Penn Manor's Graham Thomas and Catherine Rabatin were the last Comets standing this fall and both capped outstanding 2019 seasons, earning PIAA medals.
Thomas wrapped up his season Saturday, November 2, with a 16th place effort in the PIAA Class 3A boys cross country race at the Hershey Parkview Course. The junior co-captain posted a 16:20.
"We believe this was the best finish for a Penn Manor boy in the State XC Championship since Dave Henry in 1980," said co-head coach Tom Ecker.
"Bob Ulmer and I were very pleased with Graham's performance. His training has been very good over the past few weeks," said Ecker. "We were sure he was ready to be competitive. However, it is challenging to forecast results as there are many variables. We expected he would finish somewhere between 20th and 50th place, obviously hoping he would be on the lower side of that range.
"Graham is a well-disciplined runner and held a reasonable pace through the first mile," Ecker continued. "He held steady while others faltered, and passed about 50 runners in the second mile, getting him in place for a strong finish. The race stabilized in the third mile with the pace being hard and strong, but with few position changes."
Also competing in the PIAA championships was Catherine Rabatin, representing the Comets on the tennis courts. She opened her PIAA Class 3A singles tournament on Friday, November 1, at Hershey Racquet Club with a pair of convincing efforts. The freshman handled Abington Heights' Bella Peters 6-3, 6-2 and went on to top Caitlin Le, of Souderton 6-0, 6-1 to advance to the semifinals.
"Catherine had a great showing," said head coach Allie Fetterman. "She played unbelievably well on Friday. I think that's the best I've seen her play all season."
In Saturday's semifinals, she suffered her first loss of the season, a 6-4, 6-1 result against Fox Chapel senior, Charlotte James. Then, in a battle for third place, Rabatin was edged out by senior Bethany Yauch, of Baldwin, 6-2 7-6(5) and settled for fourth place.
"She had some tough matchups on Saturday but continued to play very high level tennis," Fetterman stated. "She set up the points beautifully and she battled hard. I think both matches could have gone either way. She placed fourth in the state as a freshman and her maturity on the court speaks volumes. We are so proud of her and look forward to what she can accomplish next year."
ALL-STARS
Though most of the Comet teams missed out on playoffs, some individuals were recognized for their individual efforts on their respective squads. The following players received all-star status. Alex Behmer, a junior, and senior Ryan Dang are Section One First Teamers for the boys' soccer team. Senior Kyle Ament was voted to the Second Team and Jackson Hostetter is an Academic All-Star. As a team, the boys received the L-L League Section One Sportsmanship Award.
Representing the volleyball team, junior setter and captain, Jordan Schucker is a First Team all-star and an Academic All-Star, and outside hitter and captain, Madison Henry is a Second Team selection.
Ella Hart and Zoe Acord, both soccer players, received Section Team All-Star recognition while Marlee Groft is an Academic All-Star.
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