs base hit. Paterson followed with a run scoring double.

Central threatened in the fourth, loading the bags before Bowmaster gave way to Riggs, who ended the threat with a pair of strikeouts.

A run scoring single by Riggs and a two RBI double by Paterson (2-3, 3RBI) plated Manor's last three runs of the game in the fifth. The Barons got one back in the sixth but came up empty in their final at bat.

"It was a nice playoff win," Stokes said. "You always expect your seniors to lead the way and Audrey came through with a big day. And we moved Amelia Trout to third and leadoff with Kira Green out (illness) and she got the job done."

GIRLS' LACROSSE

In non-league action Thursday, May 12, the Comets suffered a 16-9 loss to visiting Palmyra and saw their record fall to 10-7 overall. They finished the season as the 13th ranked team in 3A but only the top 12 advanced.

Palmyra jumped out to a 9-3 first half lead which proved to be the difference as the Comets rallied down the stretch, falling short in the second half 7-6.

Keegan Dings continued to fuel Manor's offense, pouring in four goals. Mia Jones added two while Grace Gerner, Erin Shipley and Jarliah Ferko each scored once with Maddie Weber dishing out a pair of assists.

Mackenzie Nafziger recorded eight saves in goal.