Athletes of the Week: Lancaster Catholic

Team finishes second-best season in school history.

Lancaster Catholic's boys' basketball team carried an undefeated record through the first two months of the 2010-2011 season, winning yet another Section 4 title.

The Crusaders went on to claim the second District 3 championship in school history and finished the year with a 29-2 mark.

Upended in the PIAA semifinals by eventual state champ Neumann-Goretti (the Saints' second-straight crown), this year will still go down as one of the best in Catholic history.

Friday Postponements

See below for a list of reported games pushed back due to wet field conditions

Baseball
Conestoga Valley @ Lancaster Mennonite
Daniel Boone @ Cocalico
Palmyra @ Manheim Central

Softball
Penn Manor @ Manheim Central
Donegal @ Warwick 

Make-up dates TBA

Warwick and 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider'

The Warwick girls lacrosse team has a tall task ahead this season. Six of the Warriors' first nine games are against three of the best teams in the district: Manheim Township, Hempfield and Penn Manor.

But here's betting none of those teams have as good a rendition of 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider' as Warwick. We can honestly say this had never happened to us at a practice before Tuesday.

Here are seniors Bethany Ashworth and Samantha Kimmel to explain:

L-L All-Star Basketball Rosters Set

All-Defense Team for 2010-11 Season released as well.

The District 3 champs have three All-Stars on the roster.

The L-L Basketball Coaches Association announced the rosters for next week's senior All-Star game. The Section 1 and 2 All-Stars will compete as the away squad against the best of the best from Sections 3 and 4.

The game will be held next Thursday, March 31st, at 7pm at Hempfield High School.

Cody Bransby (Coc )

Section 1 and 2 - Away team.

Kevin Antol - Cocalico

Cody Bransby - Cocalico

Dylan Brossman - Cocalico

Brian Cherrington - Conestoga Valley

Lee Eckert - Hempfield

Jesse Thomas - Lebanon

Kyle Thomas - Lebanon

Tyler Mitchell - Manheim Township

Tyler Martin - McCaskey

Dan Elloit - Penn Manor

Brian Ramsey - Penn Manor

Vince Soto - Warwick

Section 3 and 4 - Home Team

Josh Robeson (MC)

Trey Blanding - Annville-Cleona

Josh Henning - Annville-Cleona

Austin Musser - Donegal

Tyler George - Elco

Jevin Zimmerman Garden Spot

Ryan Berryman - Lampeter-Strasburg

Paul Senkowski - Lancaster Catholic

Will Schlosser - Lancaster Catholic

Phil Wenger - Lancaster Catholic

Corey Leonard - Lancaster Mennonite

Josh Roberson - Manheim Central

Tyler Sheffy - Northern Lebanon

LLBCA 2010-11 All-Defensive Team

The Coaches Association also released its All-Defense team for the 2010-11 Season. You can view the squad here.

2011 Senior All-Star Games

Click here for the rosters and details on the PAhoops.com games to be held April 8-9th at Middletown H.S.

Teresa Rynier in Preseason Tryouts

CV grad was drafted by the Philadelphia Independence.

Earlier this winter Conestoga Valley grad Teresa Rynier was drafted by the Philadelphia Independence of Women's Professional Soccer. After a stellar collegiate career at James Madison she is trying to prove she belongs at the highest level.

News 11 caught up with the former Buckskin over the weekend, in the midst of her professional preseason tryout.

Tri-County All-Star Game

Rosters set for 10th Annual Manheim Touchdown Club game this spring

 SOUTH ROSTER

Coached by Matt Zamperini, Garden Spot

Kevin Antol, WR-DB, Cocalico

Matt Borkey, OL-DL, Wilson

Diare Brison, WR, Conestoga Valley

Ben Brugger, DL, Cocalico

Drake Brumfield, WR-DB, Donegal

Jordan Buchanan, OL, Wilson

Julian Carabello, WR, Wilson

Alex Cintron, DL, Lampeter-Strasburg

Christian DelRocini, DE, Lampeter-Strasburg

Alex Dienner, QB-DB, Conestoga Valley

Cole Dillman, OL-DL, Conestoga Valley

Demetrius Dixon, WR, Penn Manor

T.J. Ford, DE, McCaskey

Chris Garraffa, K, Lampeter-Strasburg

Jordan Giffing, OL-DL, Solanco

Austin Hartman, RB, Cocalico

Darius Howard, WR-DB, Penn Manor

Anthony Huber, DD, Garden Spot

Derek Jackson, OL-DL, Wilson

Teon Lee, LB, Penn Manor

Dan Makauskas, OL-DL, Lampeter-Strasburg

Ethan Martin, LB, Lampeter-Strasburg

Bryan McCall, LB, Warwick

Ryan Metsgar, DL, Wilson

Ben Myers, QB, Pequea Valley

Ande Olsen, LB, Penn Manor

Matt Rissinger, WR, Warwick

Cody Simcox, TE-LB, Wilson

Travis Switzer, OL-DL, Conestoga Valley

Deron Thompson, RB, Warwick

Dom Trout, DE, Columbia

Markeith Williams, RB, McCaskey

Garrett Young, LB, Penn Manor

Kurtis Zimmerman, OL, Warwick

Zach Zweizig, QB, Wilson

NORTH ROSTER

Coached by Jim Vieland, Ephrata

Andy Breault, QB, Elizabethtown

Chase Moyer, QB, Manheim Central

Bryan Bowman, TE, Elco

Will Brown, WR, Lebanon

Lucardy Jean Francios, WR, Cedar Crest

Derek Hart, WR-DB, Manheim Central

Eric Ondo, WR-DB, Elco

Justin Gilbert, OL, Elco

Alex Hupfeld, OL-DL, Manheim Township

Peter Ireland, OL, Manheim Central

Rob LaPorte, OL, Manheim Central

Jacobi Ortiz, OL, Cedar Crest

C.J. Rudy, OL, Lancaster Catholic

Alex Vigilante, OL-DL, Manheim Township

Nick Wanamaker, OL, Annville-Cleona

Blake Kreider, C, Manheim Central

Michael Meck, C, Lancaster Catholic

Julian Alicea, RB, Hempfield

Kevin Coleman, RB, Manheim Township

Michael Smith, RB, Manheim Central

Chris Ahnert, DL, Lebanon

Jordan Brown, DL, Hempfield

Tyler Clark, DL, Elizabethtown

Austin Taylor, DL, Palmyra

Charlito  Iwuagwa, DL, Northern Lebanon

Trevor St. Clair, DL, Lancaster Catholic

Alex Beamesderfer, LB, Manheim Central

Jason Capello, LB, Lebanon

Darren Chillot, LB, Manheim Township

Brett Donmoyer, LB, Manheim Township

Gavin Hession, LB, Ephrata

Brandon Artman, DB, Manheim Central

Josh Henning, DB, Annville-Cleona

Rhys McCall, DB, Lancaster Catholic

Jason Rice, DB, Palmyra

Zach Sandoe, DB, Ephrata

Brady Souders, DB, Manheim Township

Tyler Brooks, K, Northern Lebanon

*Subject to change

Catholic's Historic Season Ends in PIAA Semis

Crusaders ousted by defending AAA champ Neumann-Goretti.

One of the best seasons in the history of the boys' basketball program at Lancaster Catholic came to a close Tuesday night. The Crusaders fell to reigning AAA state champion Neumann-Goretti 82-75.

Catholic (29-2) shot just 23.7% from the field in the first half, falling behind 41-22 at the break. A furious second half comeback, including a 32-point outburst in the fourth quarter, made it interesting but ultimately the Saints had too much firepower.

Shank: game-high 26 pts.

Neumann-Goretti (26-4) got a game high six three-pointers and 26 total points from junior guard Billy Shank, 14 in the second quarter alone.

Paul Senkowski led the Crusaders with 21 points while fellow senior Phil Wenger added 18.

The Saints will play Montour High Friday night in the PIAA AAA championship game.

Catholic made just the second trip in school history to the final four of the state, after winning the second District 3 title in Crusader history earlier this season.

To view our Under the Lights feature on Catholic's three senior starters, click here.

Athlete of the Week: Dain Bomberger

Senior ends scholastic career with PIAA gold medal.

Dain Bomberger went out the way he dreamed, with a gold medal around his neck.

The Warwick senior won gold in the 50 freestyle (20.35) Friday night at the PIAA AAA Swimming Championships. That marked the first state title in Bomberger's career and the first in school history for a Warwick male swimmer.

The senior briefly held the state record after swimming a 20.18 in the prelims. Hershey's out-of-this-world swimming star, David Nolan, broke Dain's mark by swimming the lead-leg of the 200 freestyle relay in 19.58.

On Saturday Bomberger added to his medal haul with a second place finish in the 100 freestyle (44.57).

He will continue his swimming career at the Naval Academy and his 50 free time would have been the fastest on the team this year.

Fittery Advances to NCAA Quarterfinals

Cocalico grad earns two technical falls on day one.

Fittery (right) on his way to a 23-7 tech fall in 5:58.

American University star and Cocalico graduate Steve Fittery (157 lbs.) won both his matches in dominating fashion on day one of the NCAA Wrestling Championships.

Fittery tech-falled Maryland's Kyle John in the opening round 19-4 before repeating the effort in the second round against Johnny Greisheimer of Edinboro.

Fittery will wrestle Bryce Saddoris of Navy in the quarterfinals tomorrow morning. Fittery defeated Saddoris in the EIWA Championship earlier this season.

Two Teams Head to Bowling Championships

Garden Spot boys, Warwick girls aim for state titles.

Only two teams from the L-L League made the state tournament in bowling this year, the Garden Spot boys and the Warwick girls.

The Spartans won their third straight Section crown, the League Championship and the program's first Regional title this season.

The lady Warriors are the first bowling team in school history to qualify for the state tournament after finishing third in the East Region.

Both teams sport senior stars that qualified for the individual competition as well. Matt Detrick for Garden Spot and the L-L's top girl bowler Briana Ord of Warwick.

Watch interviews with Detrick, Spot head coach Harry Charlesen, senior Cody McKillips, Ord, senior Meghan Dixler and Warwick head coach Bill Bernstein:

Athlete of the Week: Jen Roehm

Senior leads Catholic to the 2nd round of states.

It has not been an easy season for Lancaster Catholic's Jen Roehm.

Roehm averaged a team-high 15 points per game as a junior. But this season she has seen her scoring average drop under 10 points per contest.

And yet she is playing her best ball at the perfect time. Roehm led the Crusaders (25-4) with 21 points in the team's PIAA opening round victory over Lansdale Catholic.

That was after a team-high 17 point performance in the District 3 AAA championship game.

Lancaster Catholic plays Villa Joseph Marie (District 1 runner-up) in the PIAA second round Wednesday at 7:30pm at Governor Mifflin Intermediate School.

Fittery Eyes National Title

Cocalico grad looks towards NCAA Tournament

Steve Fittery (28-0)

Despite being ranked #1 all season long at 157 pounds, American University senior Steve Fittery will enter the NCAA Tournament seeded second. Boise State's Adam Hall earned the top seed after getting bonus points for being the highest returning All-American; the senior claimed bronze a year ago.

(28-0) Fittery is making his second appearance at nationals after battling through an injury last year and finishing fifth in his Division 1 debut.

Fittery and Hall are two of three undefeateds in the 157lb bracket. Penn State freshman David Taylor (34-0) and Big Ten Wrestler of the Year is seeded third.

In a phone interview, Fittery told News 11 he's been working towards this opportunity for 15 years, "I feel I'm pretty close to perfecting my game, I just try to limit mistakes and believe in myself. I know I can beat anybody in the country if I go out there and wrestle my best."

Fittery opens the tournament with Maryland's Kyle John next Thursday. The two faced each other less than a month ago with Fittery won by a 13-4 major decision.

Steve Fittery
Record: 28-0
Bonus Points Wins: 22
Falls: 13
Career Record: 62-4

The 2011 NCAA Championships run March 17-19, 2011 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

PIAA Swimming Announces Qualifiers

Final pysch sheets released today

The top three finishers in District 3 automatically advance to states, click below for the final rankings to include at-large qualifiers.

Double-A Girls
Double-A Boys
Triple-A Girls
Triple-A Boys

The PIAA Championships are March 15-19th at Bucknell University. Find the time schedule here.

L-L League Football Changes

Three teams expected to swap sections in 2012 season.

For several years, Lancaster Catholic has been criticized for their 'easy' schedule and rampant success competing in the lowest section of the L-L League. Soon the Crusaders will have a chance to compete with the big dogs in Section 1 after a requested change that is likely to pass this May.

The Crusaders and Coach Harbach are heading to Section 1

L-L League Executive Director Dick Balderston confirmed that a realignment process started last Thursday that would grant the six-time defending Section 3 champion Crusaders a move to Section 1 in 2012. They will also change classifications to Triple-A

After completing a two year cycle in Section 1, Ephrata would return to Section 2 while Garden Spot would move down to Section 3 to replace Catholic.

With no objections in a straw vote last week, the moves will seek approval at the L-L Board of Control meeting in April, followed by an association meeting in May. During the official process, each step of the change will have to be approved by majority vote of section teams affected (Catholic first swaps with Garden Spot to Section 2, then with Ephrata to Section 1).

For Garden Spot, their agreement to move down is one that comes down to numbers, and the continual decrease in enrollment. See below for comments from Athletic Director Todd Reitnouer and Head Coach Matt Zamperini.

In the past, the switch for Garden Spot (Triple-A) into a section with primarily Double-A schools, it would be difficult to establish a high power rating. However, based on District 3's new system effective this fall, teams will not be penalized as much for playing smaller schools, the system will rather put more weight on quality of opponents (wins/losses).

For a full explanation, click here.