The harrier teams made their annual trek to Ephrata for the L-L League Championships where the boys' team had an opportunity to knock off another undefeated team, Hempfield. And when the final runner crossed the finish line, it was Hempfield (47 points) that grabbed the crown. Manheim Township (58 points) slipped in for second place leaving the Pioneers (71 points) in third.

"Hempfield is so tough," said head coach Mari Cunningham. "But third is still good. I'm not sure if we've ever placed this high before."

The second opportunity of the day was the battle for first place. Hempfield's Aidan Hodge (16:11.5) held off L-S sophomore Colin Whitaker (16:18.7) to claim the individual title.

Also placing in the top ten was Adrian Elia (7th, 17:05.4) and Ben Devine (8th, 17:05.8) while Parker Stoner (27th) and Luka Vranich (29th) rounded out the counters. David Pritchard was close behind in 31st while Luke Smith crossed in 64th and Riley Wisssler was 95th.

"Adrian and Ben ran really well and very competitively," said Cunningham. "And Colin ran a smart race. Overall, it was a good day."

The girls' team, who finished seventh overall, and like the boys', also qualified for districts.

Aubrey Magagna was the teams' top place-winner, clocking a 21:26.7 for 24th place. Keira Smecker was the eighth freshman to cross the line. She was 51st in 22:23.2. Sophomores Jaclyn Martin and Morgan Wright were 56th and 76th respectively while senior Molly Wissler rounded out the top five in 84th place. Jocelyn Wolff, Abby Welchans and Tori Smith also competed. For more photos see townlively.com

FIELD HOCKEY

After a heart-breaking 4-3 loss to Elizabethtown, the Pioneer field hockey team went on a four-game winning streak before ending their season with back-to-back losses, the most recent, a 2-1 final at Manheim Central Thursday, October 14.

"The ball went everywhere, but the back of the cage for us," said head coach Katrina Swarr. "It hit the post, it went over the cage, it deflected off the goalie, it deflected off their sticks...."

The Barons, despite being out cornered 11-7, took a 1-0 lead in the first half and matched the Pioneers after the break. Rowan Kimmel's goal, assisted by Marissa Rice, got the Pioneers on the board. The Barons defeated the Pioneers 3-2 in overtime on Sept. 23.

"Their second goal was tip off a shot that went right past Brooke Zuber's pads," recalled head coach Katrina Swarr. "It was a nice goal. We just came up a little short.

"This is the first time in a couple of years that we did not qualify for the league playoffs," she continued. "We lost three games in OT. If we had grabbed those wins, we would be looking at a totally different scenario." For more photos see townlively.com

GIRLS' SOCCER

After ending the regular season with four straight shutouts, the girls' soccer team opened post-season play with 2-1 thriller over Pequea Valley in the L-L League Championships Saturday, Oct. 16 in Kinzers.

"The first time we made the L-L playoffs was 2009," pointed out head coach Emily Lebo. "The next, and only other time, was 2012 and we lost to Cedar Crest in the semifinals."

The Pioneers doubled the Braves in both shots (8-4) and corners (4-2) and despite the wind and the rain opened the scoring when Chloe Bucher recovered her own rebound and redirected a second shot past the keeper in the 52nd minute.

"That first goal was a quick transition," said Lebo. "Chloe drove through two defenders. PV's goalie made a great initial save however Chloe was relentless and put away the rebound."

Then, just 12 minutes into the second half, the Section Four champs (12-6-1) countered, sending the equalizer past Elayna Torres with a short-range shot.

It took L-S just eight minutes to push ahead as Sophia Rhoades sent the game-winner off the left post and into the goal.

"That was a gorgeous, textbook goal," said Lebo. "I think we out possessed them for the majority of the game, but they did a great job defensively from allowing us to get off any good on frame shots."

In semifinal action last Tuesday at Manheim Central, the Pioneers found themselves in a rematch against Manheim Township. "They beat us 5-0 the last time we played, but it was 1-0 at the half," said Lebo.

And their second meeting also saw the Pioneers fall behind 1-0. The second half this time around was a different story, but L-S again fell short as the defending Streaks found the back of the net one more time.

Ali Mulholland scored MT's first half goal in the 34th minute and their second goal in the 52nd minute.

The Pioneers, looking to make their first title game appearance, were competitive throughout but fell short of the upset.

FOOTBALL

Despite a slow start in New Holland Friday, Oct. 15, the Pioneers pulled together for another lopsided victory, taking home a 50-20 result over Garden Spot, improving their overall record to 7-1.

The Spartans jumped in front with a 44-yard TD run and a 42-yard field goal. L-S cut the lead to 10-7 on Berkeley Wagner's 17-yard TD run but the Spartans went back in front with a 7-yard fumble recovery. After that, it was pretty much all L-S. The Pioneers ran off six touchdowns, interrupted only by a Spot 25-yard field goal in the third quarter.

"Collectively we settled down and started to execute," said head coach Victor Reidnour. "Beau Heyser and Austin Cole made two great catches to finally flip the field for our offense. From there we started to play much better."

Beau Heyser (4 catches, 70 yards) ignited the first of three straight TDs snagging a pair of 8-yard Wagner (10-for-19 passing, 166 yards) strikes. In between, Giovanni Malatesta raced 17-yards to paydirt, putting L-S in front 29-17 at the half.

Spot opened the second half with that field goal and Wagner scored on a 1-yard keeper to cap the third quarter scoring. Jonathan Mellinger and Payton Cunningham both found the endzone in the fourth quarter on three-yard scampers. Andrew Reidenbaugh successfully booted seven PATs.

The Pioneers racked up 288 rushing yards on 44 carries and sit all alone on the top of Section Three.

"It's good to be able to battle back from adversity," Reidnour said. "You always want to see that kind of grit from your squad."

GOLF

The golf team capped its season with brothers Ben and Matt Wilson competing in the PIAA Championships at Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York last Tuesday. Ben carded and 81 and Matt, a senior, finished with an 87.

"It was the first trip to states for both of them," said head coach Mike Chiodo. "They were hoping to place in the top ten, but it was just one of those days.

"Ben finished with 843 strokes for the year and Matt had 844 through 11 tournaments. They were our two leaders the whole year.

"It was a great season," he added. "We won leagues, set records as a team and made L-S golf history."

VOLLEYBALL

The volleyball team suffered a pair of 3-0 losses on the road over the last week, dropping to undefeated Elizabethtown on Oct. 14 and to Ephrata last Monday.

Emily Mullin's six kills led the attack at Ephrata. Jenna Hoover put up two blocks, Riley Stoltzfus distributed nine assists and served one ace. Leah Denlinger was tops with 14 digs.