After a preseason home scrimmage, the harrier teams officially opened the season at the Northampton Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 3. The girls' team finished 12th out of 31 teams while the boys were 15th in a field of 35. Emma Baxter (22nd in 20:02.10) and Anthony Solis Morales (17th in 16:34.2) were medal winners.

"Emma and Anthony ran aggressive races and their hard work over the summer is paying off," said head coach Andrew Musselman. "We had a number of personal bests."

Daria Neaves (49th) cracked the top 50 while Christine Wagner, Olivia Singleton, Wyatt Tomison, Isaac Esh and Jimmy Hartigan were in the top 100. Over 200 runners competed.

Stella Woy, Lexi Groff, Ian Althoff, Curtis Hills, and Thomas Houghton also contributed.

In their first regular meet of the season, the girls suffered a 26-31 loss to hosting L-S and dropped a 23-25 result to Ephrata last Tuesday, Sept. 6. "We were a little flat today," said Musselman. "We were hoping it would be a little closer, that's OK. There are more chances to improve."

Baxter broke up Ephrata's top three with a second-place finish. Neaves settled for 6th, Wagner was 10th and Singleton (14th) and Woy (19th) rounded out the top counters.

Solis Morales also finished second, disrupting Lampeter's top four. Tomison (7th) and Hartigan (9th) were close behind with Esh finishing 12th and Rusty Armstrong capping the scoring in 18th place.

TENNIS

A 7-0 shutout over Octorara on Friday, Sept. 2 pushed Solanco's record to 2-2 as they move into Section Two play. Destiny Langley and Adrienne Dolan picked up an 8-3 win at No. 1 doubles while Grace Pursel and Ava Peiffer teamed for an 8-1 win. Kiara Chmeilecki and Hailey Stanton posted an 8-0 shutout at No. 3.

The winning continued in singles play as both Peiffer (No. 4) and Pursel (No. 3) earned shutouts. Dolan posted a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 2 and Langley won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1.

"Our top three singles players are the same but in different positions," said head coach Annie Hammel. "Our doubles play has been more competitive this year. The girls are gaining confidence and the serving is more consistent."

The girls also defeated Annville-Cleona 6-1 on Aug. 25.

GOLF

Three matches into their short five-match season, the golf team sits in second place in Section Two after a disappointing showing on their home course, Tanglewood Manor. Warwick (322) and CV (329) both slipped in front of the Mules (330).

"It was a disappointing day on our home course," said head coach Greg Minnich. "On the bright side, our team score was 15 strokes better than last year's score at home and Anna Sexton and Luke Herr both had career best rounds."

Logan Wagner's 76 tied for second place. Brayden Herr (81), Sexton (85), and Herr (88) rounded out the counters. Hudson Brown (89) and Wyatt Landis (95) also competed.

FOOTBALL

Coming off a 40-35 thriller over Lampeter-Strasburg and regaining the Milk Jug Trophy, the Mules earned their second win of the season with a solid 21-7 nod over visiting Cocalico, Friday, Sept. 2.

Solanco took the lead on its first possession and never looked back. Josiah Forren, who led the team with 14 solo tackles, scored from two yards out after Jaden Summers recovered a high punt snap.

Aden Herr's (9 tackles) pick and 34-yard return gave Solanco a 14-0 cushion with 8:20 left in the second quarter and Brody Mellinger's (3-4, 88 yards, 58 yards rushing) 58-yard strike to Noah Baber made it 21-zip before the half.

The Eagles got on board with just under five minutes left in the game while Nick Defrancesco's interception at the final buzzer sealed the victory.

FIELD HOCKEY

Solanco opened its season on a high note, topping Exeter Township 3-1 behind a pair of goals from Sadie Cook and another from Kate Kauffman on Aug. 31. Flash forward three days later and Solanco sits a 1-3 after suffering losses to Kennard-Dale (7-3 on Sept. 1) and Red Lion (5-0 on Sept. 3).

Staring at a 4-0 first half deficit, Solanco rallied with three goals in the third quarter but K-D matched that effort and picked up the lopsided road win.

"Kennard-Dale was a tough loss, and we knew Red Lion would be tough," said head coach Whitney Hawkins. "We have a strong squad of seniors that make up almost the entire starting lineup."

Cook, a junior, leads the scoring with three goals and freshman Kaitlyn Fulton sits with two.

"Sophomore goalie Caitlin Bennethum now has a full varsity season under her belt and is coming out ready to improve her saves and movement to protect the cage."

GIRLS' SOCCER

The girls' soccer team graduated four four-year starters, all on defense, and three-year starter Arianna Seiberlich (centerback) is still out with an injury, but they return their entire midfield (Alanna Brown, Alyssa Harpe, Addison O'Donnell, and Mia Daniel-Morales) and their forward group (Meg Bailey, Josie Janssen, Kara Peace, and Emma Housekeeper) so first-year head coach Matt Janssen felt cautiously optimistic.

"I felt we would get out to a good start but knew it wouldn't be easy," said Janssen. "We also graduated our goalie. Our new defensive positions were the focus of the offseason and preseason. Lindsey Mecouch and Sarah Landis (center backs) and Aribella McComsey and Abby Landis (outside backs) have stepped up and will only get better," he explained. "Kyleighy Murphy is our starting goalie and has come up with some big saves in big moments."

Those big moments came in Solanco's 3-2 win over Penn Manor and 4-3 double OT thriller over Susquehannock, who jumped out to a 3-0 lead after 30 minutes. Bailey scored before the end of the first half and Janssen scored twice in the last five minutes. Daniel-Morales scored the game-winner on a headed ball off a Landis corner kick.

Friday, Sept. 2, Solanco recorded a 3-0 shutout at Octorara. "All three goals were scored in the second half on corner kicks," Janssen stated. "Sarah was our player of the game. She took our free kicks and corner kicks. She scored on a corner kick and set up Alyssa (header) and Mia to spark the scoring. She also played great defense and is the only senior and returning starter (she formerly started at midfield) on that back line. Her experience, leadership, and ability to motivate has been immeasurable so far."

The winning continued with Wednesday's 3-1 win over visiting Garden Spot. Housekeeper assisted Bailey, Janssen got the assist to Addison O'Donnell and Harpe converted a feed from A. Landis all before the Spartans prevented the shutout.

VOLLEYBALL

The volleyball team hosted Cedar Crest, Coatesville, Oxford, Columbia, Lancaster Catholic, Octorara and Reading at the Solanco Showdown on Sept. 3. And while the girls came away without a win, head coach Dillon Costrello was not disappointed.

"The scores just do not reflect our overall record/power ranking," said Costrello. "We are a young team, and this was just their second time playing together. This was a great experience to look at things we have been working on. Overall, I was pleased."

The girls opened with a 25-22, 25-18 loss to Columbia and then dropped a 25-11, 25-22 result to Oxford before splitting with Coatesville 25-20, 24-26.