The start of a new school year brings with it a new season of high school sports. For the Manheim Central football team that means a typical 2-0 start with the wins coming over West Chester East and Immaculata (New Jersey). The record may look familiar, as does the 56-7 shellacking of West Chester East to open the season on August 26, but Manheim's narrow 44-43 escape of Immaculata was not familiar or enjoyable for those at Rettew Stadium.

Despite 181 yards and four touchdowns from Brycen Arnold, the Barons needed a failed two-point conversion attempt from the Spartans to hang on to the one-point victory. Rocco Daugherty scored what would prove to be the winning touchdown, scoring from seven yards out in the second OT. Dylan Neff's PAT conversion ended up being the deciding point. Add in Neff's 27-yard field goal in the first OT and he takes the title of overtime hero.

Arnold was the hero of regulation, ripping off TD runs of seven, four, 61 and 18 yards to power the Baron offense. Xander Kolk picked up a defensive score, returning his interception 44-yards to give Manheim a 21-14 lead at the break.

GOLF

The Central golf team sits at 9-6 with three matches under their 2022 belt. The Barons opened with a 3-2 mark at Iron Valley on August 18th and followed with a 4-1 mark at Honeybrook on the 23rd. An August 30th trip to Pine Meadows led to a 2-3 mark and the 9-6 overall record.

Cayden Schwebel carded a 41 in the rain shortened match at Pine Meadows. Ryan Snavely (43), Zach Benner (44) and Jon Brenich (47) followed.

CROSS COUNTRY

The cross-country teams kicked off their 2022 campaign on September 6th with a trip to Cocalico to face Donegal and the host Eagles. The result was a 1-1 day for the Lady Barons while the boys dropped both finals.

Julie Lindberg was the top girl's finisher, taking 4th place with a time of 22:53. Jenna Moffett and Reagan Ibach joined Lindberg in the top 10.

Carter Bruckhart and Cameron Evans were the top boys' finishers with Bruckhart taking 4th and Evans 5th place.

TENNIS

The Lady Baron tennis team is into collecting and their preferred collectable is wins. Central has picked up five in their first five matches putting them at 5-0 with roughly three weeks remaining in the season. Manheim kicked off the season on August 22nd with a 4-1 win over McCaskey and followed with a 7-0 sweep of Warwick on the 24th. The Lady Barons slipped by Ephrata in a 3-2 final on the 29th before closing out August with a 5-2 win over Central York. Central finished their early season Section One run with a 6-1 win over Conestoga Valley on Sept 2nd.

VOLLEYBALL

The girls' volleyball team is doing the sporting version of the two-step to start their 2022 season. The Lady Barons posted wins over Lebanon and Conrad Weiser in their first two outings only to follow with two straight losses, bowing to Twin Valley and Elizabethtown.

Manheim opened the season on August 30th with wins of 25-4, 25-18 and 25-14 to sweep Lebanon. Another sweep came one day later by scores of 25-11, 25-8 and 25-11 over Conrad Weiser.

The first setback was to Twin Valley on September 2nd with the Lady Raiders posting wins of 25-15, 25- 19, 25-15. Central returned to the L-L for a September 6th match with Elizabethtown that went to the Lady Bears by scores of 26-24, 25-13 and 25-17.

GIRLS' SOCCER

The girls' soccer team tweaked the advice of Taylor Swift and 'shook it off,' bouncing back from a 3-2 season opening loss to Warwick on August 31st to post a 2-1 win over Donegal on September 2nd. The Lady Barons made it two straight wins by knocking off Lampeter-Strasburg by a 4-3 final on the 7th.

Abigail Reed paced the offense, scoring four goals and setting up one more. Mikayla Beck chipped in with one goal and two assists. Kaylee Neff, Kyla Benner, and Aubrey Myers rounded out the goal scorers with Laura Kahler, Lizzie Voegele and Abby Sweeney dishing out one assist each. Lexi Wettig was the winning keeper in all three affairs totaling 24 saves.

BOYS' SOCCER

The boys' soccer team has been unable to find their grove early in the season, falling to 0-2-1 after a 2-1 loss to Lampeter-Strasburg on September 7th. The Barons suffered a 4-1 setback against Donegal on August 31st after opening the season with a 3-3 draw opposite McCaskey on the 29th.

Central has spread their scoring around with Gabe Redcay, Luke Horst, Ace Shefnie, Aiden Beck, and Luke Forwood accounting for one goal each. Dylan Smith was between the pipes for all three games, collecting five saves.

FIELD HOCKEY

The field hockey team has taken the high-powered offense approach to their first few games, posting a 3-0 start with a gawdy 16-1 scoring edge. Exactly half of those goals came in the 8-0 shutout of Conrad Weiser on August 29th. Cali Inthavongsa picked up three of her five goals in that season opening romp and joined the fun of a 4-0 win over ELCO on the 31st with a single score. Inthavongsa tacked on her final score in the, 4-1, September 2nd win over Hempfield.

Anna Bosch and Libby Urban have each found the back of the cage three times, twice against Hempfield and once against ELCO for Bosch while Urban pulled her double against Conrad Weiser before adding a single score against ELCO. Monica Herman and Mikayla Appel combined for four scores with both players scoring against Conrad Weiser while Appel added her second against ELCO and Herman against Hempfield. Loghan Shelly finished off the scoring with the final goal in the Weiser blowout.

Laci Nelson has earned all three victories in the cage but has zero saves to show for her work.