Category: Sports

The spotlight is on and it’s pointing toward South Africa for the 2010 World Cup.

The top 32 national teams will square off in numerous South African locations starting June 11th, and ending with the championship match July 11th. There are eight groups of four teams, and the two teams with the most points after round robin play in their group advance.      

The usual suspects are at the top of the list of favorites to bring the Cup back to their nation, Spain, Brazil, Portugal, Germany and defending champs Italy.

Many Penn Manor students have already picked their favorite.

Tenth grader Natalie Dell’Estate said, “Spain [will win] because they have a very strong defense.”

Even with Spain’s best forward, Fernando Torres, doubtful to play, many people are still predicting Spain to hold up the Cup in the end.

Sophomore Jake Schick said, “Spain is going to win because they have the best personal, and deepest roster.”

There are the obvious favorites, and then there are the small country teams who could make a surprising run.

Schick said he thinks the Ivory Coast is one of those teams that could pull off some upsets, and make a deep run.

Many soccer experts think the United States has a very good chance of advancing through round robin play.

Although England, ranked 8th in the FIFA, is in their group, the other two opponents in the United States group are Algeria, and Slovenia, ranked 31st and 23rd respectively. To make a deep run in the World Cup the U.S. will need great tournaments from their stars, Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore, and goalkeeper Tim Howard.

One thing is for sure, the U.S. soccer nation will be behind them no matter what.

“I’ll be rooting for them,” said Schick.

A major issue for the United States and many other teams is injuries.

Spain could be without their star forward Fernando Torres. The U.S. team did not even invite a former starting forward, Charlie Davies, who is recovering from an automobile accident.

Another starter, defender Oguchi Onyewu is recovering from major leg surgery, and played his first game since October in an exhibition game against the Czech Republic.

Germany captain Michael Ballack fell victim to the injury bug when he hurt his ankle, and is out for the entire World Cup.

Many students here are excited for the World Cup games to start so they can cheer on their favorite teams.

“I’m going to watch every game,” said Dell’Estate.

By Cody Straub

With 149 teams’ names already engraved on the Stanley Cup, both the Philadelphia Flyers and the Chicago Blackhawks want to be the 150th.  Both have a good shot at that goal.

Each team is red hot coming out of a successful series, both teams’ goalies are playing  aggressively, but who has the upper hand in the final best of seven hockey championship?

“If the Flyers keep their hustle and never-say-die attitude, they will win,” said Penn Manor History teacher, Joe Herman.

Joseph Jackson, a Penn Manor Sophomore disagrees.

“The Blackhawks, they are a real grind-out team that does what it takes to win,” said Jackson.

The Flyers’ goal-scoring star, Jeff Carter, returned in their previous series against the Montreal Canadiens who will hopefully offer a rise of play in the Flyers’ offense.

Also, with a total of three shutouts in the Flyers’ last series, Michael Leighton has been playing great and will give a spark to the Flyers’ momentum.

The Blackhawks have an edge with their stars, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, and Captain Jonathan Toews. All have racked up the points in the postseason this year and are great assets to their respective team.

Antti Niemi, the Blackhawk’s goalie, has been a momentum stopper throughout the postseason and is helping his team in a big way by shutting down some of the most aggressive offensive attacks.

Flyers’ fans hope their team isn’t one of the ones.

By Simon Zimmerman

Are you ready for some football?

Yes, football!

On Saturday, May 29, the annual Tri-Country All Star football game will be held at Manheim Central High School at 7:30 PM.

Penn Manor has nine seniors participating in the game, which is the most participants for the All-Star game in school history.

The teams are split up into North and South squads.

Every senior player that was chosen to represent their school located in the southern end of Lancaster County will be on South squad and vice versa.

Berks County and Lebanon County schools are also involved with the game
where Berks players will play on the South side and the Lebanon players will be suited up for the North.

Penn Manor head coach, Todd Mealy, says, “All the coaches [whose teams are involved with the All-Star game] met in March to nominate what players they thought should be on the All-Star team.”

The nine, well-deserving players from Penn Manor: Aaron Frederick, Laronn Lee, P.J. Rehm, Austin Sahd, Derek Sauder, Jared Shearer, Kenny Tomaszefski, Andrew Torres, and Bryan Weaver will all battle on the South side.

When comparing his Penn Manor teammates to the other South players, senior wide reciever and defensive back, Aaron Frederick says, “We played at a higher level than the other players, so we are definitely well-prepared.”

After contributing to a historic season for the Penn Manor football program, the selected All-Stars will look to represent why their Comet team was the real deal this past fall.

And as Mealy says, “For some seniors, this is the last time they will get to play a game of football before going off to college.”

By Cody Erb

The Penn Manor Girls’ Lacrosse team was left disappointed, heartbroken, and frustrated after their 16-15 loss to Hempfield in their regular season finale, Tuesday May 10.

This game was at home and on Penn Manor’s Senior Night, which added to the pain of losing to Hempfield, the first time in five years and missing the L-L League championship game for the first time in four years.

Senior, defensive player, Kerri Althouse commented on the disappointment of missing leagues.

“It really hurts not being able to play in leagues this year,” said Althouse.  “It will be my only year without a league medal. It’s a disappointing way to end my high school career.”

The Comets went into the game tied with Hempfield for second place in Section 1. The winner of this nighttime showdown at Turkey Hill Venue Field would move into sole possession of second place and claim the final spot in the league playoff bracket.

This year marks the first year of the new league system. Under the new system, the top two teams in each section get the chance to contend for the league title. Senior, attack player, Julie Falk said she does not like the new league system.

“I think it’s very stupid because our section [section 1] has the top four teams in the league. So, by adding this new system, you cut two great teams out of the league championship contention. It’s just not fair,” Falk said.

The Comets flew out of the gate against the Black Knights en route to a 10-8 first half lead in which they never trailed.

Hempfield did not have an answer on defense for Falk, who scored four times in the opening half.

Black Knights coach, Liz Hockley, must have given a great halftime speech because her team came out of the locker rooms with determination written all over their faces.

Hempfield opened the second half with a 6-1 run, took the lead (16-9), and never trailed after.

Falk, who is on her way to Old Dominion University to play Division I lacrosse, tried to analyze the close  game, “I was doing great in the first half. I felt good and my game was really flowing. I don’t know what happened in the second half but they just completely shut me down and our team play as a whole followed.”

Although, the Comets are disappointed and frustrated with their loss and missing the league tournament, they are still ready to get get back into district contention. Last year, the Comets came in second in districts, losing to rival Manheim Township, and lost in the first round of states to Strath Haven, a team from the Philadelphia Area.

Althouse said she’s looking forward to districts, “This year looks good for us in districts. We got a good seed and one of the best routes, if not the best route, to the finals.”

Falk added to that by saying, “We are looking for gold this year. We really want another chance at [Manheim] Township. I want to show them what it feels like to get second in districts.”

The girls are pumped and ready for the playoffs to start. They took the field against Wilson at home Tuesday, May 18.

They were hungry to start their playoff run, trashing the Bulldogs, 15-5. They now move on to the second round of district contention to play three seeded, Kennard-Dale.

They will clash on May 22 with the venue and time still to be announced. Pay attention to the place and time for this game and clear your schedules to come support and cheer your Comets on to victory. Go Get ‘Em Girls!

by Josh Brown

The Penn Manor tack team continued their success this season, in the L-L League Championship meet held at Hempfield, including stellar performances by lady Comet discus hurlers.

New track coach, Art Morris, took the reins of the team this year.  Previously, Morris coached the

The girls finished fourth overall, and the boys finished seventh overall in league competition. The Comets won four events as a team.

First place winners were P.J. Rehm in the 110 hurdles, Laronn Lee in the triple jump, Carenna Neely in the discus and the girls 4×400 relay.

The L-L League meet wrapped up the Comets successful L-L League season. During the regular season, the boys finished 3-3 in head-to-head meets. The girls finished 4-2 in head to head meets.

Long-time track coach Coach Joe Herman credits their success to teamwork.

“Our most impressive thing is that we work as a team,” said Herman. “We give each other moral support, and we help each other with our techniques.”

The most successful event for the team all season has been the girl’s discus. Along with the L-L Champion Carenna Neely, the other throwers include Sarah Connor, Rebecca Connor and Helen Doolittle.

The discus team was recently featured in a story done by WGAL’s Pat Principe. To watch the video go to:

the following link: http://www.wgal.com/video/23548229/index.html

By Cody Straub and Taylor Groff

It is time to regroup.

It is time think about next week.

It is time to do what they know they can do.

After losing to a powerhouse Hempfield squad in the LL league playoffs, The Penn Manor Boy’s Volleyball team now must prepare for the District III playoffs.

The Comets (10-5) are ranked third overall in districts, and will begin their district play against Chambersburg High School on Monday at 6 p.m. at Dallastown High School.

“If we work hard and don’t get down on ourselves if we get down [in the game], I think we can do well,” said senior middle hitter, Aaron Gochnauer.

The Comets have four seniors and two sophomores in their starting lineup, and haven’t gotten much credit despite their unexpected success this season.

“They have proved that they can adapt to any team, and they refuse to give up, as we saw in the first round of Leagues against Garden Spot, coming back from a 0-2 deficit to win the match,” said Comet’s head coach Chris Telesco.

Senior, Jeremy Funk, the Comet’s leader in kills this season, will look to continue his hot play for Penn Manor throughout these playoffs as they will attempt to make a run at this thing and continue to surprise the league.

“If we play to our potential, we could definitely go far,” said starting sophomore outside hitter, Dylan Weber.

Manor has great-united team chemistry and as Gochnauer said, “It is not just a one person show.”

The Comets will have the opportunity, starting Monday, to show what else their team is made of.

By Cody Erb

Emotion is at its highest and the stakes are higher.  Dreams can be fulfilled or lost in one game, one quarter or even one basket.  This is the NBA playoffs.

There are only four teams remaining, all with the same goal to be crowned the NBA champions.

In the first round, the Magic easily handled the Bobcats, even with the Magic’s big man, Dwight Howard getting into foul trouble early in games. They swept the Bobcats and advanced to the second round.

The high-powered Cavaliers moved the Bulls aside in their first series, winning the series four to one.

The big three players of the Boston Celtics, with Rajon Rondo looking good, led the Celtics past Wade and the Miami Heat.

Milwaukee’s Bucks somehow took the Hawks to seven games but the Hawks still survived with strong play from Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford.

In probably the best playoff series, the Thunder came back from a 2 -0 hole and tied up the series but went on to lose the next two games. The Thunder are young and full of talent built around Kevin Durant.

With an upset, the Spurs won the battle over Texas. The Spurs were led by Manu Ginobili, and Tim Duncan. The Mavericks’ Caron Butler and Brendan Hayward didn’t show up in the series letting the load rest on Dirk  Nowitzki.

Phoenix knocked out a fighting Trailblazers team without Roy for most of the series. Grant Hill, Amare Stoudemire and Jason Richardson all stepped up to beat the Blazers.

The Jazz took down the Nuggets in six games where Carmelo Anthony scored a lot but somehow looked like a none-factor.

The Jazz got swept by a Bryant-led Lakers team. Pau Gasol showed up in the second game and played well.

The Celtics vs Cavilers game was overshadowed by Lebron’s elbow but in game three, James came out and scored 38 points leading his team to an easy victory. Making many ask whats wrong with Lebron’s elbow. Rajon Rondo far outplayed James in the playoff series. Rondo recorded his fourth playoff triple double in game four. He even earned MVP chants from the fans inside the TD Garden arena in Boston.

The Magic led by Dwight Howard, who hasn’t been in foul trouble this series, eliminated the Hawks easily with a sweep. The Hawks couldn’t find an answer for the Magic with five players in double figures in game four.

The Suns have already wrapped up their series against the Spurs. The Suns were led by Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash. They might have some rust heading into the conference finals.

Orlando finished it’s series last night along with the Lakers sweeping the Jazz. The Lakers will head into a series against the Suns starting Monday.

The Magic beat out the Hawks easily, they will face the Celtics.

The Celtics versus the Cavaliers series broke its tie at two on Tuesday at Cleveland. The Celtics won game five easily behind Ray Allen’s 25 points. Lebron James only scored 15 points in his probable last game as a Cav in Cleveland. Lebron, with a triple- double, couldn’t stop the Celtics but he also had nine turnovers.

The Celtics are now going to face the hot Magic who have not lost a game during the playoffs. Sorry to Cleveland fans but this maybe the last time you see Lebron in the red and blue.  But that’s a whole story by itself and the news will be surrounding him this off season.

The Celtics, led by Ray Allen, gave the Magic their first loss of the playoffs. Dwight Howard only scored 13 points and 12 boards. Game two will be on Tuesday. The Celtics win another against the Magic. The game was close with a 95 – 92 win for the Celtics.

The Lakers won big against the Suns on Monday night with a lot of help from Kobe Bryant, who scored 40 points. Both teams come in hot off a sweep. Game two was another win for the Lakers behind Pau Gasol’s 29 points and Bryant’s 21 points. The game was close until the fourth quarter when the Lakers took control.

Who will take the championship trophy home? Will it be the aged Celtics lead by MVP like Rajon Rondo. The Lakers may repeat, but they have to go through the sizzling suns of Phoenix. The Magic might bring their first championship to Orlando but they have to go by the Celtics. The Suns could also bring their first title home.

As always, one thing is sure, the NBA playoffs will thrill its audience.

By Sam Valentin

The Flyers look to take all the marbles in their series tonight against the Boston Bruins.

After trailing their second-round playoff series 3-0 after the first three games, the Flyers have made a miraculous comeback to tie the series at 3 games a piece and force a game seven.

Usually during the playoffs being the road team is not something to look forward to. However, in the last nine games, the road team has won seven of those games which gives the Flyers a great fighting chance.

In the history of the NHL, only twice has a team come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a best of 7 series. If the Flyers win tonight they will be marked down in history as the third team to overcome this.

“It will be a monumental upset if they win,” said Junior Brian Ramsey.

Besides the past statistics, the Flyers also have their team camaraderie on their side.

In the past three wins the Flyers have claimed, they have outscored their opponent 11-5.

Also the fact that they have won the past three games to stay in the Stanley cup race shows something about their team and their strive to win.

“They managed to come back this far, so I think they will win tonight,” said Brant Roth, a freshmen at Penn Manor.

By Simon Zimmerman

Their backs are against the wall.

Barely holding on by a thread, the Philadelphia Flyers are looking to stay alive as they go into game five Monday night against the Boston Bruins, down 3-1 in the series.

After advancing to the second round with an impressive series against the New Jersey Devils, the injuries sustained to offensive superstars Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne seemed to bring down the Flyers as they immediately lost the first three games against their second round opponents – The Boston Bruins.

“It is disappointing,” said five year die-hard Flyer fan, Penn Manor sophomore Austin Rowley. “If they win tonight I think they have a good chance at taking the series though.”

On Friday May 7, the Flyers were blessed with the return of a huge piece of their offense as Simon Gagne came back and played game four in Philadelphia.

With the game going into overtime, Gagne scored the winning goal to give the Flyers a win in game four of the series.

After getting a spark from game four, the Flyers will look to keep it rolling on Monday night up in Boston.

When asked how he thought the series was looking, sophomore Brandon Schuman, who is also a huge Flyers fan, agreed with with Rowley saying, “I think if they win tonight they’ll win game six in Philly, and then anything can happen in game seven.”

However, dean of students and former hockey player, Eric Howe says, “There’s always a disappointment in Philadelphia.”

Howe believes the Flyers season will end sometime this series.

The Flyers will look to break away with a three-game comeback starting Monday night and surprise the hockey world.

By Cody Erb