Post-season action continues for the softball team while both track and tennis ended with appearances in their respective PIAA competitions.

Kyle Murr leads the pack as the school's highest post-season finisher. The senior continued his undefeated season in the triple jump by capturing a PIAA Class 3A gold on Saturday, May 29 at Shippensburg University.

"Kyle's undefeated season is an impressive feat of consistency," said head coach Ben Shober. "And, as far as I know, our last state champ was Amos Funk in the pole vault in 1929. This victory was a long time coming and we're hoping for more shortly in the future."

Murr's winning jump of 46-10.75 was nine inches better than Hatboro Horsham's Kas Savage.

The senior also competed in the long jump earlier in the day. He placed 11th out of 25 with a 21-2.5. "He was pretty close to on par for his expected performance," said Shober. "It was a little disappointing though as he missed out on the finals by one spot."

Joining Murr in the quest for PIAA gold was Graham Thomas who settled for an eighth-place medal in the 3200 with a time of 9:18.30. The Temple-bound runner was seeded fifth.

"He was a little disappointed but was more than happy considering how cold it was that early in the morning," noted Shober. "His PR for the year was 9:08.7. We were excited to see him on the podium!"

He also competed in the 1600 where he finished 21st with a 4:29.05.

Manor's last PIAA qualifier was Eden Chrisman. The senior, seeded 16th, cleared 11-0 to finish 9th in the pole vault, just missing a top eight medal.

"This was Eden's first year competing in the pole vault so for her to make it to states is incredible," added Shober. "I am excited to see what she will do as she gains more experience competing at George Washington."

TENNIS

Penn Manor's tennis team continued its magical season this past weekend at the PIAA 3A Championships at Hershey Racquet Club where Curtis Rabatin and Maxwell Davis finished in fourth place out of 16 doubles teams.

The Comet duo opened the tournament Friday afternoon, May 29 against Nathan Barton and Brian Johnson, of Hollidaysburg, the top seed in District 6 and came away with a solid 6-3, 6-2 final. Four hours later, in the quarterfinals, they advanced with another solid outing, downing Council Rock North's Anish Mhatre and Ben Cramer 6-3, 6-2.

Saturday's semifinals put Manor's favorite doubles team against Lower Merion brothers Justin and Brian Yi but the Comets fell short 6-3, 6-3.

With a chance to play for third, the Comets faced Anup Nadesan and Adviat Kulkarni, of Franklin Region, the District 7 champs and finished on the wrong side of a 6-3, 6-2 result.

"We were hoping for a title but coming in fourth we still got a medal," said head coach Amanda Pryzbylkowski

Their fourth-place finish is just one of a long lists of firsts for the Comets this season. Penn Manor won the Section One crown for the first time in school history, they were the runners-up in the L-L League Team Championships, finished third in Districts and qualified for states as a team.

Rabatin finished fourth in District singles and joined Davis for a second-place finish in district doubles.

"What an exciting season," said Pryzbylkowski. "We hope we can continue to build the program so that Penn Manor will be a regular at the state tournament."

For anyone interested in how to get started with tennis, at any age, email pennmanortennis@gmail.com for more information.

SOFTBALL

Led by Kylie Goss and her three RBIs, the Comets advanced to the District Three Class 6A semifinals with their 8-7 quarterfinal win over visiting Carlisle (11-10) Thursday, May 27. That semifinals clash at Chambersburg was a disappointing 7-5 loss and dropped the Comets into a third-place seeding game.

The Comets fell behind early against Carlisle, giving up three runs in the first inning on two hits and two walks but batted around in the second inning, taking the lead for good with seven runs scored.

"I'm proud of the way we answered the bell in the second inning after that poor start," said head coach Dave Stokes. "But then the bats kind of went silent."

Emily Riggs opened the inning with a home run and, after a pair of walks, Bella Peters reached on an error, allowing Manor's second run to score. Bria Booth worked a full count walk that loaded the bases and set the stage for Goss. Her three run double gave the Comets the lead at 5-4. Two outs later, Tori Hook cracked a two-run homer for a 7-3 Comet lead.

"That was a big time hit," said Stokes of Goss and her double.

Carlisle made things interesting in the top of the fifth, plating three more runs on two walks and two base hits. At that point coach Stokes made a pitching change, relieving Peters and putting Riggs in the circle with two outs and a runner on. A strikeout ended the threat.

Clinging to a one run lead, 7-6, Manor made it two in the sixth on a walk to Peters and a two out double by Sophia Rineer. Riggs forced a pop out, a ground out and ended with a strikeout.

"Bria (Booth) put down a perfect sac bunt and then Sophia got that insurance run hit," Stokes recalled. "And Riggs comes in when the score is 7-6 and she doesn't give up another run. We did what we needed to do to advance."

Tuesday, at Chambersburg, the No. 2 Trojans overcame a 4-1 deficit to beat Penn Manor 7-5 and advanced to the District Three championships opposite Warwick.

All the excitement happened in the bottom of the fifth. Holding a 4-1 lead with two outs and runners on first and second, Chambersburg took advantage of an errant throw to first that pulled Madi Trout off the bag for what would have been the third out. The next batter launched a bases-loaded double to tie the score at 4-4 and the Trojans gained momentum, tacking on two more runs to go up 6-4.

"We go from winning 4-1 to falling behind 6-4," said Stokes. "We did not agree that Madi was pulled off the bag and I argued that point, but the umpires did not see it that way. It was frustrating."

They picked up one more run in the sixth before Manor challenged in the seventh. Hook (3-4, 2RBIs) crushed a two out homer and Riggs followed with a double before a pop out cut Manor's rally short.

Manor gave up one run in the first inning on an error but came back with three in the third and took that 4-1 lead on a round-tripper by Rineer (3-4, 2 RBIs).

Peters finished with seven strikeouts and three walks while Riggs struck out two in relief.

The Comets (19-5) out hit the Trojans 10-9, but their three errors proved costly against a team that played flawlessly and improved to 22-2.

Two years ago, the Comets qualified for districts but lost to Dallastown in the opening round.

BOYS' LACROSSE

Penn Manor head coach Zack Charles was recently voted as Section One Coach of the Year for guiding his eleventh seed Comets (13-5) to the District Three Class 3A quarterfinals where their season ended with a heartbreaking 7-6 loss to the No. 3 seed Cumberland Valley Trojans (18-1).

Also receiving post-season recognition, as voted on by the L-L League coaches, are the following players: First Team: Clayton Hollinger (attack, 89 goals - 39 assists), Eric Hinkle (midfield, 19 goals, 31 assists), Connor Brumbaugh (defense), and Logan Dittenhafer (long stick midfielder). Second Team: Cole Spezialetti (midfield) and JD Robinson (defense). Jack Shipley - Academic All-star.

Hollinger was also named as a Central PA All-American. His 89 goals were tops in the L-L League.