It is not often that the same high school sporting event can bring both happiness and sadness but that is the case for the Elizabethtown rifle team. The Bears traveled to Conestoga Valley High School on February 11th to take part in the Lancaster-Lebanon League's Individual Championships, bringing sadness with the end of the 2022-2023 season. However, a stellar 991 team score slotted E-town second in the final team standings, bringing happiness. That 991 was a mere three points behind Manheim Township's winning score.

"I am really pleased, in the big tournament at the end of the season, we beat everybody but Township," said head coach Dave Reinfried of his team's silver medal run.

Kate Kruft led that charge, capturing individual silver with a 200 and two centers. The junior actually finished in a first place tie with Garden Spot's Leksi Bender but missed out on the individual crown. Once the tie breakers were sorted, it was determined that Bender's two center shots gave her the edge, giving Kruft the silver.

Parker Bryant cracked the top 10 with his 199 while Luke Turner was two positions behind, in 12th place, with a 198 and one center. Branden Rain matched Turner's 198 and one center but rounded out the top 15 after tiebreakers were applied.

With the individual tournament signaling the end of the season, All-Star nods were also handed out. Elizabethtown was one of three schools to place two shooters on the All-Star list, joining Township and Garden Spot.

"Two All-Stars, always makes me happy because kids are getting individual glory," said Reinfried.

Turner, with a 99.2 match average, and Bryant, who finished with a 99.1 average, were those two All-Stars.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

The hardwood hoops season came to a close on February 9th for Elizabethtown with the boy's team traveling to Ephrata where they picked up a 56-52 victory while the Lady Bears fell to Ephrata at home by a 59-35 final.

The four-point overtime win was the boy's third straight victory and moved the Bears into 15th place in the District 3-5A unofficial rankings, leaving E-town just outside the district dance.

As the game moved along it appeared like the Bears would pick up an easy win, a four-point halftime lead ballooning to 10 points after a 15-9 run out of the break. Ephrata controlled the fourth quarter to the tune of 19-9, sending the game into an extra session. Elizabethtown claimed that extra time, 10-6, giving them the 56-52 win.

Caiden Zeager netted a team high 16 points with Brendan Lehman close behind with 15 points. Both Branden Cummings and Noah Locke added 11 points each while Dax Kelly (two points) and Cooper Torborg (one point) cleaned up the remaining points.

For the Lady Bears, the comforts of home did not seem to be an advantage as Ephrata used a 22-12 push off the opening whistle to create the bulk of their 16-point halftime cushion.

Another strong Ephrata frame went down in the third where the Lady Mountaineers posted a 17-8 edge, extending their lead to 25 before E-town managed an 8-7 run in the fourth for the 59-35 final.

Taryn Hummer scored a team high 14 while Chloe Wilkinson was the only other Lady Bear in double digits with 11 points. Callie Love-Morris (five points), Jadyn Lloyd (two points), Jillian Morris (two points) and Sidney Avers (one point) rounded out the scoring.

BOWLING

The bowling team added to their trophy case with a run to the L-L Team title on February 8th. The championship run left head coach Frank Telenko nearly speechless, but the skipper did manage to say, "Excited and humbled by the success of this group. Not sure they understand their true potential yet."

The run started with a 2-0 win over Lampeter-Strasburg in the quarterfinals with E-town posting wins of 954-776 and 921-776. The bulk of the Bear bowlers finished with similar pin counts, the lone exception was Ella Eberle and her 163-154 day. Zach Wentzel went 224-175 while Mason Moore finished nine pins back with his 214-176 game. Declan Lentz (387) and Derek Deardorff (382) finished the top five.

The Bears needed all three games to get by Ephrata in the semifinals, using wins of 964-900 and 928-819 to counter Ephrata's 838-809 opening game win. Wentzel started slow but finished strong on his way to a 613 series. Moore (542) and Deardorff (540) were a mere two pins apart while Lentz was the last Bear to top 500 with his 517 series. Eberle added a 489 to complete the scoring five.

E-town also needed three games to dispatch Penn Manor in the finals after dropping the opening game 898-860. The Bears rebounded with wins of 850-760 and 798-730 to secure the L-L Team title. Moore fronted the title run with games of 229, 243 and 162. Wentzel fell just short of the 600-pin mark, settling for a 580. Deardorff had games of 158, 170 and 177 to finish with a 505 series. Eberle added a 415 series while Lentz wrapped up the win with a 374 series.

SWIMMING

Elizabethtown made a splash at the Lancaster-Lebanon League Swimming Championship on February 10th and 11th with both the boy's and girls teams finishing fourth in the team standings. The Bears posted a slew of top-10 times.

"I'm really proud of what we accomplished this weekend," said head coach Chad Houck.

The boy's claimed fourth place in all three relay events setting team records in the process. Jack Ketchum, Trevor Nolen, Reid Gilmore and Nathan Yohn posted a 1:43.05 in the 200 medley relay. Yohn then teamed with Everett Rachael, Jared Louie and Adam Mickievicz for a 1:30.91 in the 200 freestyle relay while Rachael, Louie, Gilmore and Jack Ketchum went 3:17.81 in the 400 freestyle relay.

Rachael posted the top individual finish, taking silver in the 100 backstroke with a time of 53.78. The sophomore added a fourth place finish in the 200 freestyle. Gilmore collected two solo medals as well, taking third in the 100 butterfly (54.30) while adding a fourth place finish in the 500 freestyle. Carter Ketchum joined Gilmore on the 500 free podium, taking eighth with a time of 5:13.72. He also claimed eighth place in the 200 IM with a 2:08.98. Jack Ketchum (5th - 100 backstroke) and Nolen (10th - 100 breaststroke) picked up E-town's final top-10 medals.

The Lady Bears also collected medals in all three relay events starting with a silver in the 200 medley relay. Genna McDonald, Morgan Conway, Ali Fink and Tessa Cronin posted a 1:54.26, finishing before everyone but Manheim Township. Conway, McDonald and Cronin were joined by Olivia Hirst for a fourth place swim in the 200 freestyle relay while Hirst and Fink teamed up with Julia Garber and Rene Oltmans for a sixth place run in the 400 freestyle relay.

A trio of Lady Bears enjoyed two top-10 finishes starting with Conway and her 100 breaststroke silver. Conway added a sixth place in the 200 freestyle with a 2:02.08.

McDonald posted matching ninth place finishes in the 50 freestyle (26.11) and 100 breaststroke (1:13.22) while Fink earned her top-10s in the 200 IM (9th - 2:22.08) and 100 butterfly (10th - 1:03.23).

Garber posted the final podium run, taking eighth in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:12.98.