Hempfield hosted the Lancaster-Lebanon League track and field championships on Friday and Saturday, May 10-11. The boys' team finished in a three-way tie with Conestoga Valley and Cocalico, compiling 36 team points while the girls' squad earned 31 points for a ninth-place finish.
The two squads were coming off their final dual meet of the regular season - a win for the boys and a close setback for the girls - against league rival Conestoga Valley on Monday, May 6. Some of the performances in that meet helped propel individuals into leagues.
Among the top finishers in the boys' championships for Hempfield was sophomore Tanner Hess, taking second in the 400 in 50.86. In that same event, Daegan Stoltzfus took fifth (51.75). Hess also went on to take seventh in the 100 in 11.41.
"Stoltzfus has been a sprinter for us this season," head coach Curt Rogers said. "He had a phenomenal time in the CV meet that got him into the league meet. He ran a 52.0 against CV. Then he placed fifth overall in the league. He was all smiles because everything came together for him."
Jack Mieszkalski, who finished sixth (1:59.85) in the 800, was part of the 4x800 relay team that earned second place on Saturday. He joined fellow junior Andrew Deck, sophomore David Jackson and senior Justin Rittenhouse for a combined time of 8:08.78.
"Mieszkalski and Rittenhouse have run every relay we've asked them to," said Rogers.
Rittenhouse also earned fifth (4:23.94) in the 1,600 while the foursome of Mieszkalski, Deck, Stoltzfus and Hess claimed sixth (3:30.48) in the 4x400 relay.
Jaden Lopez earned sixth in the shot put with a 45-foot-7.5 distance while Josiah Vieland's triple jump of 40-3.75 was good for eighth place.
"Josiah had jumped 40-6 in the CV meet, which was great," Rogers noted. "He ended up with a league medal.
"Jaden Lopez is our shot putter. He does all three throws," continued the coach. "He hit over 48 feet consistently this year. In the leagues, he hit 46 feet. He has been working hard in the weight room. He has been a great leader for the throws this year."
The girls' team featured a fourth-place finish in the 4x800 relay as Delaney Minder, Bella Hollenbach, Isabella Schwalm, and Gabi Hollinger posted a time of 9:52.17.
Cahsia Page not only placed an impressive second in the 300 hurdles at 45.18, she turned in a time of 12.40 in the 100 - good for fourth place.
"Cahsia Page has devoted herself to working hard," Rogers remarked. "She always has a positive attitude.
"She tried the hurdles in the off-season," Rogers added. "She qualified for districts in only her fourth time competing in the 300 hurdles."
Page also anchored the 4x100 team that also included Hostetler, Megan Grube and Alexa Pitts. They posted a third-place time of 49.12. Pitts went on to finish seventh (58.71) in the 400 and Page took eighth (26.11) in the 200.
In the field events, Ava Hostetler's long jump of 16-8.5 was good for fifth place.
"Ava has been consistent throughout the season in high jump and long jump," Rogers noted. "She has done well in the dual meets. She placed in the long jump against some phenomenal competition.
She runs the 100 and the 4x100 as well. She goes event to event all throughout the meet."
In the close regular season meet at home on Monday the Hempfield girls fell short 86-64 to Conestoga Valley. The loss dropped the Knights to 2-4 on the year.
Schwalm, Minder, Hollinger and Hollenbach took the 4x800 relay in 12:12 in the Section One meet. Hollenbach also won the 800 (2:32.1) while Minder's pace of 5:28.9 earned first in the 1,600.
Paige Harrington, in the 3,200, ran a winning pace of 13:05.
"They are the work horses of the distance crew," Rogers said. "They will run anything from the 400 to the 3,200."
In the 100- and 200 sprints, Page posted winning times of 12.0 and 25.4, respectively. The 12.0 placed her fifth in the L-L League Honor Roll.
By a nearly identical score, the Hempfield boys topped CV 86-64, including Jackson, Deck, Mieszkalski and Rittenhouse winning the 4x800 in 8:49.7.
The victory was Hempfield's first win of the season while the Buckskins fell to 0-6.
On the individual side, Mieszkalski won the 800 in 2:00.4. Hess was a triple winner in the sprints, taking the 100 (10.6), the 200 (22.6) and the 400 (51.0). Justin Thomas won the 3,200 in in 10:40.3.
"Hess is a sophomore and a real hard worker," Rogers said. "He has become one of our main go-to guys on the team. He is a football player who participated in indoor track during the winter. The hard work has paid off."
Lopez sent the discus 116-5 and the shot put 47-1.5 for wins in those events while Bradley Atkinson's won the javelin with a 149-2.
"He is a first-year senior who became our number one javelin thrower as the season progressed," Rogers said. "He and Riley Good both made it to the league meet."
BOYS' LACROSSE
The boys' lacrosse team won the L-L League championship behind six goals by Matt Heuston and three hat tricks on Thursday. The Knights topped Ephrata 13-9 on Tuesday at Penn Manor and went on to unseat arch rival Manheim Township as the league champ, claiming an 18-11 win at Warwick on Wednesday.
It was the Knights' first league title since 2013.
"We won it in 2009, 2010 and 2013," head coach Matt McAlpine remarked. "It started in the off-season with these boys' commitment to our principles. The boys are believing in each other and it paid off on Thursday."
Hempfield took command of the Ephrata match early on, scoring eight times in the first quarter. Holding a 9-7 lead after three, the Knights outscored the Mounts 4-2 in the fourth.
Kohl Wesner scored five times and added one assist. Cameron Aksu scored twice and assisted four times. Bobby Griffith notched a hat trick.
Two goals plus an assist by Heuston helped Hempfield hang on. Grayson Dague netted one goal while Jacob Notoli recorded two assists.
Heuston's six goals plus hat tricks by Dague, Aksu and Wesner combined with a tremendous effort by Bryce Witmer helped the Knights bring home the league trophy. Witmer scored one goal and dished out five assists. Griffith also scored one and Notoli added an assist. Matt Weist had eight saves in the win.
"Matt had been a little banged up," said McAlpine. "He's finally feeling healthy. He was playing with a purpose."
Asked what was the difference between this match and the two regular season encounters that ended in Township winning 17-9 and 12-10 McAlpine replied, "Discipline - absolute discipline. And all the guys believing in each other - the guy to your left or to your right," he continued. "Whether it was a goal by us or by them, we had a 'next play' mentality."
VOLLEYBALL
The Black Knights advanced to the L-L League semifinals with a 3-0 defeat of Cocalico on Friday night. The quarterfinal match at Manheim Central was the nightcap of a doubleheader. In the earlier match, the host Barons blanked the Buckskins 3-0.
The Hempfield and Cocalico match was a clash between the second-place finishers in Section One and Section Two, respectively. And though it was the first round of the playoffs, it wasn't the first playoff match of the week for Hempfield. On Thursday night, on the court at Elizabethtown, the Knights lost 3-2 to Warwick in what was a single-match playoff to decide the Section One title. Both teams entered this match with identical 11-1 records in league play, including a split in their two head-to-head regular season matches.
Hempfield charged ahead for a 25-19 win in the opening set. Back came the Warriors with a 25-19 win and maintained momentum with a 25-21 win. The Knights were not about to give in with three straight sets to their rivals; they won the fourth by a 25-18 margin before Warwick slipped by with a 15-11 victory in the tiebreaker.
Ryan Givens poured in 12 kills and had a match-high six blocks for the Knights. Colsen Hunt's 38 assists led the squad as did Owen Hanzelman's 12 digs. Ben Crabtree served up two aces.
In the Cocalico match, which the Knights won 25-9, 25-18 and 25-19, Elliot De La Torre, who registered three blocks, and Givens had eight kills each. Hunt had four aces and 26 assists. Hanzelman and Adam Gallagher each finished with four digs.
BASEBALL
The Knights' offense had a deluge of eight runs in the fourth inning of Saturday's game against the Little Dutchmen. Hempfield, the Section One champ, defeated Annville-Cleona (14-7) in the L-L League quarterfinal game at Ephrata's War Memorial Field by a score of 11-1. The victory improved Hempfield's overall record to 18-3.
Starting pitcher Justin Lichtenwalner ripped a bases-loaded triple in that big inning. Lichtenwalner, who had escaped a bases-loaded jam as a pitcher in the first inning, walked to lead off the fourth. Jayden Ruby, who served as a courtesy runner, and Ty Vaughn scored on a two-run single by Alec Santiago.
Three batters later, and with the bases loaded, C.J. Saylor took one for the team and was hit by a pitch to drive in another run. Cole Houser's single plated one more run and Nick Fiore drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 6-0 Hempfield. That set the stage for Lichtenwalner's big blow.
The Knights won it on the 10-run rule in the fifth inning as Saylor drove in one run on a sacrifice fly and Fiore singled in another.
Also at War Memorial Field, Manheim Central defeated Solanco and will play Hempfield in the semis.
GIRLS LACROSSE
Hempfield edged Cocalico in the first round of the L-L League girls' lacrosse playoffs, winning 13-10 at Conestoga Valley on Tuesday. The Knights' run for the league crown came to an end two nights later in a 17-11 defeat to Manheim Township at Warwick High School.
Hempfield carried a 7-5 lead into the second half of Tuesday's game. The Knights out-shot the Eagles 28-22 while in the back end of the field, Kyah Peifer and Cassidy Roark collected eight and four saves, respectively. Aside from Hannah Custer scoring six times for the Eagles, the Hempfield defense and goalie tandem held tough.
Lauren Dague was one of two Knights to register a hat trick. She also dished out two assists. Kiley Yurchak had a hat trick as well while both Lindsey Durkota and Laura Morrison had two goals and an assist. Kelsea Dague scored twice and Brynn Axe netted one goal.
The 17-11 loss to Township meant that Hempfield (16-3) had to settle for second place as the Streaks claimed the league trophy. Lauren Dague collected four goals. Durkota notched a hat trick while both Yurchak and Kelsea Dague finished with two goals.
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