Friday, March 29, 2024
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  • Mounts Claim George Male Trophy!

    Mounts Claim George Male Trophy!

    Jeremiah Knowles led all Mounts with 6 receptions. Read More
  • Expectations at Ephrata

    Expectations at Ephrata

    Taylor Haupt comes up with the dig. Read More
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Upcoming Varsity Events

  • 28 Mar 2024
    Boys Volleyball at Garden Spot 07:00 PM to 09:00 PM
  • 28 Mar 2024
    Boys Lacrosse vs Hempfield 07:00 PM to 09:00 PM
  • 01 Apr 2024
    Boys Tennis at Elizabethtown 04:00 PM to 06:30 PM
  • 02 Apr 2024
    Boys Tennis at Hempfield 04:00 PM to 06:30 PM
  • 02 Apr 2024
    Track & Field at Solanco 04:00 PM to 06:30 PM
  • 02 Apr 2024
    Softball vs Dallastown 04:15 PM to 06:15 PM
  • 28 Mar - 02 Apr
  • 02 Apr - 03 Apr
  • 04 Apr - 05 Apr
  • 08 Apr - 09 Apr
  • 10 Apr - 10 Apr

Ephrata's watershed season came to an end Wednesday in the first round of the PIAA boys' lacrosse playoffs at Exeter High School.

 
The Mountaineers played even with Downingtown West for the first quarter and half before the Whippets finished the game with an 11-2 scoring run to secure a 13-4 win.
 

Judging by the celebratory, purple and gold human teepee Ephrata's boys' lacrosse team built on the turf after the final buzzer Thursday night, it was obvious the victory felt awesome.
 
Even better, perhaps, was the impact it figures to have on so many others, some of whom have never even picked up a lacrosse stick.
 

Ephrata came back for thirds Tuesday, and as a result achieved a first, with another unique achievement now within reach.
 
The Mountaineers beat Hempfield for the third time this season in boys' lacrosse, 13-6 in a District Three semifinal at Lower Dauphin Middle School. And as a result they advanced to the championship game for the first time in school history.
 

The rain cleared, but Ephrata's offense kept pouring it on, ousting West York, 15-3, in the completion of a first-round game in the District Three boys' lacrosse playoffs at Ephrata Middle School Wednesday afternoon.
 
Tucker Keefer led the charge with five goals for the Mounts (19-2), who advance to play Cumberland Valley (15-3) at Penn Manor's Comet Field [directions] at 5 p.m. in today's (May 17th) quarterfinal round. 
 
Klayton Garman scored two goals for the Bulldogs (12-6).

Two imaginary hurdles stood in Ephrata's way.
 
The first was that the Mountaineers had never won a league title. The second was they had never beaten Manheim Township. Ever.
 
To get the first they would have to achieve the second.
 

Ephrata battled while Manheim Township cruised.
 
Both teams, though, are heading to the L-L League boys' lacrosse championship game for the second straight season.
 
The Mountaineers used a fourth-quarter rally to edge Hempfield 9-7 in the first game, while the Blue Streaks were dominant in a 17-1 win over Penn Manor in the nightcap of the L-L semifinals Wednesday at Hempfield.
 

Ephrata and Manheim Township entered Thursday's L-L League boys' lacrosse contest as the only undefeated teams in league play.
 
The Mountaineers were the preseason favorite to win the league title while the Blue Streaks were the defending L-L champs.
 

Slump?
 
What slump?
 
Belying his .111 batting average, Shane Cochran stepped to the plate amid the gloaming Wednesday and stroked a two-out, two-run single in the top of the 10th inning, leading Ephrata to a 6-5 win at Cedar Crest in a matchup of first-place teams and the L-L League's most recent champions.
 

This one had more movement than one of those giant swings on the boardwalk.
 
And swing was the operative word Monday, as the Ephrata girls' track team took command of the Section Two title race by getting by host Conestoga Valley, 84.5-65.5, under the lights on senior night.
 

The calm expression belies the fiery personality boiling just below the surface.

Ephrata's Mary Witmer, a true Jill-of-all-trades in a track uniform, may appear quite tranquil when she steps onto the track (or runway), but as soon as she gets in motion, she's all business.
 


Being the favorite on paper means nothing.
 
Converting that hype to the field means everything.
 
Ephrata did just that with a dominating 13-4 win over Hempfield Friday afternoon. The Mountaineers, the preseason favorite to win the L-L League, improved to 3-0 in the league and 4-0 overall while the Black Knights fell to 2-1, 3-1.
 

Somewhere Mike Ream is smiling.
 
The former Ephrata coach, who passed away at the beginning of the 2010 season, is no doubt pleased with his former team. Ream was at the forefront of starting lacrosse at Ephrata and his pioneering is paying off.
 
And his presence is still felt.
 

The Ephrata Mounts Wrestling team enjoyed a successful weekend at the recently concluded League Championships held at Conestoga Valley. Overall as a team the Mounts finished in 5th place.

Individually the Mounts had two wrestlers in the finals, but unfortunately neither came out on top and had to settle for a well deserved 2nd place finish.


Like an overused pool in need of chemical balance, the L-L Swimming League girls' Section Two title race is a little cloudy.
 
Lampeter-Strasburg, needing first and third places in the meet-closing 400-yard freestyle relay, got exactly those results to upend previously undefeated Ephrata, 86-84 in L-L action Thursday.
 

Lampeter-Strasburg had good results in Ephrata's Holiday Tournament, despite committing a couple of the same old mistakes.

Erasing the sting of 26 turnovers with a tenacious, second-half defensive effort, L-S (5-2) battled past Ephrata for a 35-27 victory in the opening round of the Ephrata Holiday Tournament Tuesday night.
 


Diante Cherry caught a touchdown pass and rushed for another to help lead McCaskey past Ephrata, 22-15 [box score], at War Memorial Field Friday.

The win helped the Red Tornado finish the season on a positive note, winning three of their final four games after a 0-6 start.
 


The direction of a game can change in the blink of the eye. Just ask the Hempfield Black Knights.
 
A week after watching several leads disappear in a 56-52 loss to Cedar Crest, the Knights (3-2, 3-5) scored a pair of touchdowns just 22 seconds apart on their way to a 35-21 win [box score] over Ephrata on Friday night at War Memorial Field.
 

After their deep run into the PIAA playoffs last fall, Lancaster Mennonite's boys' soccer team could wait for the postseason to roll around again.

That moment finally came Tuesday.
 


Ephrata junior golfers Megan Esterbrook and Lacey Bensing both earned their second-straight trip to the PIAA Eastern Regional Tournament following respective top 10 finishes at the District Three Girls tournament held this past week at Briarwood West Course in York.
 
For the second-straight season, Esterbrook placed sixth overall at Districts and won a medal after putting together rounds of 86-86 to finish at 172. She finished behind only champion Allison Cooper of Central Dauphin (74-79-153), runners-up Haley Goodling of Manheim Central (86-81-167) and Red Land’s Ali Habermehl (84-83-167), Hershey’s Laura Rhoads (82-87-169) and Mary Beth Palic of Manheim Twp. (83-88-171).
 

A pair of Ephrata High School tennis players made some noise at the recently completed L-L Individual Tournament.
 
Senior Emily Epler, who was recently named a Section One All-Star, earned eighth place overall in Flight One against the best competition in the tournament. And in Flight Three, Brittany Smith completed an outstanding junior season with a second-place finish in the finals.
 

Given their history this season, Ephrata easily could have panicked.
 
Their one-goal lead against Manheim Central, in a game with playoff implications, had just evaporated and there wasn’t much room for error.
 
"Usually we panic when it gets tied up," Ephrata junior forward Moriah Pfautz said, " and that’s why we gathered at the top of the circle. It really calms us down."
 

Warwick has absorbed its share of punishment all season long. On Friday, the Warriors inflicted it.

The injury-plagued squad rushed 50 times for 213 yards and three scores to beat Ephrata, 30-14 [box score], at War Memorial Field and retain the George Male Trophy.
 


The Ephrata girls tennis team closed out its second-straight eight-win season in style Friday afternoon at Lebanon.
 
The Lady Mounts, who went 8-6 a year ago, finished strong with a 7-0 shutout victory over the host Cedars.
 
Emily Epler, Macy Smith, Taylor Ream and Abby Smith all posted straight-set victories in singles play. Cassandra Enck and Brittany Smith earned an 8-0 shutout in the number one doubles match while Ream and Macy Smith did the same at two with an 8-0 victory. Kylie Johnston and Laura Kramer added the final win in the third doubles match.
 

The Ephrata girls tennis team closed out its second-straight eight-win season in style Friday afternoon at Lebanon.
 
The Lady Mounts, who went 8-6 a year ago, finished strong with a 7-0 shutout victory over the host Cedars.
 
Emily Epler, Macy Smith, Taylor Ream and Abby Smith all posted straight-set victories in singles play. Cassandra Enck and Brittany Smith earned an 8-0 shutout in the number one doubles match while Ream and Macy Smith did the same at two with an 8-0 victory. Kylie Johnston and Laura Kramer added the final win in the third doubles match.
 

Under normal circumstances, Kyle Smith wouldn’t think of taking a shot from outside the 18.

 
"I’m actually told not to shoot from there," he said.
 
But Monday afternoon at Mountaineer Field, in the waning moments of regulation with Ephrata down a goal to Section Two leader CV, Smith did indeed load up and fire from about 25 yards out.
 

Solanco’s John Ausel already had three losses coming into Monday’s five-team meet at Ephrata. But the Mounts’ Tyler Sensenig wasn’t taking any chances when he met up with the favorite to win the league title.
 
Sensenig, who was fifth in the L-L League race a year ago, went out hard from the start Tuesday and closed with a big kick to knock off Ausel, who was third a year ago.
 

Penn Manor head football coach Todd Mealy admitted his team took a few days to get over last week's heartbreaking overtime loss to Hempfield, but he was confident the Comets were ready by Wednesday.

They were definitely ready by game time Friday as Penn Manor (1-1 Section One, 3-2 overall) rolled to a 42-7 [box score] victory over Ephrata (0-2, 0-5).
 


Cocalico didn’t go away easily but the Ephrata girls volleyball team was able to get past the Lady Eagles, 3-1, Tuesday night in a match held at Ephrata Middle School.

After splitting the first two games by identical scores of 25-19, Ephrata earned a big 25-11 win in Game Three and then put it away with a hard-fought 26-24 decision in the Fourth.
 


Ephrata High School will once again be well-represented at next week’s District Three Girls Golf Championships after three EHS girls qualified at the L-L League Tournament Tuesday at Honeybrook Golf Club.

Junior Megan Esterbrook led the way for Ephrata, finishing in a tie with CV’s Samara Yurchak for third place overall with a round of 84. Lacey Bensing, who placed second a year ago behind teammate Lauren Smith, finished with an 86 to place fifth. and Paige Hammaker will be making her second trip to Districts following a round of 111.
 


With the game on the line in the final minutes, Manheim Township coach Mike Melnyk knew he wanted the ball in the hands of senior running back Scott Sallade.

His faith was rewarded as Sallade pounded out runs of seven and eight yards for a critical first down, and followed that up with a 34-yard sprint to the end zone for the decisive score in a hard-fought 35-28 [box score] victory for Township (1-0, Section One, 3-1 overall) over Ephrata (0-1, 0-4).
 


For the second time this year, Ephrata held a halftime lead. And for the second time this year, the Mountaineers fumbled away a victory, falling 17-7 [box score] to Conestoga Valley in Witmer Friday night.

Each team managed to play one disciplined half of football. Ephrata played well in the first half, in jumping out to a 7-0 lead, and the Buckskins a quality second half, putting up 17 points to rally for the win on a night when former star Jordan Steffy was inducted into the school's sports Hall of Fame.
 


In the estimation of Cocalico football coach Dave Gingrich, Monday represented a step forward.

More to follow, he hopes.

The Eagles took advantage of six Ephrata fumbles to register a 28-15 [boxscore] non-league victory over the Mounts in a resumption of the schools' backyard rivalry in Denver.
 


Visiting Exeter took advantage of a few big second-half plays to earn a 20-12 [boxscore] come-from-behind victory at War Memorial Field.

Leading 7-6 in the third, Exeter's Thomas Herb picked up a blocked punt and returned it 30 yards for the touchdown to give the Eagles an eight-point advantage, 14-6.


In a League quarterfinal match, the host Barons overcame a first-game defeat and dispatched Ephrata 3-1.

Manheim Central rolled headfirst into Ephrata's best skill—that is, blocking. With David Witmer (6-foot-6), Jordan Shultz (6-4), Chris Prosser (6-2) and Matt Gass (6-1) at the net, the Barons had trouble finding a clear path to the floor.
 


When the Ephrata Mountaineers take the floor tonight in the first round of the Lancaster-Lebanon Boys' Volleyball League playoffs, the seniors may harken back just two seasons ago, when the playoffs may not have seemed possible.

Two seasons ago, when the current seniors were sophomores, many of the players saw action in both the varsity and junior varsity matches due to a thin roster.
 


Another game, another steady, precise dissection of an opponent.

Just another day at the office for Lampeter-Strasburg's baseball team.

The Pioneers improved to 20-0 by beating Ephrata 6-0 in the quarterfinals of the Lancaster-Lebanon League baseball playoffs Saturday at Ephrata's rainy War Memorial Field.
 


It had been two years since Manheim Township's boys' lacrosse team won a league championship.

And to end their two-year drought, the Blue Streaks made it rain.

Township poured in 11 unanswered goals to storm by Ephrata, 17-2, in the L-L League championship Friday night at Warwick.
 


Two things happened Wednesday night in the L-L League boys' lacrosse semifinals.

Manheim Township continued its dominance over L-L foes this season and Ephrata rocked the status quo of the league.
 


Manheim Township coach Kyle Wimer has many "good" problems in his first season at the helm for the Blue Streaks.

Township's offensive depth is at the point where there's a different leading scorer in every game and the defense is so stingy that the Blue Streaks can choose between two different goalies.

It's a problem that most coaches would love.

Thursday night was much of the same as Township shut out Ephrata, 15-0, in an L-L League contest between two of the top three teams in the league.
 


This past Monday, Manheim Township rode some late-inning lightning to a win over L-L Section One rival Hempfield.

Friday night at Ephrata's wind-swept War Memorial Field, the Blue Streaks did it again.

J.D. Dornes, whose two-run home run in the seventh inning stunned the Black Knights, broke a 2-2 tie with the Mountaineers by grounding an RBI single to right. It was the first of seven hits in the seventh inning, and led to a seven-run outburst and eventual 9-4 [box score] Sections One-Two crossover win.
 


Ephrata opened defense of its L-L baseball title Monday in much the same fashion it won the league last May.

Relying on situational hitting, stingy defense and solid pitching, the Mountaineers beat Solanco, 7-3 [box score], in Section Two action amid balmy surroundings at War Memorial Field.
 


Chicks dig the long ball.

Or so we were told in those late '90s Nike commercials featuring Braves' aces Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine.

And as much as reigning Lancaster-Lebanon League champion Ephrata would like add to more glamour, glitter and gloss to their game by going yard, by scraping the sky over War Memorial Field with rain-inducing drives, muscling the ball is just not the Mountaineers' style.
 


It was the best of times, even without the best times.

The Ephrata girls' swim team took command of Section Two by overpowering Lampeter-Strasburg 105.5-69.5 in a battle of previously unbeaten squads Thursday afternoon at the Ephrata Rec Center.
 


After the fact, the bewilderment, frustration and disappointment were all evident on Mike Garman's face Monday night.

"I wish there was a magical answer, but there's not," Ephrata's girls' basketball coach said. "The girls just have to learn to win games. I guess you just keep trying to get better."


For any McCaskey or Ephrata football fans who didn't get to a game this fall until Friday night, the two teams did you a favor.

In one game, they basically summed up their respective seasons.

Showing constant resilience to overcome a slew of penalties, McCaskey got the game-sealing touchdown on Aaron Swinton's 90-yard kickoff return with 4:47 left to play and outlasted Ephrata, 35-21 [boxscore], in their L-L Section One finale Friday night in Lancaster.


ImagePool play times are now available at www.dodgeballfordiabetes.com! There are mandatory meeting times for all circuits on the schedule. Senior circuit captains do note that you already had your captain's meeting. All matches will be played at the Ephrata Senior High School.

Click here to download the schedule

Once again all teams playing in the pools on Friday night and Saturday, will be seeded and advance to the single elimination tournament.

Cedar Crest football coach Tom Waranavage and his staff have had a lot of sleepless nights this season. A record of 0-8 will do that to you.

Needless to say, he and his staff will finally be well rested when they wake up this morning.

Friday night at War Memorial Field in Ephrata, the visiting Falcons finally got off the schneid. Trailing 21-7 late in the third, they outscored the Mounts 21-2 the rest of the way to earn their first victory of the season in a 28-23 win [boxscore].


In many ways, it's a stereotypical Lancaster County town.

There's a cloister that dates back to 1732, when it served as a worship center for German settlers.

There's a certain farmers market that's been running strong since 1932.


The Hempfield offense runs the ball to set up the run.

And the Black Knights' dive-option running game was in full gear Friday night on Homecoming in Landisville, keeping the Ephrata defense off balance all night in a 44-13 [boxscore] L-L League romp over the Mountaineers.


The Mounts started Tuesday night's L-L League Quarterfinal match strong, which put Ephrata in the driver's seat early. The quick start propelled the Mounts (12-4-3) to a 2-0 win over Garden Spot.

The Mountaineers brought the pressure from the opening tap and had six corner kick opportunities in the first 10 minutes.


The Wilson Bulldog express train continued its stampede through Section One of the Lancaster-Lebanon League Friday night with a 63-0 [boxscore] trouncing of host Ephrata.

Wilson (4-0 Section One, 7-0 overall) dominated every facet of the game in racing out to a 49-0 halftime advantage, including 35 second-quarter points.


Dave Hartlaub could understand the emotion.

After all, he'd just watched his guys build a 11-3 shot advantage and a 6-1 edge in corners over the last 90 minutes, only to get nothing out of it.


Total domination.

That is the only way to describe the performance of the Penn Manor defense Friday night in its 21-0 [boxscore] shutout of Ephrata.


There are an unfortunate few who refer to themselves as "great range players."

Warming up on the practice tee prior to a round, they can seemingly do no wrong.

Their ball striking is perfect, their timing impeccable and their accuracy is spot on.


ImageThe posters should soon be on the walls! It's the Seventh Annual Ephrata Dodgeball Tournament benefitting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Fourteen of your classmates are affected by Type 1 Diabetes, and now is your chance to help them out. For more information check out the blog at www.dodgeballfordiabetes.com, you'll find everything you need there!

For weeks now, Mike Melnyk's Manheim Township football team has been trying to find its identity.

The Blue Streaks took a few steps forward in that endeavor Friday night.

And one huge step backward, perhaps, in the eyes of many Ephrata fans.

More on that in a minute.

Getting 133 yards on 27 carries from junior tailback Scott Sallade and 191 passing yards (including three touchdowns) from sophomore quarterback Brennan Scott, Township opened the L-L League Section One season with a 47-32 [boxscore] victory over Ephrata Friday night at War Memorial Field.


As he stood on the sidelines Friday night watching his offense squander away one golden opportunity after another in the second half, Ephrata coach Jim Vieland said he couldn't help but get that feeling.

It's been said that you only get so many chances, and Vieland knew his guys were running out of them.


Andrew Burkholder measures in at just 5-feet-6 and 145 pounds.

But Ephrata's diminutive junior backup running back was a giant against arch-rival Cocalico Friday night at War Memorial Field.

Burkholder, who earlier tossed a 67-yard halfback option pass for a touchdown, burst through the line with 18 seconds left and blocked a potential 37-yard, game-winning field-goal attempt by Cocalico's Kyle Felpel to preserve a stunning 21-20 [boxscore] victory over the heavily-favored Eagles.


Baseball games aren't often decided in the first inning.

Warwick had other ideas Monday.

In the Class AAAA nightcap of a District Three first-round playoff doubleheader at Manheim Township, Adam Zipko staked himself to a 3-0 first-inning lead with a two-run home run off fellow ace Madison Zimmerman and No. 8 Warwick eliminated No. 9 Ephrata, 10-0, in six innings.


Saturday's District Three boys' lacrosse quarterfinal was like a chess match between old rivals who knew exactly what to expect from each other.

Hempfield and Ephrata were playing for the third time this season, so no move came as a shock, no attack was a surprise.


He was carrying the championship trophy from the floor of Clipper Magazine Stadium Thursday night when a visitor approached.

At that moment, Ephrata left fielder Tim Murray handed the hardware to a teammate.

A symbolic moment, to be sure.


For the second game in a row, Spring Grove lost in overtime. This time, the Rockets will not get to play another game this season.

After losing in overtime to Eastern York in the semifinals of the YAIAA tournament, the Rockets watched their season come to an end when Ephrata's Leah Amstutz pocketed the game-winning goal with 6:24 left in the second overtime. It gave the Mounts a 3-2 win in the play-in round of the District 3 Class AAA girls' soccer tournament Monday night at Papermakers' Stadium.


This was sort of a run-manufacturing seminar, with the Section Two champion Mounts (15-6) just a bit more effective.

Neither team solved the pitchers, Jayson Frymyer and Dusten Rutt for Ephrata and Pequea's Tyler Schmitt. They combined for seven hits, just two by the Mounts off Schmitt.


Evan Weaver wasn't certain if winning a second straight L-L Section Two baseball title -- as Ephrata did Wednesday -- was made more special by the fact that the Mountaineers had to fight for it.

"It made it more dramatic," the sophomore outfielder said. "But we would have liked a little less stress."


Hempfield, the defending L-L League champions, escaped with a 6-4 win over Ephrata in the L-L League semifinals Wednesday at Comet Field.

"This is why you work so hard in the offseason and during the season. To get the opportunity to play in a championship game," said Hempfield coach Doug Bailey.

Bailey's squad had its hands full against Ephrata, the Section Two champions.

Kevin Pletz and Rich Lefever both saw the game as a test.

Pletz's Ephrata boys' lacrosse team would have its confidence tested Tuesday, while Lefever's Manheim Township squad would have its character challenged.


Brandon Rutt's two-out bases loaded single in the bottom of the 6th inning plated the tying and go ahead runs as the Ephrata Mounts rallied for a 3-2 win Monday night at War Memorial Field.

Rutt's single between the outstretched glove of first baseman Adam Yunginger and second baseman Greg DePanfilis allowed Brooks Carr to score all the way from second base.


Matt Kujawski jokingly said that it's easy to tell him apart from twin brother Andrew, because he sees himself as the better looking one, the faster one and, probably, the smarter one.

Andrew Kujawski counters that, as the older of the brothers -- by 14 whole minutes -- he's more learned, probably more athletic, taller and is the one responsible for getting the two on the Ephrata track team.

Whatever the case may be, the Mountaineers seniors, in just their second season of competition, are having a huge impact on the L-L League.

During Monday's 80-70 Section Two victory over visiting Cocalico, Matt Kujawski won the 100 (10.9), 200 (22.1) and long jump (19-4 3/4) for Ephrata (2-1-1 L-L, 2-3-1 overall).


Mike Ream's infectious passion, love and respect for lacrosse helped shape the sport into what it is today in Lancaster County.

So the sudden death of the Ephrata High School coach is leaving many in the lacrosse community thankful for his contributions to the sport.

Ream, the Mountaineers' head coach for eight seasons, passed away Monday night due to a massive heart attack.


ImagePool play times are now available at www.dodgeballfordiabetes.com! There are mandatory meeting times for all circuits on the schedule. Senior circuit captains do note that you already had your captain's meeting. All matches will be played at the Ephrata Senior High School.

Click here to download the schedule

Once again all teams playing in the pools on Friday night and Saturday, will be seeded and advance to the single elimination tournament.

Getting a second victory in the final game of the regular season may not seem like much, but for the Ephrata High School football team, the win means plenty.

No, the Mounts won't be playing in the district playoffs next week. But next season, who knows?

Ephrata's players and coaches walked off Conestoga Valley's football field Friday night with a feeling that will last the seniors a lifetime and will carry the underclassmen to next season with a shot of confidence.

The Mounts got four touchdowns and 185 yards on 34 carries from George Murray en route to a 34-24 [boxscore] win over the Buckskins, who despite the loss are headed to the District Three Class AAA playoffs for the first time since 2006, when they played in Class AAAA.


Jared Danneker claimed he had nothing left. After battling Ephrata for four quarters, Elizabethtown's running back said he was flat-out of gas.

He can do a lot on fumes.

The senior scored touchdowns on a pair of grinding runs to the goal line in overtime periods, and blocked an extra point that sealed a thrilling home win for the Bears.

E-town (3-3 L-L, 4-5 overall) outlasted the Mounts, 35-34 [boxscore], in three overtimes, after Danneker broke through Ephrata's offensive line and blocked Chris Fassnacht's kick that would have tied it.


The Ephrata Mounts boys soccer team played host to the Garden Spot Spartans Monday night in a District 3 AAA play-in game.

After battling to a 0-0 tie in the first half, Ephrata's Nate Latshaw scored off of a cross by Alec Weaver eleven minutes into the second half to give the Mounts (11-5-3) the only goal they'd end up needing to eliminate the Spartans (7-6-6).

Within 7 minutes however, Latshaw looped a shot of the Spartan keeper to put the Mounts up 2-0 with 22:04 left in the contest.

Despite outshooting the Mounts 9-7, and holding a 12-4 corner advantage, the Spartans could not slip one past Mount's goalie Brooks Carr. 

Carr recorded another clean sheet, registering 9 saves on the night.

The Mounts now advance to play the number 3 seed, Central Dauphin (15-4-0) Thursday night at Central Dauphin Middle School [directions], that contest is slated for 7:00.

Lancaster Mennonite topped Ephrata, 25-18, 25-14, 25-18 in the opening round of the league playoffs. The Blazers didn't really run away with any game but kept Ephrata at arm's length throughout.

"We just haven't been able to close out a match,'' said Mounts coach Brian Lesher. We've hung around with a lot of teams but we just can't seem to close them out.''


Both Ephrata and Solanco were coming off victories last week when they squared off Friday night at War Memorial Field in Ephrata and both teams had something extra to shoot for.

The Mounts wanted their second win in a row after dropping their first six games of the season, while the Mules are still in contention for a playoff spot.

In the end, Solanco came away with a hard fought win in what is becoming the norm, on a rain soaked field, 20-10 [boxscore].


It was roughly 38 degrees, with a steady, misty rain blowing sideways.

In short, not exactly the conditions in which you want to have a huge jug of ice-cold water poured over your head.

Jim Vieland didn't mind all that much.


Ephrata won the District Three girls' team title Tuesday at Briarwood with a score of 441, which was 22 shots better than runner-up Mechanicsburg.

Completing an L-L League sweep, Conestoga Valley's boys golf team added to its resumé Tuesday at Briarwood Golf Club in York, where the Buckskins posted a score of 407 to win the District Three team title.

Lauren Smith, who finished tied for second at the L-L Girls' Championships two weeks ago, shot a team-best 86 Tuesday to lead Ephrata.

The Mountaineers also counted scores from Lacy Bensing (95), Megan Esterbrook (99) and Paige Hamaker (161).

The District Three Individual Golf Championships will be played Friday and Saturday on Briarwood's East (boys) and West (girls) Courses.

The boys' first round begins Friday at 10 a.m. with a shotgun start. The girls' competition will start at 11 a.m. Friday. Smith, Bensing and Esterbrook will all be competing individually, representing Ephrata.

The threat of a major upset Friday night in Manheim lasted all of seven minutes.

It took Manheim Central blue-chipper Dakota Royer about six seconds to squash Ephrata's upset bid. That's how quickly the Penn State-bound linebacker gathered a Mountaineer fumble off a teammate's helmet and raced 60 yards to paydirt.


As they sat on the visiting team's bench when it was finally over Wednesday night, the mutual respect that Conestoga Valley boys' soccer coach Dave Hartlaub and Ephrata coach Rob Deininger have for one another -- and one another's programs -- was obvious.

And completely understandable, considering all the epic battles their respective teams have been through in what is one of the Lancaster-Lebanon League's deepest soccer rivalries.

Wednesday night's clash was just another case in point.


Cocalico running back Austin Hartman used his speed and agility to make up for early miscues and helped prevent the Ephrata Mounts from completing their second-half comeback in Denver Friday night.

Hartman, a junior running back, rushed for 234 yards as the Eagles (1-1, 4-1) withstood an Ephrata charge, winning 28-10 [boxscore] against their cross-town rival.


The Ephrata Mounts boys soccer team visited Neffsville on Thursday night, as the Manheim Township Blue Streaks played host to the Mounts.

Unfortunately for the Mounts, the Blue Streaks took this contest 4-0.

Forgive Dave Ammon for looking ahead to the postseason.


Ephrata coach Jim Vieland needed only a single word Friday night to sum up his team's L-L League-opening loss to Lebanon.

"Mistakes," Vieland said as he walked off War Memorial Field after a 16-0 [boxscore] defeat.


As the saying goes: three running backs are better than one -- er, something like that.

Warwick's rushing attack made its statement loud and clear Friday night in Lititz when a trio of carriers combined for 269 yards in a 18-7 [boxscore] non-league win over Ephrata.


A chill rain? Wet field conditions? A directive by Lancaster Catholic head coach Bruce Harbach to control the line of scrimmage?

Crusaders lineman Ross Hall felt like he hit the trifecta Friday night at Ephrata's War Memorial Field.

"Love it, love it," Hall said after playing an instrumental role in Catholic's 35-7 [boxscore] non-league win over the Mountaineers.


As backyard brawls go, this one lived up to its billing.

Cocalico sophomore Liza Morgan scored the game-winning goal 4:51 into overtime as the Eagles slipped past host Ephrata 4-3 in a Section Two field hockey opener played in an almost steady rain Wednesday.


Little-known fact: The Wildcat offense really isn't the Wildcat offense.

The trendy attack, which finds a running back lining up in the shotgun, taking a direct snap and doing, well, whatever, originated at the University of Arkansas. Which is why Manheim Township coach Mike Melnyk gives a nod to its roots by calling it the Razorback offense.


Penn Manor defeated Ephrata, and will now face Donegal in the championship game at Clipper Magazine Stadium Thursday at 7 p.m. The Comets defeated Ephrata 5-2 in Tuesday's semifinal action.

Penn Manor's victory didn't require the same late-inning magic. The Section One runner-up built a 4-0 lead through the first two innings and held on against Ephrata.


Adrian Shelley isn't a fan of the phrase "small ball."

Ephrata's baseball coach prefers to think of his team's style as pressure-oriented, the kind of ball that forces opponents to make critical errors at crucial times.


Those preseason question marks concerning Warwick's pitching staff?

They're now exclamation points.

Fronted by ace Adam Zipko, the reigning District Three Class AAAA champions have showed no sign of letup despite graduating a host of talent.


Side-by-side for three events, Kyle Fisher and Jordan Yarbrough took to the track.

On the line was not only a potential team victory in the Ephrata-Cocalico Section Two backyard rivalry series, but also early-season bragging rights for the fastest guy in the L-L Track and Field League.


The Ephrata track & Field teams both came home from Solanco on Monday with season opening victories. While the Lady Mounts dominated the girls from Quarryville, 106-44, the Mount boys had to scrap until the end, winning 80-69.

Finding themselves in a 41-23 hole, the boys went on a 39-3 run over a span of five events and garnered enough points in the other remaining events to claim victory.


A pair of Ephrata bowlers capped outstanding high school seasons this past weekend at the State High School Bowling Championships held at ABC North Lanes in Harrisburg.

Junior Justin Eberhart, who was LL League runner-up and the fourth-place finisher at Districts, closed out the season with a solid fourth-place finish at States. Leid, a sophomore, went on to place 10th in the girls competition.


Ephrata freshman swimmer Kylee Parsons competed at the PIAA State Swimming Championships this past week at Bucknell University.

Parsons, the gold medal winner at the LL League meet in the 200 free, competed in that event as well as the 100 free.

In the 200 free preliminaries, she turned in a time of 1:56.25 but did not make the finals, finishing 25th overall. In the 100 free prelims, her time of 53.36 was good enough for 17th place but again left her out of the finals race.

Jaime Malandra of Parkland won the gold medal in the woo free with a time of 1:49.42, while Hershey's Kathleen Nolan captured the 100 free championship with a time of 50.00.

Ephrata's freshman sensation Kylee Parsons will make her first trek to the State meet following a double medal individual performance this past weekend at the District Three Swimming Championships held at Cumberland Valley High School.


Ephrata will have a pair of representatives at the PA State Bowling Championships March 13-14 at the ABC Lances in Harrisburg.

Sophomore Christina Leid and junior Justin Eberhart both qualified for States with impressive performances at the Eastern PA Regional Championships held this past weekend at Jordan Lanes in Allentown.


At the start of the 2008-09 indoor track & field season, EHS senior Katie Ream had but one goal on her mind. That was to take it back to Penn State University for a second chance at competing at the indoor state track & field championships. The qualification came early as she cleared the required height of 5 feet 2 inches in a meet at F&M College back in December.


Sometimes, you can discover your talents when you least expect it.

That was the case for Ephrata junior Jes Crills, who realized she was a good shot two years ago while on a retreat with her youth group.


Ephrata's Justin Eberhart this close to an L-L League bowling title.

And while he replays in his mind the excruciating experience of Monday's 10th frame in the step-ladder finals vs. Cedar Crest's Kyle Hoffman, the Ephrata junior can take solace that he did finish second in the league and punched his ticket to Districts in the process.


The drive and desire to never settle is what separates good teams from the middle of the pack. And it's what sent Lancaster Mennonite back to the drawing board after a lackluster opening quarter in a win over Cedar Crest Tuesday.

But instead of changing game strategy, the Blazers just altered their pregame warm up for Thursday's L-L semifinal against Ephrata.


Talk about making a good first impression.

Ephrata freshman Kylee Parsons did just that in her first Lancaster-Lebanon League Meet held this past Friday at the Lititz Rec Center.


Ephrata's performance Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the Lancaster-Lebanon League girls' playoffs was not a thing of beauty, but the most important part of the game was the Mounts headed home from Elizabethtown with a victory.

The Mounts (14-9) never trailed in a 33-29 win against Northern Lebanon, but repeatedly saw large leads slip away against a scrappy Vikings team.


Make some room on the gymnasium wall, Ephrata.

You have a new purple-and-gold banner coming.

The Mountaineers held off Conestoga Valley 40-38 at the wire Wednesday night to clinch the L-L League Section 2 championship.

 

The Ephrata Mounts Ice Hockey team clinched the Tier III title for the regular season on Friday night with a 4-4 tie against Susquehanna Township.

Both teams entered the contest with three games left with the Mounts six points ahead, although two earlier victories assured the Mounts of the title in case the two teams finished with the same record.


The Lancaster-Lebanon League girls’ basketball Section 2 predictions hit the World Wide Web on Thursday, December 4, the day before the first game this season.

1. Garden Spot, 
2. Lebanon, 
3. Conestoga Valley, 
4. Ephrata

“As soon as we saw that, we knew we were the underdogs,” Ephrata’s Mel Andrew said. “We wanted to prove everyone wrong.”


It was not the prettiest basketball game ever contested – unless you like plenty of stops and starts, stalling, turnovers and fouls.

If you like those things, then you would have loved Lampeter-Strasburg’s herky-jerky 49-30 win over Ephrata in the championship game of the Ephrata Holiday Tournament on Tuesday night at Ephrata Middle School.


Katelyn Vanderhoff continued her torrid start, and Lancaster Mennonite forced 31 turnovers Monday night in the Blazers’ 56-39 non-league triumph at Ephrata.

It was Ephrata’s first home game in the newly refurbished middle school gym – and let me tell you, it’s pretty nice in there. Very bright and spacious. Cool place. The rims are a tad on the tight side, but everything else is A-OK.


ImagePool play times are now available at www.dodgeballfordiabetes.com! There are mandatory meeting times for all circuits on the schedule. Senior circuit captains do note that you already had your captain's meeting. All matches will be played at the Ephrata Senior High School.

Click here to download the schedule

Once again all teams playing in the pools on Friday night and Saturday, will be seeded and advance to the single elimination tournament.

Pride.

It is one of the seven deadly sins, but when you're a winless football team, playing the last game of the season, sometimes pride is all you have left.

Sometimes, in the case of CV, there's a little more on the line.

Playing the last game of Gerard Novak's coaching career -- for now -- the Buckskins put together just enough offense and just enough defense to hold off Ephrata, 26-21 [boxscore], Friday night at Ephrata's War Memorial Field.


All five Lancaster County Class AAA teams needing victories to advance to today's District Three pool play round got them in preliminary round matches Monday night.

Manheim Central, Ephrata, Hempfield, Warwick and Conestoga Valley will join Garden Spot and Penn Manor, which received preliminary round byes, in tonight's pool play at four different gyms.

Ephrata got 17 kills from Laurie Zeager to pace the Mounts in their 3-1 (25-20, 25-19, 26-28, 25-21) win over Governor Mifflin. Brittany Nice had three aces and Steph Goshert three blocks for the Mounts, who will take on Penn Manor, Cumberland Valley and Central York in pool play at 4:30 p.m. at Gettysburg [directions].

A butterfly bandage covered the gash on Conrad Heisey's chin. The injury was picked up at the end of his 30-yard, fourth-quarter kickoff return.

It was symbolic, in a way, as Heisey gashed the Ephrata defense in a 28-21 [boxscore] win Friday night at Ephrata's War Memorial Stadium.


Ephrata's plan heading into its match with Manheim Central was a good one. Keep the ball away from Barons' hard-hitting junior Rachelle Wiegand. That worked to some extent, although Wiegand finished with a match-high 13 kills. Problem was, the Barons have other weapons, namely Sam Pabon (three kills, three blocks), Sam Ginder (three kills) and Destinee Horning.

"I know that if Rachelle doesn't get the ball, someone else can get the job done just as well,'' said Barons coach Craig Dietrich.

The key to the match was the second game. The Barons held a 24-21 lead but a Manheim hitting error and a Brittany Nice (eight kills) swing drew the Mounts to within one at 24-23. An Ephrata serving error, however, gave the game to Manheim.

"We close that out and it's a different match,'' said Ephrata coach Brian Lesher. "When we didn't, the match almost ended then and there.''

The 25-12 win in the third game proved his point.

Ephrata's serve threw the Barons out of whack at times. Central was unable to get a solid game out of its middle hitters.

"That made us one-dimensional,'' Dietrich said.

But that was enough to claim the win.

Note on Districts: Tonight's semifinal losers will play a match after the semis for District Three Class AAA seeding purposes. A round-robin tournament involving Ephrata, Warwick and Conestoga Valley, also for AAA seeding purposes, will start at 6 tonight at Hempfield.

At Birdsboro, Chris Roell scored the last of his three goals with 8:17 left in the second overtime, and the 16th-seeded Blazers (14-5) earned their first district win in 17 years with a 3-AAA preliminary decision over 17th-seeded Mountaineers (10-8) edging the Mounts 4-3.

Boone goes to top-seeded Red Land for a round-of-16 match Thursday at 4 p.m. at Crossroads Middle School.

There were 37 combined shots on net in Monday's shootout, and Ephrata scored first on Noah Passage's goal nine minutes into the match.

Dillon Leone (goal, assist) tied it for Boone midway through the first, and Roell seemed to put the Blazers in command with a pair of second-half goals.

But Tyler Phillips scored twice in a two-minute span, tying it at 3-3 with his second goal with 10 minutes left in regulation.

Needing a win to spark a late-season playoff run, Solanco (4-4, 2-3) used an efficient ground game and big pass plays to outscore Ephrata (0-8, 0-4) 48-28 [boxscore] on homecoming night in Quarryville.

B.J. Enck scored the last of his three touchdowns late in the fourth quarter on a 25-yard touchdown run to provide the final margin and finally put the feisty Mountaineers away.


Following Friday night's game with Ephrata, Garden Spot head coach Matt Zamperini spoke to his team about the focus and desire necessary to be great.

Luckily for Zamperini and the Spartans, on a night when the offense struggled to find its rhythm, the defense showed that desire and focus in sparking a 30-0 victory [boxscore].


It wasn't exactly the pre-game inspirational talk the Ephrata field hockey players were expecting.

"Coach (Rhoda Mountz) stopped the bus just after we got here and wanted to talk to us,'' said senior forward Stevie Morris. "That was unusual, because she doesn't normally talk to us on the bus.''

The talk, though, had to happen. "She just said that we had to win, or we might not make (league) playoffs,'' Morris continued. "If we lost, Garden Spot would get in and we wouldn't.''


In the end, it came down to a couple of bullets.

The gigantic bullet Garden Spot dodged in the first 12 minutes of the game.

And the one Tyler Brubaker uncorked in the 14th.

Brubaker's goal off a point-blank blast in the box with 26:18 left in the first half turned out to be the difference for Spot, which fought its way to a key 1-0 Section Two victory over Ephrata Monday night at War Memorial Field.


It was a rough and tumble first five weeks for Manheim Central.

The Barons got a bit of a reprieve Friday at winless Ephrata, coasting to a 61-14 win behind Jeremy Knosp's 226 yards through the air on 13-for-15 passing, and Dan Trafford's four touchdowns.

Central, which met the likes of Lancaster-Lebanon League Section One power Wilson, Section Two contender Cocalico and Section Three power Lancaster Catholic in the first five weeks, improved to 4-2 and remained unbeaten at 3-0 in Section Two. Ephrata fell to 0-6, 0-3.


When the season is on the line, a coach asks her players to lay everything on the line.

Gabby Hopkins took that quite literally, diving for the ball in the circle, beating the goalie to the ball, and putting the ball into the cage to give Ephrata a dramatic 2-1 overtime win over Lampeter-Strasburg Thursday.

"I didn't know what was happening at first,'' said Hopkins, a junior forward. "I just fell in (the cage) with (the ball).''

It was the first varsity goal for Hopkins and it helped host Ephrata (7-4 L-L, 9-6 overall) stay in the hunt for the Section Two title while also clinching a league playoff berth.


A bad wrist couldn't keep Ephrata sophomore Lauren Smith out of the L-L League tournament held Tuesday at the Lancaster Host.

Despite barely touching a club over the last three weeks, the 2007 runner-up gutted it out Tuesday and came away with her second medal in as many years. Smith turned in a round of 87 to finish fourth overall, behind champion and two-timw winner Alli Weaver of Warwick (82), as well as Samantha Peiffer (L-S) and Amber Rohrer (Solanco), who tied for second with rounds of 85.

"Considering she hasn't played, I though she was terrific," Ephrata Coach Ed Gambler said Tuesday night. "She toughed it out. She's really a true competitor and it showed today."


ImageThe posters should soon be on the walls! It's the Fifth Annual Ephrata Dodgeball Tournament benefitting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Sixteen of your classmates are affected by Type 1 Diabetes, and now is your chance to help them out. For more information check out the blog at www.dodgeballfordiabetes.com, you'll find everything you need there!

When is a 4-1 soccer match not a 4-1 soccer match?

Well, for starters, when the final score is actually 4-2. But that's picking nits.

Manheim Township defeated Ephrata, 4-2, in an L-L League crossover contest between the leaders of Sections 1 and 2 Thursday night.

It could've easily been a 5-5, or 6-6 match.


Kate Miller's second goal of the game proved to be the winner as Solanco upended first-place Ephrata 3-2 in a Section Two field hockey game Wednesday in Quarryville.

The Golden Mares' win over Mountaineers, combined with Cocalico's 1-0 shutout of Garden Spot and Lampeter-Strasburg's 3-0 triumph over Lebanon means there is now a three-way tie for first in the standings.

Emily Beamesderfer said she wants to study marketing or elementary education when she enrolls in college next year.

Monday afternoon, Ephrata's senior forward employed both disciplines on her game-winning goal that lifted the Mountaineers over visiting Cocalico, 2-1 in overtime in a battle between Section Two field hockey leaders.

The long-running Warwick-Ephrata rivalry was put on a hold for a day by Friday's rain but the delay did nothing to change the recent history of the series as Warwick continued to dominate their backyard rivals with a 28-12 win at Ephrata's War Memorial Field Saturday.

The Warriors' claimed the George Male trophy, awarded annually to the winner, for the third straight year after dropping three straight from 2003-05 to the Mountaineers.


On the heels of a season-opening loss to Trinity, which coach Bruce Harbach called "embarrassing," the last thing the Crusaders wanted to do was come out flat against upset-minded Ephrata.

They did.

It resulted in two quick turnovers, a costly penalty and an early 7-0 hole.

But thanks to a steady dose of Kyle Smith and Tyler Purvis, Lancaster Catholic righted its ship and cruised to a 44-7 non-league win over the Mounts Friday night at Rossmere Stadium.


The Ephrata field hockey team answered a big question for new coach Rhoda Mountz Tuesday afternoon in the season opener at home vs. Manheim Township.

The Lady Mounts hadn't played since scrimmaging Elco August 19th and Mountz was wondering wheter that long layoff from competition would result in a struggle as the team opened season play on Tuesday.

Well, now worries here. The Lady Mounts came out hitting on all cylinders against the Blue Streaks. Ephrata staked out to a 3-0 lead in the first half, and, except for a five minute stretch midway through the second half, dominated play en route to a convincing 3-1 victory.


If Tuesday night's Section Two soccer game between Conestoga Valley and Ephrata was any indication of what this season is going to be like, local fans are in for quite a wild ride.

Fans in attendance were treated to an early classic on the Ephrata War Memorial Field pitch Tuesday as CV and Ephrata were in mid-season form as both opened the regular and Section Two seasons.


The Ephrata girls cross country team kicked off the season in a successful way Tuesday afternoon, running to four wins in a five-team meet held at Brubaker Park in New Holland.

Ephrata defeated Annville-Cleona (16-42), Elco (25-30), Northern Lebanon (15-47) and the host Spartans (21-36) to remain perfect after one day of competition.

Individually, Dana Haas led the way for the Lady Mounts, finishing in a time of 22:28 to place third overall. Caitlin Davies (23:11) was next in fifth place for Ephrata, while the rest of the top five included: Ashley Smith (6th, 23:14); Steph Lyons (7th, 23:16); and Kate Anderson (12th, 24:10).

On the boys' side, Ephrata also was successful, going 3-1 on the opening day. Ephrata claimed victories over Northern Lebanon (26-29), Elco (23-33) and Annville-Cleona (24-33) while losing only to Garden Spot (24-37).

Individually, Tyler Sensenig took top honors for the Mounts, finishing third overall in a time of 19:13. Brandon McNeil (19:25) was fifth while Mickey Molchany (14th, 20:21), Austin Wealand (21st, 20:53) and Brandon Reading (23rd, 21:07) rounded out the top five for Ephrata.


The Ephrata girls volleyball team earned a three-game sweep of host Solanco Tuesday on the opening night of L-L League play.

The Lady Mounts scored wins of 25-18, 25-23 and 25-18 to capture their first win of the season and first section victory.

Leading the way for Ephrata was Brittany Nice, who collected 11 kills. Stephanie Goshert chipped in with five blocks while Linda Wilson added a pair of aces in the win.

Manheim Township made sure its 2008 squad picked up just where last year's 11-2 team left off.

Head coach Mike Melnyk apparently wasn't kidding during the summer when he said his team has the potential to score every time it has the ball. His Blue Streaks nearly did just that Friday night during a dominating first half in a 53-0 season-opening victory over Ephrata.


The Lady Mounts Soccer team traveled to Cumberland Valley Thursday evening to take on the top seeded Cumberland Valley Eagles in the opening round of the District 3-AAA Tournament. The Mounts, fresh off their play-in 5-0 win over York Champion Spring Grove, gave the Eagles all they could handle. 


The Spring Grove girls' soccer team experienced the highs and lows of athletic competition in quick succession.

Four nights ago the Rockets finally captured a YAIAA championship with their stirring victory over Central York.

Monday night at Manheim Central High School, their season came to an end with a thud.

The Rockets were eliminated in the first round of the District 3 Class AAA playoffs, 5-0, at the hands of a quicker, sharper Ephrata squad.

No. 17 Spring Grove's season ends with a 17-4-2 mark.

For their efforts, the 16th-seeded Mounts (13-5-1) draw top-seeded Cumberland Valley in the next round.

Led by three time medalists Jordan Yarbrough and Brynn Lyons the boys and girls track teams both finished 8th in the league track meet held this past weekend at Hempfield's Stadium.

On the boys side Yarbrough had three third place finishes in the 100 (11.20), 200 (22.54) and the Long Jump (20-3.25).

Blake Crowhter's time of 50.12 was good enough for 5th place in the 400, while Greg Forstater went 19-3.75 in the long jump to secure a 7th place showing.

Unseeded, Eric Rowits earned an 8th place finish in the 800 with a time of 2:01.59.

While the Mounts' 1600 Relay team finished in 6th place with a time of 3:29.87.

On the girls side Lyons finished with a gold and a pair of silvers. Winning the 400 with her best time of the year (58.63), finishing 2nd in the Long Jump (16-9.5) and the Javelin (118-4).

Katie Ream took home 5th place in the High Jump (5-0), and also 7th place in the 300 Hurdles (48.71).

Emily Albright finished 5th in the 100 Hurdles with a time of 16.67, while Alison Hunt finished 8th in the 400 (62.45).

Lastly, two Ephrata Relay teams finished well, with the 1600 Relay finishing 4th (4:11.25) and the 3200 Relay finishing 7th (10:19.84).

After trying every which way to manufacture runs playing small-ball, Ephrata finally just unleashed a bombardment of base hits.

Playing Vesuvius to Lancaster Catholic's Pompeii, Ephrata erupted for 12 sixth-inning runs, sending 17 batters to the plate, pummeling Catholic 17-5 in the middle game of a Lancaster-Lebanon League playoff quarterfinal triple header Saturday afternoon at Ephrata's War Memorial Field.

With the victory, Ephrata advances to Tuesday night's league semifinals, both semifinal games will be played at Ephrata's War Memorial Field.


We've got ourselves a pair of games happening in Elizabethtown [directions] tonight. Take the afternoon off and make a day of it.

The Mounts Baseball team and girls Soccer team both roll into E-town with a chance to leave town, back in 1st place in Section Two.

First up baseball; game time is set for 4:15.

vs.
6-5 Section Two, 7-6 Overall  7-4 Section Two, 10-4 Overall

2-4 versus Section One
losers of 4 straight.

Stingiest runs allowed in Section Two (39), but 19 of those have come in the last three games

 

4-2 versus Section One
gave MT their only loss

They've scored 79 runs in Section Two, but have allowed 69

 

Next up soccer, game time is set for 7:00.

 

vs.
9-2 Section Two, 10-3-1 Overall  9-1-1 Section Two, 11-1-1 Overall

6-0 since losing 2-1 to E-town, winners of 6 straight.

They've scored 38 goals, while allowing 8.

 

5-1 since beating Ephrata 2-1, winners of 5 straight.

They've scored 31 goals, while allowing 6.

 

Come out and support the Mounts as they fight to get back into first place!

Don't want to travel? Well you can always stay back in Ephrata and watch the Lady Mounts take on E-town in softball, as they turn back the clock to remember the 1988 team which won the state championship 20 years ago.


It took a while this season for the Ephrata girls soccer team to adjust to life without last year's play-maker Arielle Gordon.


With Gordon now a freshman starter at Lock Haven University, the Lady Mounts struggled to score goals out of the gates, and thus lost three of their first four contests including a 1-0 season-opening loss to Cocalico.

But things have begun to change for the better recently as Ephrata has settled into a balanced attack. And Tuesday afternoon, with Cocalico on their pitch for a rematch, the Lady Mounts continued that trend.


Manheim Township's vaunted baseball program has re-invented itself to a degree, and the Blue Streaks haven't missed a beat in the process.

The reigning L-L League Section One champs still dig the long ball, as Ty Stoltz proved when he powered a sixth-inning home run into the left-center field bleachers Wednesday at sun-washed War Memorial Field in Ephrata.

They still produce bulldog-tough pitchers, as right-hander Keith Bires demonstrated by going the distance in a 4-1 win over the Section Two-leading Mountaineers.

The Ephrata Mounts Track team had an impressive showing at the Hempfield Invitational this past weekend. The boys squad finished in 4th place overall, and the girls finished in 3rd place overall.

The Mounts were responsible for breaking 5 of the 17 meet records that were broken.

On the boys side Jordan Yarbrough set two meet records. Yarbrough finished first in the long jump (21-10.5), and also finished 2nd in the 100 meter dash (11.0). His long jump and time trial run in the 100 (10.5) were both record breakers.

Blake Crowther also had a good day, finishing 2nd in the 400 (50.2) and third in the 200 (23.2). Greg Forstater helped Ephrata go 1-2 in the long jump with his 2nd place leap of 20-1.25. Forstater was also 4th in the High Jump, clearing 6-0.

The boys 4x800 team also finished in 6th place with a time of 8:38.2.

On the girls side, Brynn Lyons was impressive setting two meet records as well, Lyons finished first in the 400 (59.6) and also first in the javelin (118-4), both were meet records. Katie Ream finished 2nd in the 300 intermediate hurdles (49.9) and tied for first with Garden Spot's Breana Caldwell in the high jump, where they both went 5-4, which was a new meet record.

The Mounts 4x400 team also finished 1st (4:18.0) and the 4x800 team finished third (10:29.1).

Emily Albright enjoyed two 4th place finishes, one in the 110 High Hurdles (16.0) and one in the Triple Jump (32-11.5). Callie Sweigart also had two 4th place finishes in the shot put (32-2) and the discus (103-2).

Also placing for the Lady Mounts was Alyssa Bunting (5th in the 400, 64.9), and Steph Lyons (6th in the 3200, 12:36.3).

If anyone knows who ran in the relays, please post it in the comments!

Congratulations Mounts! 


Brynn Lyons, like the rest of the Ephrata High School students, got her academic report card on Tuesday.

She said she's maintaining her B-plus average, which is important as she endeavors to study environmental science at Penn State in the fall.

What Lyons neglected to admit was that her athletic report card was even better. She's not just earning all A's, she's earning all raves.

"She's focused and ready to roll,'' said Ephrata head track coach John Keller. "She could be one of the top female athletes in our league meet.''

ImageFor someone who is comparatively young for a head coach, 34-year-old Jim Vieland has an old-school outlook when it comes to his profession.

"Academics are stressed first and then we go from there," said Vieland, a former Hempfield varsity assistant and head junior varsity coach who was named Ephrata's head football coach at Monday night's school board meeting.

ImageThis past Saturday at Ephrata, Oberly placed second in the league with a score of 198-1c. She was best only by Manheim Central's Allisa Martin, who claimed the L-L title with a score of 198-4c. Oberly was the lone Ephrata shooter to place in the top 10. As a team, the Mounts placed fourth among six teams with a combined team score of 971-2c. Manheim Township captured the team title with a score of 987-3c.

ImageJosh Peifer's competitiveness on the field played a large role in Ephrata's boys' soccer team capturing three straight Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Two titles from 2005-2007.

Now, the competitiveness he sees in a certain coach is taking the Mountaineers' senior goalie to suburban Pittsburgh next fall.

Wednesday, Peifer -- a three-year starter who broke Ephrata's all-time career shutout record (35) last fall -- will sign a National Letter of Intent to continue his soccer and academic careers at NCAA Division I Robert Morris University.

Peifer, who also garnered interest from Rutgers, Maryland and Pitt, officially decided on RMU after meeting Colonials coach Bill Denniston during a Dec. 12 visit to the school.

"The way he talked, he was competitive," said Peifer, whose 0.48 goals-against average in his senior season helped the Mounts to a 14-5-4 record. "And that's what you want in a coach."

There were other reasons for Peifer's decision.

First is that he'll have a chance to compete for a starting spot as a freshman this fall. But even if he fails to take that spot from current RMU goalie Matt Felice, Peifer said he's been guaranteed the backup role by Denniston.

Then, there's the financial package he was offered, which will pay for just over 25 percent of his tuition his freshman year, before being bumped to a 75-percent scholarship (25 percent athletic, 50 percent academic) his sophomore season. He can increase those funds his junior and senior years depending on his performance.

All of the aforementioned scholarship money, however, is contingent on Peifer increasing his SAT by 30 points when he next takes them in March and boosting his current 3.48 grade-point average to 3.5 by the end of the school year.

ImageIn a season that began with such high expectations for a veteran Ephrata wrestling team, the annual Lancaster-Lebanon League Championship Tournament proved to be the current high watermark.

With the injury bug biting hard this season, the Mounts have had their share of challenges throughout the dual-meet season, compiling an overall 5-10 mark and 0-4 section record. However, the L-L tourney provided a real opportunity to wipe the slate clean and find out what kind of talent still resided within the Mountaineer line-up. 

ImageEphrata (5-7, 2-3) hosted Lampeter-Strasburg (11-1, 4-1) in the championship of the Ephrata Holiday Tournament on Friday night. And the Lady Mounts gave the Pioneers a fight down to the last minute. In the end the Pioneers took the lead back the Mounts in the waning minutes and sealed the 51-49 game at the foul line. Story follows the break.

ImageThey are two of the hottest teams in the Lancaster-Lebanon League.

But tonight, when Ephrata hosts Lampeter-Strasburg in the Ephrata Holiday Tournament title game, only one of them will walk away with the gold trophy.


ImageThe Girls swim team made it back-to-back victories dropping Manheim Central 115-55 in their home pool at the Ephrata Rec Center. The lady Mounts won all but two events on the day.

Nicole Martin (500 free, 200 medley relay), Laura Hoffer (100 back, 200 M.R.) and Ashylnn Eidemiller (50 free, 200 M.R.) all won two events.

Lia Denlinger was also on the winning 200 medley relay team. Kayla Fritz won the 200 free, while Allison Royer was first in the 200 individual medley. Courtney Reading and Caitlin Davies won the 100 fly and the 100 free respectively.

Heather Ashton finished up the victories by finishing 1st in the 100 breast.

On the boys side, the Mounts were also victorious winning 88-73. Evan Callihan (100 free, 200 free relay, 100 breast), Tyler Eshelman (500 free, 200 F.R., 400 F.R.) and Nathan Brown (50 free, 200 F.R., 400 F.R.) all won three events.

Matej Vaculik (200 F.R., 400 F.R.) and Paul Ashton (200 I.M., 400 F.R.) both earned double wins for the Mounts as they eased by the Barons.


ImageThe Mounts jumped out to a 33-12 lead before holding of a late rally by the Golden Mules.

Jamar Horst (145), Blake Crowther (171), David Belousov (189), Jordan Becker (215), Dylan Binkley (285), and Austin Wealand (103) all picked up wins for Ephrata to gain the early lead before Solanco answered with wins from Brandon Oswald (112), Jordan Hastings (125), Alex Fisher (130) and Kyle Beane (140) to keep it close.


ImageThe first minute and 38 seconds told the story for the Ephrata Mounts boys basketball team, as they would spend the rest of the night playing "catch-up" with Austin Alecxih and the Penn Manor Comets. But the Mounts (1-2, 0-1) were never closer than they were at the end, losing 54-50 Tuesday evening in Millersville. Click "Read More" for the rest of the story.

ImageThe Ephrata Mounts wrestling team competed in the Solanco Tournament this past weekend. Blake Crowther (171) rolled into Saturday's matches on the strength of a pin and a win on Friday night. But unfortunately for the senior Mount, Saturday would be equally unkind, as Crowther lost the semi-final match, and was pinned in the consolation match, settling for fourth place.

Jared Becker (135) was knocked out in the quarterfinals, but wrestled back to take 5th place. Jordan Becker (189), also eliminated from the winner's bracket in the quarterfinals wrested back to take 6th place.

Joey Kline, after losing on Friday at 130, wreslted back to finish in 8th place.

Overall the Mounts nudged ahead of host Solanco, finishing in 14th place 82.5 to 75.5. Warwick, the only L-L school to finish higher earned 5th place with 142.5 points.


ImageThe Ephrata boys basketball team opened their season on Tuesday, hosting Columbia. Columbia playing their third game of the season, was ready to execute their game plan. And it's a simple one really.

ImageIn the consolation game of the Daniel Boone tip-off tournament, Ephrata took on Palisades, a Double-A school from District 1 in Bucks County.

Ephrata led 11-0 after the first quarter.

Ephrata led 22-0 at the half.

“First time as a coach that one of my teams shut the other team out in the first half,” Ephrata coach Mike Garman said.

Palisades didn’t score until there was 6:59 to go in the third quarter, making it 25-2. Ephrata went on to win 49-12.

Soph guard Mel Andrew paced the Mounts with 8 points, leading a very balanced attack. Needless to say, Garman used his whole bench.

Ephrata, which fell to Schuylkill Valley 47-27 in the opener on Friday night, improved to 1-1.


ImageBlake Crowther as a junior was either on the honor roll, or the All Star team in all three sports he participated in, and he's already adding to that collection in his senior campaign.

Crowther, already voted by his peers to be the newest Mr. Mount, an award given annually to the team's Most Outstanding Player, was recently honored at the league banquet as well.

With the all-star teams being chosen by league coaches, Crowther showed that his impressive numbers and grit extended far outside of Ephrata.

In addition to making the 1st team All Star team at Quarterback and Defensive Back, was named Defensive Back of the Year, Offensive Back of the Year, and Outstanding Back of the Year.

For the second straight season James Zimmerman garnered a 1st team selection, Zimmerman was selected as a defensive inside lineman.

Earning second team honors were Woody Miller (RB), and James Zimmerman (G).

Honorable mention went to Joel Yoder (RB) and (KR), Curt Kolp (WR), Woody Miller (ILB), and Jordan Becker (DE).

ImageOn November 4, five Ephrata boys soccer players were honored at the Willow Valley Resort being named as league all stars. the senior boys on this team have own four Section Two championships in a row and have lost only one Section Two game during their time at Ephrata.

First Team Section Two honors went to seniors Tom Renko and Kyle Nelms, and junior Tyler Phillips. Second Team Section Two honrs went to senior Ian Bippus.
Academic All Star honors went to senior Brennan Harding.

Renko was named Section Two MVP and this was the third time he was selected for the All-Star team.

ImagePool play times are now available at www.dodgeballfordiabetes.com! There are mandatory meeting times for all circuits on the schedule. All matches will be played at the Ephrata Senior High School.

Click here to download the schedule

Once again all teams playing in the pools on Friday night and Saturday, will be seeded and advance to the single elimination tournament.

ImageKen Grove and Blake Crowther finished their storied careers at Ephrata High School in style Friday night, winning their final game over Garden Spot, 28-7 (boxscore), at War Memorial Field.

Grove, who has served as head coach for the Mounts (2-5 league, 2-8 overall) for 18 years, retired from this role to focus on his administrative duties at the school.

ImageSoccer is not about style points. It's simple: score one goal more than your opponent and advance. Manheim Township did just that, defeating Ephrata 1-0 Saturday at Hempfield.

The Blue Streaks advance to play Central Dauphin Wednesday. The Mounts saw their season come to an end.

ImageIn Section 2 action Saturday afternoon, the Solanco Mules (5-1, 6-3) beat the host Ephrata Mountaineers, 28-14.

The game was a battle in the trenches, as both teams took advantage of soggy field conditions to run the ball effectively.

Solanco piled up 212 yards on 41 carries, and the Mounts (1-5, 1-8) racked up 143 yards on 32 carries. When they did go to the air, both the Mules and Mounts had similar success, each squad completing 10 of 14 passes for 117 yards and 107 yards respectively.

ImageThe eighth-seeded Ephrata Mountaineers outlasted the visiting Exeter Eagles in a defensive battle and advanced to face top-seeded Manheim Township (20-2-1).

Ephrata's Tyler Phillips took a feed from Mike Hull and put a booming shot on net in the 24th minute that was initially stopped by Exeter goalkeeper Ross Ramaley (7 saves), but Phillips tapped in the rebound to give the Mounts (14-4-4) the gamewinner.

Exeter (13-6-1), the ninth seed, managed only four shots against the Mounts defense. Exeter is now 0-11 in the first round of District play.

The Mounts will have to defeat Manheim Township in order to have a chance to make the State Tournament. The Mounts lost earlier in the year (Sep. 20th) to the Streaks 1-0. 


ImageThe good news is that the Ephrata Mounts field hockey team was in action in the opening round of District III playoff action on Tuesday evening for the 2nd straight year. Unfortunately, the bad news is, No. 6 Ephrata (14-3-1) dropped a 2-1 decision to No. 11 New Oxford (14-4-1) at Turkey Hill Field at Comet Field.

Despite having a 23-8 advantage on shots and a 24-2 lead in corners, the Mountaineers failed to lead in the only category that mattered -- the scoreboard.

"When I look at the books, I can't believe it," Ephrata coach Candy Rosenberry admitted. "All it takes is one goal and that's what happened."

New Oxford goalie Megan Goodman proved too much for Ephrata with 15 saves while Amber Swope and Jen Pabon's scores were the difference in the Colonials' 2-1 victory. Ephrata's Sam Wilt finished with 4 saves.

On New Oxford's first goal of the game, with nine minutes left in the first half, Tiffany Papon shot the ball from outside of the circle with Swope appearing to have gotten a stick on it before it went into the cage.

"I didn't see a tip," said Rosenberry. "But it's not my call, I'm not officiating today. I don't know that (the official) saw it, that's why she called a timeout to converse on the other side. You've got to call what you think you see."

Jen Pabon scored 3 minutes into the second half to give the Colonials a 2-0 lead. 

Ephrata cut the Colonial lead in half with 3:30 left in the game when Kelly Martin's shot found the back of the cage.

New Oxford will now face #14 Hershey (14-6-1) who upset #3 Central Dauphin (20-3) by the score of 2-1. 


ImageJeff Polites deflected the notion as quickly as it was presented.

With his undefeated Elizabethtown football team facing arguably its biggest game in years next week against Manheim Central, are the Bears starting to feel a little pressure?

ImageAfter the fact, Manheim Central coach Matt Schwartz had little choice but to credit the Ephrata defense.

Unfortunately for Ephrata compliments don't punch your ticket to the next round.

ImageJoe Kline led all Mounts at the Lancaster-Lebanon League Cross Country Championships held yesterday at the Ephrata Middle School. Kline finished the course in 16:42.8. Due to a scoring system malfunction, team results were not listed as of this morning. Cedar Crest did win the championship.

On the girls side, the Mounts slipped to 8th overall, the Lady Mounts were led by Ashley Smith who finished with a time of 20:34.7.


ImageRiding a stingy defense that yielded only six Lancaster Catholic shots, Section Two co-champion Ephrata opened Tuesday's doubleheader with a 2-0 quarterfinal win over the Section Four runner-up Crusaders.

Ephrata (13-3-4) and Central (17-1) will meet in a 5:30 p.m. semifinal Thursday at Hempfield (directions), before Manheim Township (17-2-1) and Elizabethtown (11-5-1) square off at 7:30.

ImageLauren Smith finished respectively in 15th place in the District 3 Golf Tournament held this past weekend. With only the top 9 reaching the regional tournament, Smith saw her productive freshman season come to an end.

Smith shot a 94 on Friday, good enough to advance to Saturday play where she shot a 91, her total of 185 was 32 strokes off the pace set by winner Liz Breed of Waynesboro, who shot a 153 (77-76).

On Friday Ryan Contres shot an 86 missing the cut by seven strokes.

Congratulations on both Mounts for reaching Districts!

ImageThe Black Knights beat Ephrata 1-0 in overtime Saturday at Penn Manor.

Hempfield had been having some trouble staying focused, and head coach Lori O'Donnell is never quite sure which team she's going to get.

"We've been a tale of two teams, and the trick is just finding what it takes to get that winning team on the field for 60 minutes,'' O'Donnell said.

Hempfield had the right team on the turf against Ephrata (14-3-1) Saturday in Millersville, as Tina Malles scored her first goal of the year off an assist from Corey Brautigam 4:37 into overtime for the 1-0 decision.

"We lost the momentum at the beginning of the second half and just couldn't get it back,'' said Ephrata coach Candy Rosenberry.

ImageEphrata, the section front-runner coming into Saturday, was upset by Cocalico (5-9-2) 2-0 Saturday afternoon, momentarily dropping the Mounts (9-3-4 L-L) into a possible three-way tie for first place with Conestoga Valley and Elizabethtown.

CV (9-6-1) was eliminated from the title hunt after a 2-1 loss to Garden Spot (4-11-1) Saturday night, then saw its playoff hopes evaporate as Elizabethtown (10-5-1) downed Solanco (2-13-1), 3-0.

Despite E-town having one more win, both E-town and Ephrata finished with 31 points (three points for a win, one for a tie) and will share the section title. CV finished third with 28 points.

The league playoffs open Tuesday night, Oct. 16, with quarterfinal doubleheaders at Penn Manor and Hempfield at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.

By virtue of league tiebreakers, Ephrata will be the top seed from Section Two and will face Lancaster Catholic, the Section Four runner-up at 5:30 at Penn Manor. Manheim Central (14-1-0) and Section Two runner-up Hempfield meet at 7:30.

Lancaster Mennonite (10-1-2) takes on Section Two runner-up E-town at 5:30 at Hempfield. Manheim Township (13-2-1) and L-S (11-3-1) play at 7:30.

The semifinals will be Thursday, Oct. 18, at Hempfield, at 5:30 and 7:30 with the finals set for Saturday, Oct. 20, at Manheim Central, time to be determined.

ImageThe Mounts hosted Manheim Central on Friday night. The game, played at Cocalico due to the light standard situation at Ephrata, was a near "must-win game" for the Mounts as they try to get back into the Section II race.

ImageThe Ephrata Mounts boys soccer team inched closer to another section title as they turned back Conestoga Valley by the score of 2-1 last night.

Ephrata jumped out to a 2-0 lead at the half as Tyler Phillips and Tom Renko scored within minutes of each other.

The Buckskin's Josh Cody added a goal with 6 minutes left in the game to cut the lead to one, but that would be as close as the Buckskins could get.

The season standings now show Ephrata (9-2-4) in the section lead with 31 points, finishing the regular season with Cocalico (4-9-2) anything but a loss to the Eagles will guarantee the Mounts the Section Crown. The Mounts can still win the title outright with a loss if both CV and Elizabethtown lose. CV and E-town are tied for second place with 28 points. CV finishes with Garden Spot, while E-town plays Solanco.


ImageThe girls volleyball team hosted Solanco Thursday night, looking to avenge an earlier season loss to the Mules. Chelsea Duty made sure it happened recording 7 aces as the Mounts turned back the Mules in three straight games 25-18, 25-20, and 25-23.

Lindsay Church recorded 6 kills, while Steph Goshert had 3 blocks to lead the Mounts.

You can see some great pictures of the Lady Mounts in action, by visiting the Ephrata Mounts Sports Pool at Flickr.com, thanks to Jeremy Bischoff for providing those pictures. 


ImageETMCT...We ATC!

That was the text message, or something close to that, that Ephrata field hockey Coach Candy Rosenberry relayed to her team last Wednesday night as the girls waited anxiously for the news while attending a Mountaineer soccer game.

ImageThe Ephrata girls cross country team continued its impressive showing, going 3-1 at Penn Manor Tuesday afternoon. With the victories, the Lady Mounts finished the regular season 17-4 earning them a share of third place.

The Mounts finished behind Manheim Township (21-0) and Warwick (20-1), while finishing even with Cedar Crest, Lampeter-Strasburg and Lancaster Mennonite.

The Lady Mounts defeated Penn Manor (23-32), CV (21-34) and Lancaster Mennonite (25-30) while losing only to Warwick (15-43).

Individually, Aslhey Smith (21:28) and Kate Anderson 921:33) both were top 10 finishers for Ephrata, finishing ninth and 10th respectively. Other top finishers for Ephrata included: Sam Fink (15th, 22:17); Brynn Lyons (15th, 22:19); and Caitlin Davies (17th, 22:23).

On the boys' side, Ephrata split on the day going 2-2. The Mounts defeated Penn Manor (16-51) and CV (20-43) but lost head-to-head versus Warwick (20-40) and Lancaster Mennonite (20-36). The split left the Mounts in 7th place in the league with an overall 15-6 record.

Individually, Joe Kline (16:58) was second behind winner Vince McNally (16:45) of CV. Givi Palagashvili was next for Ephrata in the 14th position (18:03) while Andrew Redcay (17th, 18:16) and Mickey Molchany (20th, 18:41) also were top 20 finishers for the Mounts.


ImageThe Ephrata Mounts girls tennis team concluded their season in the league tournament.

Competing in Flight Three bracket played at Warwick High School, Lia Denlinger lost a straight set match to Warwick's own Calli Weidler 6-0, 6-2.

In Flight Four on Ephrata's courts, Greta Stemplinger fell to Elizabethtown's Kirsten Thompson by a 6-0, 6-4 score.

ImageThe Mounts hosted the Lebanon Cedars on Friday, hoping to build on the tailgating event that preceded the game, as well as the "white-out" that was in effect for the game. And it would appear that there might have been a little magic in the air indeed for the Mounts.

ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Golf team recently competed in the League Tournament. On the boys side, Ryan Contres shot a 78 which was good for 16th place overall, as well as a ticket to the District tournament. Dan Slotcavage (84), and Morgan Bartholomew (96) also competed, but failed to make the District cut.

On the girls side Lauren Smith shot an 81 and finished in 2nd place overall trailing League Champion Allison Weaver of Warwick by five strokes. She will join Contres as a District qualifier.


ImageThe boys and girls cross country team competed in the Carlisle Invitational this past weekend. Both teams ran strong with very respectable finishes.

ImageA gutsy play call by Cocalico head coach Dave Gingrich in the waning minutes of the game proved to be the difference in Friday night's 29-28 win over rival Ephrata.

The Eagles (1-1, 3-2) trailed 28-21 with less than two minutes to go when Kyle Fisher scored from five yards out to pull them within one, 28-27. Gingrich decided to go for two points and the win, but planned on a run until the Mounts (1-1, 1-4) called a timeout before the play.

ImageThe Mounts were on the road to open the 2007 season's section play as they travelled to Conestoga Valley to face the defending Section Two Champions.

ImageThe Ephrata Mounts boys soccer team travelled to Lititz yesterday to take on the Warwick Warriors. Warwick and Ephrata both came into the game in first place in Section One and Two respectively, and both knew that a loss would most likely knock either team out of first place. The Mounts goalie Josh Peifer had only allowed three goals all season, and the Mounts would need another solid effort to turn back Warwick.

ImageThe Ephrata Mounts field hockey team was on the road yesterday in a battle of un-beaten Section Two teams. The Mounts faced the Pioneers of Lampeter-Strasburg with first place on the line. Overall the Mounts came in with a 8-1 record having scored 23 goals while allowing only 8. The Pioneers came in with a 7-1 overall record scoring 15 goals while allowing only 6. Click "Read More" for the rest of the story.

ImageThe Mounts travelled into Warwick Friday night in hopes of snapping a two game losing streak. But the host Warriors, led by Jon Resch, were not as accommodating as the Mounts would have liked.

ImageThe boys soccer team hosted the first place Buckskins of Conestoga Valley Wednesday night. A victory would push the Mounts into sole possession of first place in Section Two.

ImageThe posters should soon be on the walls! It's the Fourth Annual Ephrata Dodgeball Tournament benefitting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Sixteen of your classmates are affected by Type 1 Diabetes, and now is your chance to help them out. For more information check out the blog at www.dodgeballfordiabetes.com, you'll find everything you need there!

ImageThe Mounts soccer, field hockey and cross country teams were in action this weekend. The soccer team hosted Spring Grove, while the field hockey team travelled to the Susquehanna Township Tournament, and the cross country team competed in the Gettysburg Cross Country Invitational. Click "Read More" for details on these events.

ImageThe Ephrata Boys Soccer Team was back in action Thursday night, as they hosted the Golden Mules of Solanco. The Mules came into the game reeling from a 0-4 loss on their opening night, while the Mounts were trying to forget the frustration of walking away with an opening night tie with Elizabethtown. Unfortunately the Mounts turned their frustrations towards the Mules.


ImageThe Mounts finished Tuesday with an impressive 14-1-1 overall record, highlighted by the first girl's volleyball league win in two years. The Lady Mounts turned back Elizabethtown 3-2 led by Brittney Brock's 9 kills and 5 aces.

The girls' field hockey team opened their season with a win as Kilee Rosenberry found the back of the cage late in the 2nd half to lift the Mounts to a 1-0 victory over Donegal. The JV Mounts came away victorious as well winning 4-2.

The girls' tennis team rebounded from back-to-back losses with a 5-2 victory over McCaskey, Kat Strohm, Lia Denlinger, Greta Stemplinger and Tiffany Shelly all won singles matches to secure the win. Denlinger and Shelly then joined forces for a doubles victory as well.

The girls' cross country team opened up with 3 wins over Lampeter-Strasburg (27 to 30), Lancaster Catholic (15 to 46) and Columbia (15 to 55). Dana Haas led the way for the Mounts finishing in 22:07.

The boys' cross country team were equally impressive sweeping their match as well over Lampeter-Strasburg (23 to 34), Lancaster Catholic (16 to 51), and Columbia (15 to 55). J. Kline finished first overall in the meet with a time of 18:11.

The boys' soccer team drew to a 1-1 tie with Elizabethtown. Scoring for Ephrata was Tyler Phillips. Senior keeper Josh Peifer recorded 22 saves in the contest. The JV team also came away with a tie, their score was 2-2.

The golf team went 5-1 with a team net 418 strokes, that total was good enough to beat Cocalico (448), Manheim Central (449), Lebanon (459), Elizabethtown (466), and Garden Spot (474). Lampeter-Strasburg (413) edged the Mounts by five strokes. Eric Beamesderfer led the way for the Mounts with a 79, while Ryan Contres, Dan Slotcavage, and Willie Helender all shot an 83. Matt Woolley also figured in the scoring with a 90. 


ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Football team opened up the 2007 season hosting the Blue Streaks from Manheim Township. The Mounts, led by senior Blake Crowther were hoping to improve on last season's near miss 10-13 loss to the Streaks.


ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Golf team remained one game out of second place with a strong showing in the Section Two match played at the Sunset Golf Course. Matt Woolley fired a season low 79, and Ryan Contres returned to the Mounts lineup with a 78, helping lead the Mounts to an overall team 417 score, equalling Cocalico's score while trailing Lampeter Stasburg by 12 strokes. The Mounts finished ahead of Manheim Central (437), Garden Spot (448), Lebanon (455) and E-town (463).

Other Mounts figuring in the scoring were Dan Slotcavage (83), Willie Helander (88), and Eric Beamesderfer (89).

The Mounts are back in action Tuesday September 4th at the Lebanon Country Club. 

ImageLooking for Dodgeball information? We've moved all the information to it's own site. We hope that you'll like it.

The website is called www.dodgeballfordiabetes.com, you'll most likely find the information that you need on the blog page.

You can get to the blog page by clicking here.


Tommy Long was recently named the new Director of Athletics, Student Activities and Facilities at Ephrata High School. The Lebanon County native is a former star baseball and football player at Lebanon Catholic High School, before moving on to an outstanding collegiate career. He later coached football at both Lebanon and Palmyra High Schools, and baseball at his alma mater.

He recently sat down with Review Sports Editor Todd Ruth, and the two discussed a variety of topics pertaining to Long's new appointment.

The entire transcript of this conversation is available after the jump. 


ImageThe Lady Mounts started the season off with a convincing 7-0 victory over Lebanon on Monday. Featuring a lineup that returned four starters from last year, the Lady Mounts didn't drop a set as they cruised to the victory. Lindsay Miller (6-1, 6-1), Kat Strohm (6-1, 6-0), Lia Denlinger (6-1, 6-1), Greta Stemplinger (6-2, 6-0) and newcomer Tiffany Shelly (6-0, 6-0) all recorded singles victories. Miller and Strohm (8-2) and Denlinger and Stemplinger (8-1) also recorded single set victories in doubles.

The JV team started the season off right also, with a 3-0 victory.

The Lady Mounts are in action again Wednesday when they host Garden Spot. 


ImageWith the 2007-2008 season approaching, I'd like to look back at the accomplishments that we enjoyed last season.

Please click the "read more" button to read about last seasons' accomplishments.


ImageA familiar face will be roaming the sidelines at Ephrata girls basketball games this season.


Mike Garman, who spent six years as Ephrata girls coach before stepping down in 2001, will return as head coach of the program next season, a spokesperson at Ephrata High School confirmed Monday.


ImageRoss Buckwalter always dreamed of playing professional baseball.


As the younger brother of Matt Buckwalter, a talented pitcher in his own right who once played in the prestigious American Legion East-West Game, the younger Buckwalter soaked in everything he could about the game and followed in his big brother's footsteps.


ImageEphrata's Brynn Lyons and Gabby Gehr made their respective State Track Meet debuts this past Friday at Shippensburg University.


ImageIn his three-year career as a starter for the Mounts, Dan Hagey has notched more than 140 points on the soccer pitch-third in school history. This fact caught the attention of several big-time collegiate soccer programs. It was West Virginia University that caught the eye of Hagey.


ImageFreshman Gabby Gehr and junior Brynn Lyons advanced to the state level competition this past weekend in the District III Track and Field contest held at Shippensburg University.

Gehr punched her ticket Friday night with a 17 feet 8.5 inch leap in the long jump, narrowly missing a silver medal, and finishing in third place.

Lyons, not to be outdone, came into her event seeded 9th in the javelin, her throw of 119 feet 11 inches was good for 2nd place and the silver medal.

On the boys side, C.J. Wilson came the closest to qualifying for states. His season best high jump of 6 feet 2 inches, was good for 7th place, narrowly missing a state seed.

Blake Crowther also moved up 7 spots finishing 11th in the 400.

Congratulations to all Mounts competing and Good Luck to Brynn and Gabby at States!

ImageThe Ephrata Mounts girls soccer team had a tough task at hand on Wednesday evening. Among the list of goals, trying to get a quick lead against Conestoga Valley, shut down the Buckskins Teresa Rynier, and most importantly, knock off the Buckskins in the District opener.

ImageIn a quarterfinal match for the Lancaster-Lebanon League Title, the Black Knights got off to a quick start, winning their first game against Ephrata, 25-8. Games of 25-13 and 25-18 followed. Shawn Sangrey had 14 kills and Jason Graham had seven blocks. Ephrata's Jeremiah Yang led the Mounts with eleven kills.

We've had a good week of practice and played well,'' said Hempfield coach Mike Vogel. "The kids are ready to go. It's time to produce.''

Hempfield's Chris Ostrander and Ephrata's Yang each had two service aces for their respective schools. Kyle Church led the Mounts with three blocks. 

Hempfield is the No. 4-ranked team in Triple-A in the state in the latest statewide coaches' poll.


ImageThe District 3 commission has released the track and field seeds for this weekends tournament held at Shippensburg University. The Lady Mounts send 13 girls in 9 events to Districts, while the boys team has 6 members competering in 6 events.

ImageAfter being shutout in the League Playoffs, the Lady Mounts soccer team was hoping to rebound in the District Playoffs. To earn that distinction the Lady Mounts were faced with a play-in game hosted by the Waynesboro Maidens.

ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Boys and Girls Track team went through their final tune-up before next weekends District Meet at Shippensburg University. Both teams faired quite well in the tournament, and we'll start the recap with the Boys team.

ImageEphrata (12-3) knew it had a tough task coming into Tuesday's game against the Hempfield Black Knights (9-4), but if they wanted to be called League Champs, eventually they'd have to turn back everyone in their path.

ImageSometimes the best defense is a good offense.

And when it comes to an attacking, high-powered offense, no Lancaster-Lebanon League girls soccer team has found the back of the net more this spring than Ephrata, which has scored a league-high 48 goals heading into the final few days of the regular season. 


ImageIt was a little over a year ago, when late in the season, Garden Spot beat the Ephrata Girls Track team for their only loss. The 53-97 loss denied the Mounts the section title. With the Garden Spot girls coming in with a record of 4-0-1 versus the Lady Mounts whose record stood at 5-0, it was something Ephrata looked forward to for a year. On the boys side, things looked up a little as Jordan Yarbrough and C.J. Wilson returned to the Mounts lineup, even if their events were still limited by nagging injuries.

ImageIt was a battle for the Section II crown, and with each team starting 5 sophomores, it may end up being the first in an epic series. The Ephrata Mounts girls soccer team played host to the visiting Elizabethtown Bears last night. Both teams came in with equally impressive 10-1 records.

ImageThe Ephrata Mounts boys volleyball team continued their winning ways this past week. The Mounts (5-3) are pushing for a playoff spot in the section, while doing quite well in tournaments on the weekends as well.

ImageAll the members of the Ephrata Mounts starting five enjoyed a win in the first round of the L-L league playoffs, but unfortunately they all suffered a loss in the second round as well. And after the first two rounds of individual match play, and one round of doubles action, only Brad Sweigart and Shane Burridge remain alive in the league playoffs.

ImageThe Ephrata Mounts track team hosted the Pioneers of Lampeter-Strasburg on Monday afternoon. For the girls team it was a battle of undefeated section champ hopefuls. The match should have had the same implications for the boys, but recent injuries have recently further thinned the Mounts squad.

ImageThe Ephrata Girls Softball team rolled into Lititz on Friday night. With the smell of chocolate in the air and thoughts of upset on their mind, the Lady Mounts were hoping to keep this one close and surprise the section 1 leader. 

ImageThe Ephrata Mounts girls soccer team hosted the Solanco Mares on Thursday night. Things were looking the Mounts way for Senior night with the warmest temperature in weeks in the air, and the 1-7 Mares on the schedule. The Mounts hoped to jump out to an early lead in this match.

ImageThe Lady Mounts lacrosse team saw a significant increase in the amount of players participating this season, and the added numbers have brought with it improvements in the field. After recording a non-league victory earlier this year, this year's squad has done what no previous team can claim.

ImageThe Mounts travelled to Manheim Township on Wednesday (4/18) and narrowly pulled off an upset. After being no-hit and shutout by Penn Manor's Cameron Black the previous night, the Mounts were looking to pick up a cross-over victory.

ImageAfter suffering a shocking 2-0 loss to Garden Spot last week, the Lady Mounts were ready to begin the second round of section games versus cross-town rival Cocalico. Hoping to start the second half of the season, as well as they started the first half of the season. The Mounts had previously beaten Cocalico 5-2, but the conditions were certainly different this time around.

ImageHannah Hess signs letter of intention to attend the University of Richmond next year. Hess, currently playing lacrosse for the Lady Mounts this spring, will focus her athletic attention back to field hockey where she her talents have garnered national respect.

ImageA penalty-kick call in the 73rd minute was the key Monday afternoon (4/9) for Ephrata, which took sole possession of first place in Section Two of the Lancaster-Lebanon Girls' Soccer League with a 2-1 victory over host Elizabethtown.

The Mountaineers (5-0 Section Two), who entered the game tied with E-town (4-1) for the section lead, remain one of only three teams — along with Manheim Township (Section One) and Elco (Section Three) — with perfect section records.

After a goal by Ephrata's Leah Sipe with 10:00 remaining in the first half was answered by a score from E-town's Caitlin Markham 9:00 into the second, the Mounts' got the game-deciding break when an E-town defender was called for a hand ball in the box with 7:00 left in regulation.

Ephrata's Aly Goodman took the penalty kick, sending a shot just under the crossbar and over the head of E-town goalie Kyleigh Kauffman (four saves) for the gamewinner.

The Mounts, who held a 7-2 edge in corners, were outshot by E-town 12-9. 


ImageThe Cocalico girls lacrosse team doubled up Ephrata in the first half Tuesday in Denver and rode the lead out for a 17-10 victory over the Lady Mounts.

Cocalico (1-1 section, 1-3 overall), which slightly outshot Ephrata, 26-24 for the game, outscored Ephrata 10-5 in the pivotal first half to key the victory.

Kaitlyn Mitchell and Caribeth Shappell each scored four goals for the Eagles to lead the way. Courtney Reinhold added three scores while Xeni Barakos and Leah Stoner each added two goals for the winners. Allie Koser and Megan Leach rounded out the Eagles' scoring.

On the Ephrata side, Kira Shelley led the way with three goals while Morgan Hosler, Hannah Hess and Jamie Gerhart each added two goals apiece. Tonya Rutt rounded out the Ephrata scoring.

Ephrata fell to 0-1 in league play (1-3 overall).

Winning its pre-season scrimmage against Cedar Crest two weeks ago set the stage for a milestone in the history of Ephrata Girls Lacrosse. Now in its third season as a PIAA/L-L League sport, the program continued to move forward last week as the team recorded its first varsity win against Lower Dauphin 17-6 on Thursday afternoon.

Ephrata had 30 shots while allowing the Falcons only 14. Scoring for the Lady Mounts were Hosler six goals, two assists, Shelley six goals, three assists, Rutt three goals, one assist, Gerhart one goal, one assist and Steph Martin one goal. Hess also added an assist. Ephrata goalies Carly Reddig and Kelsey Radcliffe each had four saves on the day.

On Wednesday, March 28 the team came up short against a veteran Warwick squad losing 11-6 in its season opener. Hosler (3), Rutt (2) and Shelley (1) tallied goals for Ephrata. Hess (2), Rutt and Shelley assisted in the effort.

The Lady Mounts ended the week on a disappointing note at Lampeter Strasburg. Their 17 shots and four goals were no match for the Pioneer offense which recorded 39 shots and 12 goals. Hosler (2), Rutt (1) and Shelley (1) scored goals. Gerhart and Martin added assists.

After playing one season at the University of Albany, Meagan Rinier, a Conestoga Valley grad and former L-L All Star, has taken over the helm at Ephrata. Amber Wiley has returned for her 7th season as assistant coach. Home games are played at the Ephrata Middle School Athletic Field Complex.

ImageJust two games into the 2007 high school baseball season, Ephrata already has shown how good it can be and how bad it can get.

"We've seen Jeckyl and we've seen Hyde," Ephrata Coach Adrian Shelley said Tuesday.

The Mounts opened the season Friday with a 13-2 masterpiece over Lampeter-Strasburg.

Sophomore pitcher Doug Houtz, who was originally pegged to pitch on the JV level this season before injuries and other problems besieged the Mounts' varsity staff, got the opening day start on the mound and delivered in a big way.

Houtz went the distance, scattering five hits while striking out six en route to earning the victory. Offensively, the Mounts unloaded on the Pioneers as Adam Stahl led the way with a 3-for-3 day which included four RBI. Catcher Matt Woolley added a pair of hits and three RBI in the big win.

As good as the Mounts looked Friday, that's about as bad as they were Monday afternoon in a 15-5 loss to visiting E-town. The Mounts, who have prided themselves over the years with outstanding pitching and defense, had neither working Monday as the defense committed a whopping eight errors in the game. In addition, Ephrata pitchers walked eight batters as they failed to hold on to an early 3-0 lead.

Reid Martin had four hits including a pair of doubles to pace the Mounts' eight-hit attack.

"The bottom line is we got pitching and defense on Friday, and on Monday, we didn't," Shelley said. "It wouldn't have mattered who we played (Monday) because we beat ourselves. The thing is, this group will experience a lot of highs and lows. Our pitchers are so inexperienced that there are going to be some hit and miss outings. That's the way it will be. It's patience and perseverance at its best."

One big blow the Mounts already have suffered is losing pitching ace and starting centerfielder Steve Tretter for the season with a torn ACL.

ImageThe Ephrata track & field teams will open their 2007 campaign this Thursday as they travel to Elizabethtown for a Section Two battle with the Bears. There is plenty of optimism at the track for the upcoming season.

The girl's team is coming off a stellar 8-1 performance of a year ago, and look to be just as competitive as the season past. Led by junior Brynn Lyons, who will compete in the long jump, javelin, 400 meters and 800 meters, the Lady Mounts must overcome what Head Coach John Keller calls "a small team."

"The numbers are just not there this season" said Keller. "It will take a total team effort for the girls to enjoy the same success."

While Keller may be a little light on his predictions, there seems to be some talent in the girl's locker room. Joining Lyons is a strong group of distance and middle distance runners. The trio of senior Alicia Harbold, sophomore Dana Haas and Junior Sam Fink will join Lyons and give the Lady Mounts a formidable 4x800m relay team; they also will give Keller options from the 400m right through the 3200m.

Image

The Ephrata Girls' Soccer team started the season off with a convincing 5-2 win over the visiting Cocalico Eagles in a night match at War Memorial Field. The Lady Mounts spread the scoring out, with all five goals coming from five different players and five assists coming from four different players.

Emily Beamesderfer got the scoring started in the 16th minute scoring off a corner from Leah Sipe, wearing the #5 jersey. Arielle Gordon added the Mounts' second goal less than four minutes later, again off a corner from Sipe. Alma Wilson cleaned up the trash in front of the goal off a cross from Claire Woolley for the Mounts' third goal in the 34th minute. Gordon added an assist less than three minutes later, leading Aly Goodman for a breakaway goal. Leah Sipe finished up the Mounts' scoring 11 seconds into the second half off a bang bang play with Goodman.

The Lady Mounts' continue their season on Thursday (3/29) in an afternoon game at Solanco.


ImageAs winter turns to spring and fields begin to thaw, March is the time of year when optimism runs high in every camp.

Dreams and goals are set and they are now on the verge of being played out.

Certainly, it's the most exciting part of the season as teams prepare for opening day.

And for the Ephrata Mounts soccer team, with special dreams of their own, they can't wait to get going.

Ephrata, which reached the L-L League playoffs as well as Districts a year ago, enters the 2007 campaign with as much potential as any Lady Mount team since Head Coach Chris Dutton took over the helm several years ago.


Merv Witmer doesn't really know the whens or the whys. He says he just knew it was time to do something else.

So earlier this year, Witmer, a 37-year educator, administrator and long-time coach set the ball in motion, making the 2006-07 school year his last.

And Monday night at the monthly Ephrata school board meeting, it all became official as the board approved his retirement as Director of student Athletics/Activities, effective, June 30th.

"I can't answer that," Witmer said tuesday afternoon when asked why he decided to retire at this time. "I just got to thinking about it in the last year or two. No one thing happened that made me come to this decision. There's a time for everything and I just decided it was time to do something else."

What that is, he's not exactly sure.

"I'm open to anything," he said. "I don't have any set goals or anything. I'll probably do some volunteer work but really, I'm just ready to do something else."

Witmer has been Director of Student Athletics/Activities for the last 15 years at the school and has taught at Ephrata for the last 34 years.

In addition, he was a well-respected coach at Ephrata. He was the head wrestling coach for much of his 33 years in the program and built one of the top programs in the District Three through much of the 80s and 90s.

He also assisted in track and field for a few years and coached football for 22 years, including a seven-year stint as head coach from 1983 to 1989. His 1987 team was the last championship squad at Ephrata, having captured the Section Two title with a 9-1 league mark.

ImageThe Ephrata Recreation Center Midget Football Booster Club is having a fundraiser dance on Saturday, March 17th. The dance features the local band Sofa King who will play from 9PM to 1AM at the Ephrata American Legion (you must be 21 to attend).

Tickets will be available prior to the dance for $10; you can purchase at the door for $12. There will be games, prizes, snacks and drink specials during the evening with the doors opening at 8:30 PM.

You can purchase tickets at the Ephrata Rec Center, the Ephrata American Legion or from board members of the booster club. So if you had a great time last year... come back! If you couldn't make last year's dance, come and see what you missed! 


ImageThe 2007 high school football season will be the last for Ephrata's longtime Head Coach Ken Grove.

The likable 17-year coach, whose record through recent years (2-8 last season and 5-6 the two previous years) has sparked some community criticism, recently sent a letter addressed to the Ephrata Administration and school board stating his desire to step down following next season.

That wish is expected to be granted and become official at the February 26 Ephrata school board meeting.

In an exclusive interview conducted Monday by The Review, Grove, who has a career record of 79-94-3 at Ephrata, explained his reasons for making the decision now to end his career after next season.

"Part of the reason for the decision now was to focus on this season and what's in front of us. There will be no distractions," he said. "The seniors who I talked to were appreciative of that because that was part of my reasoning for when I made the announcement. I wanted the focus next year to be solely on them. The underclassmen, it might be a little different for them because they are going to eventually get somebody new, but the seniors who I talked to were very happy with that. The other big part of that also is my expectations and theirs of winning. They expect to win, but that's always." 

ImageElizabethtown's Zach Lokey blasted five goals Friday night to lead the Bears to an 8-3 (boxscore) win over Ephrata at the Lancaster Ice Rink in a Central Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League Tier II Viola Cup playoff game.

With the win, E-town advances to play Muhlenberg, a 6-4 winner over Cedar Crest, for the Lancaster- Lebanon- Berks Championship Monday night at a time and place to be determined. The championship game is also a semifinal game of the Viola Cup.

 The loss eliminated the defending Viola Cup Champions from the playoffs.

Tom Dombrosky, Dillon Filepas and Alex Reinhold also scored for the Bears. Brandon Pike, Sam Wiest and Tim Wanner had goals for the Mounts. The Mounts were playing their third straight game without Shane Allen who was serving  suspension carried over from the last regular season Lampeter-Strasburg game.

The Bears took a 2-0 lead going into the 2nd period and stetched it to 4-0, before Brandon Pike answered for the Mounts with 5:36 left in the 2nd. A minute later Lokey scored his 3rd goal fo the game to give the Bears a 5-1 lead heading into the 3rd period. From their E-town maintained their lead outscoring the Mounts 3-2, including Lokey's last two goals.

In the net, Mitchell Reinhold made 30 saves for E-town and Devon Williams had 28 saves for Ephrata.

Individual, some Mounts will still be playing as Brandon Pike and Devon Williams will be playing in the senior game at Twin Ponds East with action starting at 3:00. Preceding that game will be the junior game featuring Tim Wanner and Chris Lyons, that game also at Twin Ponds East (directions ) will start at 2:00. Congratulations to those four Mounts and good luck. 


ImageWith a mass of flying bodies, sticks and skates in front of him, somehow Ephrata goalie Devon Williams remains calm. Calm enough to find a puck coming through a sea of legs or caroming off of a stick.

Williams stayed focused and was a key in Ephrata's 4-1 victory (boxscore ) over Lampeter-Strasburg in the first round of the Central Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League's Tier II playoffs Friday night at the Lancaster Ice Rink.

In the nightcap, Elizabethtown got a pair of goals from Michael Van Horn and three points from Zach Lokey to defeat Penn Manor, 5-3.

E-town (14-2-1) will meet Ephrata (11-6) in the Lancaster/Lebanon/Berks South Division championship game at a time to be determined Friday at the Lancaster Ice Rink.

"I'm thinking I'm trying to do my best to do my job,'' said Williams, talking about the occasional craziness in front of him.

Ephrata's Brandon Pike blocked a shot by Tyler Collins in the Mounts' zone and the pucked bounced off of Pike's pad and past Collins. Pike raced in on the breakaway and scored to give Ephrata a 2-1 lead early in the second period.

"The whole team picked it up after that goal,'' said Ephrata coach Keith Allen. "It turned the game around.''

Williams, nicknamed Devo, made back-to-back saves on Alex Hershey and Pioneers leading scorer Matt Kramer to preserve the Mounts' slim lead in the second.

"We knew the next goal, whether it was us or them, was really going to swing the momentum in the game,'' said L-S coach Larry Collins.

Ephrata got that goal, picking up breathing room in the third when Kyle Sauder spun around in the high slot and beat L-S goalie Andrew Shaubach over the shoulder with a wrist shot.

Williams finished the game with 30 saves. The Mounts played without second-leading scorer Shane Allen, who was serving the second of a three-game league suspension for multiple penalties.

ImageJames Zimmerman (285) and Jared Becker (130) followed similar paths in the District Tournament yesterday. Unfortunately for both, that path led to a 2nd round consolation bracket elimination, ending both their seasons.

Becker faced New Oxford's Brandon Piper in the first round losing a tough decision 4-2, while Penn Manor's Mike Stover also narrowly defeated Zimmerman by a 4-3 score.

In the first round of the consolation bracket Becker handled Solanco's Alex Fisher defeating him 8-1. Meanwhile at heavyweight, Zimmerman pinned Gavin Kennedy of West York in 2:26.

In the 2nd round Justin Lapp (CV) pinned Becker in 1:28, while Zimmerman lost a decision to Mike Schrift of Muhlenberg 3-1.

The 2nd round losses ended the season for the Mounts. Becker finished the season with a 29-9 record, while Zimmerman finished 29-7. Blake Crowther, who failed to qualify for districts also had 29 wins for the Mounts going 29-10, and Jordan Becker had 28 wins on the season for the Mounts as well finishing at 28-9.

ImageThe Ephrata High School indoor track & field team ended the season this pas Saturday, February 10th competing in the PTFCA Indoor Track Carnival at Lehigh University.

The final meet of the year drew 120 teams from across the state. Only one competitior per team was permitted to participate in each event.

The season ending meet provided some thrilling results for the EHS team. Three indoor school records went down and several athletes ran to their best times of the year. Leading the Mounts team were seniors Alicia Harbold and Cordell Oberholtzer in the 1 mile run. Both ran their best races of the season, Harbold finishing in a season best 5:33.4 (10th place) and Oberholtzer crossing the line in an indoor school record time of 4:44.32 (13th place). There were over 40 participants in each race.

"Both athletes will be sorely missed," said Ephrata Coach John Keller of Harbold and Oberholtzer. "You may find more talented kids out there, but their work ethic and attitudes are second to none. They both have contributed so much to the distance program at Ephrata."

Senior CJ Wilson, competing in his last indoor meet, finished in sixth place in the high jump with a leap of six feet, his best effort of the indoor season. Wilson also led the boys 4 x 200 meter relay team to an indoor school record time of 1:40.84. Alex Bippus, Jordan Yarbrough and Oberholtzer teamed with Wilson in the event.

Bippus also participated in the 60 meter hurdles and broke his own indoor record in the event, crossing the line in 9.46 seconds. Sophomore Yarbrough ran his best 200 meters of the season, recovering from an early season foot injury. Yarbrough hit the tape in 25.01 seconds, good enough for an indoor school record. Junior Callie Sweigart had her best showing of the season in the shot put, Sweigart's put of 30 feet 3.5 inches placed her in the top 20 of the crowded event.

"From here it's on to the outdoor season" said Keller. "This gives the athletes the opportunity to stay in shape and compete during the winter months and hopefully generate enthusiasm for the spring."

The indoor track & field team along with Coach Keller, would like to thank the volunteer coaches who gave of their time this season. Along with that, a thanks goes out to the booster club who supports all 3 programs at Ephrata, cross country, winter track and spring track. Your hard work and dedication does not go unnoticed and is greatly appreciated.

ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Ice Hockey team (10-4) takes on Lampeter-Strasburg (9-3-2) in a contest that may ultimately decide the race for second place in the Lancaster-Lebanon-Berks Tier 2 of the Central Pennsylvania Ice Hockey League.

The game is scheduled for Monday Night February 12th at the Body Zone (directions ). They are scheduled to drop the puck at 8:45.

Tonight's matchup will be a prequel for the league playoffs. Ephrata eliminated from 1st place will face the Pioneers again in the first round of the playoffs, regardless of the outcome tonight.

Earlier this year the Mounts defeated the Pioneers 4-1. The Pioneers come in with three players that have amassed 10 or more points this year, starting with #5 Matt Kramer whose 37 points (18 goals, 19 assists) are the 16th best point total in the league. The Pioneers also feature #44 Alec Collins (8G, 11A) and #66 Cody Andrews (5G, 5A).

In the cage for the Pioneers is #33 Andrew Shaubach currently ranked 17th in the league with a 3.00 goals allowed average, and an impressive 88.3 save percentage.

The Mounts will counter with an impressive offense that features the 15th and 18th ranked scoring leaders in #8 Shane Allen (14G, 24A) and #15 Brandon Pike (22G, 13A). Other Mounts with over 10 points include #58 Tim Wanner (15G, 4A); #34 Sam Wiest (7G, 6A); #32 Kyle Sauder (4G, 7A); and #2 Keith Sauder (6G, 4A).

Guarding the net for the Mounts will be senior Devon Williams whose 2.57 goals against average is currently good for 12th best in the league. Williams also sports an 83.5 save percentage.

Good Luck to all the Mounts involved!

ImageThis past weekend the wrestlers traveled to E-town for the 2nd annual E-town Duals. The Mounts were scheduled to wrestle West York, Cocalico, E-town, McCaskey, and Selinsgrove. The Mounts hoped to improve on last year’s 0-5 showing. The wrestlers finally decided to show what potential they have. It was the first time that all of the wrestlers’ wrestled their hardest and it showed as the Mounts finished 2nd with a 4-1 record on the day.

Their lone loss was to E-town 54-16. They defeated West York 43-18, Selinsgrove 51-30, McCaskey 45-31, and Cocalico 36-28. They had lost to Cocalico by a point earlier in the year. Jared Becker and Blake Crowther, both going 5-0 on the day, paced the Mounts. James Zimmerman and Jordan Becker going 4-1 followed them. Other records on the day were Mike Evans, Corey Horst, Jamar Horst, and Pat Baker finishing 3-2. Joel Yoder was 2-2, David Belousov 2-3, Mike Hanna 1-4, and Jeremy Martin 1-4. Dylan Binkley, who was filling in for Zach Zimmerman was 1-2 on the day picking up a huge win in the McCaskey match to help clinch the win.


ImageThe Mounts finished impressively in 6th place over the weekend at the annual Lancaster-Lebanon League tournament. The Mounts improved 14 spots over last years 20th place finish. Although no champions were crowned from Ephrata there were six Mounts that did place.

Though he did not place Jeremy Martin (145) earned his first career win at the tournament with his 9-8 victory over Eric Kilhefner. Martin would later earn his 2nd victory with a forfeit win over Kevin Miller.

Corey Horst was alive on Saturday but failed to upset #4 seed Jason Weaver, of Elco, losing a tight 2-5 match. The loss prevented Horst from placing in the medal rounds.

The Mounts had three wrestlers earn 3rd place, starting with Jared Becker at 130. Jared lost to the #2 seed Matthew Myers on Saturday, but wrestled back defeating Jordan Stepanchik and Justin Lapp. At 189, Jared's brother Jordan followed a similar fate, losing to #2 seed Shane Rosenberry, before decking Kyle Diem and defeating Travis Nissley. James Zimmerman was upset by the #3 seeded Micah Byler, but came back to defeat Jake Walmer and Mike Stover to earn his 3rd place medal.

Earning fourth place for the Mounts was a pair of wrestlers, one living up to their pre-match seed, the other finishing considerably better. Blake Crowther (160) was seeded fourth and had a tough go with #1 seed Julian Colon losing 0-10 early Saturday. Crowther came back with a tough 10-9 victory over Daniel Olan, before losing by fall to Tim Greiner in the 3rd place bout. Joel Yoder (171) was seeded 10th coming into the tournament. But after losing his first match of the tournament came back to win 4 straight, including 3 on Saturday. Yoder eventually ran out of gas losing to Cameron Gill in the third place match.

Earning a 5th place showing was Zach Zimmerman who moved up even more places then Yoder. Zach finished 7 places higher then his 12th place pre-tournament seed. After upsetting the #5 and #4 seed on Friday, Zach got decked by #1 seeded Teal Stutzman, then lost a tough decision to Doug Weaver before deckign Josh Pavlik to earn the fifth place medal.

The Mounts return to action on Thursday as they host the Manheim Central Barons. 


ImageSeven Ephrata wrestlers remain in contention at the LL League tournament. Five remain in contention for first place, while the other two are battling for third place.

First the bad news, Michael Evans (112, 0-2), Michael Hanna (125, 0-2), Pat Baker (135, 1-2), Jamar Horst (140, 0-2), Jeremy Martin (145, 2-2) and David Belousov (152, 0-2) have all been eliminated from the tournament.

At 119 Corey Horst remains in the loser's bracket, Horst the #7 seed will face the #4 seed from Elco Jason Weaver who was upset earlier in the tournament. At 171 Joel Yoder (seeded 10th) remains alive as well, albeit in the loser's bracket. He faces #12 seed Toby Greenawalt (PM).

The good news for Jared Becker, seeded 3rd at 130, is that if he can get by Matthew Myers (LC), the number two seed, he's guaranteed to face a lower seed in the finals as both the #1 and #4 seeds have been moved to the consolation bracket. 

Blake Crowther, seeded 4th at 160, has a tall task ahead of him today as he faces off against Hempfield's Julian Colon the number one seed. Jordan Becker, seeded 3rd at 189, will face #2 seed Shane Rosenberry. James Zimmerman, seeded 2nd at 275, faces three-seed Micah Byler.

Zach Zimmerman has been the surprise of the tournament for the Mounts, earning a rather low seed (12th), Zach made quick work of #5 seed Nick Lacock earning an 8-3 decision then decked #4 seed Brandon Lawrence with an early second period fall (3:42). To keep the streak alive, Zach will have to defeat #1 seed Teal Stutzman.

Second round conolations begin at 10:00 today (Saturday); Semifinals and 3rd round consolations begin at 11:30; consolation semifinals begin at 1:30; 3rd, 5th, and 7th place matches begin at 4:00; and Finals begin at 6:00. All matches are being wrestled at Lampeter-Strasburg High School.

Good luck Mounts! 


ImageFalling behind proved to be fateful for Ephrata's hockey team Friday night.

The Mounts nearly climbed out of a 3-0 hole but Cedar Crest held them off at the end to skate away with a 4-3 win in a Central Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League Tier 2 game at Body Zone.

Ephrata's Nicholas Fetter scored with 3:20 to play to draw the Mounts within one at 4-3. Ephrata pulled goaltender Devon Williams for an extra attacker in the final minute but could not get the equalizer.

The loss snapped the Mounts' six-game winning streak and was only their second defeat this season, to go along with eight wins. The Falcons (7-3) have now won two straight after losing three in a row.

Cedar Crest senior center Peter Potena scored two goals, the second on a penalty shot in the second period.

But it was the Falcons' ability to score three unanswered goals in the game's first seven minutes that pressured Ephrata to climb a mountain it just couldn't scale.

"We can't wait until the third period to start playing,'' said Ephrata's Frank Gatti, who was standing in for head coach Keith Allen.

Allen missed the game to attend his son's travel hockey tournament in Lake Placid, N.Y. His son is Shane, who happens to be the Mounts' leading scorer.

But Gatti wouldn't use Allen's absence as an excuse.

ImageLast night the Mount mat men ventured to Elizabethtown for their contest with the Bears of E-town. The evening started at 125 lbs. with Mike Hanna. He didn’t quite achieve the fall, but picked up a major decision. Jared Becker followed with his sixth victory in a row picking up the second period fall.

The mounts would fall in a hole before Blake Crowther’s electrifying fall. Blake’s opponent learned that when you charge in there is a good possibility you will go for a ride, via the air. Blake upped his record to 16-5. James Zimmerman picked up a fall for the Mounts at heavyweight pushing his record to 15-1. Corey Horst would finish the night with a fall at 119. Not to be satisfied with a decision Corey kept working until he flattened his opponent.

The final score was 39-28. The wrestling action resumes this Saturday at 1:00 when the Mounts host the Garden Spot Spartans.


ImageCongratulations to our Lady Mounts swimmers with 1st place finishes at their meet against Warwick last Thursday (1/4).  Shannon Ream, 100 Fly, Heather Ashton, 100 Breaststroke, Courtney Reading, Lia Denlinger, Noelle Brossman, and Nicole Martin in the 400 Free Relay, and Lia Denlinger in the 500 Free with another District qualifying time.  We would also like to congratulate Alex Martin in the 200 Free and 100 Breaststroke, Tyler Eshelman in the 200 IM, Mickey Molchany in the 100 back with respectable 2nd place finishes and some personal bests acheived by Levi Smucker, Santiago Carvajal, and Mickey Molchany.  The Mounts will swim Hempfield tonight (Tuesday 1/9) at home.  Great Job and Good Luck!

ImageLast night the wrestlers traveled to Denver for their backyard rival with Cocalico. Last year the Eagles beat the Mounts twice, 67-3 and 48-18. This year the Mounts hoped things would be a little different. 

The match started at 130 with Jared Becker pulling out a hard fought decision.  At 140 Jamar Horst entered the win column with a fall.  Before the fall Jamar was taking his opponent down at will, showing his vast improvement from last year.  David Belousov picked up a huge victory at 152 by way of fall.  Belousov was taken down to his back early in the first, but as always he kept fighting until he secured the 3rd period fall.  Following that performance, Blake Crowther (160), earned a tech fall beating his opponent 23-6. At heavyweight James Zimmerman secured a quick fall to rebound from his first loss of the season. Corey Horst closed out the scoring at 119 with a forfeit. It was a nail-biter that came down to the final match with the Eagles picking up a 33-32 victory. The Mounts resume action at home on Saturday 1/6 at 1:00pm against the Lebanon Cedars.

Alumni night announced
The Ephrata Wrestling team will be hosting Alumni night on Thursday January 25th against Manheim Central. All former wrestlers are encouraged to attend and to be recognized. Following the match there will be a social gathering for all current and former wrestlers.


ImageThe Lady Mounts defeated Manheim Central with a score of 121- 49 Tuesday 12/19/06.  The girls finished in 1st  place in every event with the exception of the 100 freestyle.  Nicole Martin was a double winner in the 200 free and 100 back and Allison Royer was a double winner in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke.  Other individual winners were Lia Denlinger (50 Fr), Kayla Raptosh (100 Fly),  Noelle Brossman (500 free).  Courtney Reading had an impressive 2nd place finish in the 200 IM and Ashlynn Eidemiller also had a respectable 2nd place finish in the 100 breaststroke.

Unfortunately the boys team was defeated by Central by a score of 103-51.  There were many personal bests at the meet on Tuesday, Kole Reddig and Alex Martin in the 200 free, Tyler Eshelman in the 100 free, Mickey Molchany in the 100 back, and Alex Martin and Levi Smucker in the 100 breaststroke.  Great job guys!


ImageThe wrestlers traveled to Lampeter last night for their showdown with the Pioneers. Unfortunately the Mounts learned a lesson on being mentally prepared. The Pioneers stormed out to a 30-0 lead before the Mounts knew what hit them, thanks to a few upset falls.

Jordan Becker, 189, stopped the bleeding by doing what he does best, pinning his opponent. Feeding off Becker’s quick fall, Zach Zimmerman made his return to the line-up and decided to make short work of his opponent by picking up a fall. Not to be outdone by little brother, James Zimmerman picked up a fall at heavyweight. Mike Evans picked up a forfeit at 112 before Jared Becker, 130, closed out the scoring by matching his brother with a fall.

The Mounts return home to wrestle the Blue Streaks of Manheim Township on Saturday the 23rd at 1:00pm.


ImageThis past weekend the wrestlers traveled to Hanover for the Hanover Duals. Already short at 103 and 140 the Mounts were in for a long day. Normal 125 pounder Mike Hanna was out due to illness and 215 pounder Zach Zimmerman was out due to injury. Both Jared Becker and Joel Yoder were fighting off injury and/or illness and were at well below 100%. They both made it through 3 of the 5 matches.

This meant that the Mounts were in for an extremely long day. Despite the difficulties that they were enduring the wrestlers still had positive attitudes and each wrestler went out and wrestled their hardest for all of their matches. Hanover 57-24, North Penn 53-24, Norristown 48-36, and Gettysburg 48-21 defeated the mounts. They did pick up their second win of the year by defeating Springfield Township 42-36.

On the day the Mounts were paced by Jordan Becker, 189, and James Zimmerman, HWT, both going 5-0 on the day. Becker picked up 5 more falls to push his season total to 11; his record now stands at 13-1. Zimmerman added 3 falls, a forfeit, and a decision to up his record to a perfect 10-0. Blake Crowther turned in a good day by going 4-1 and pushing his record to 12-4.

Rounding out the records for the day were: Mike Evans 3-2, Corey Horst 3-2, Jared Becker 1-2, Pat Baker 0-5, Jeremy Martin 0-5, David Belousov 1-4, Joel Yoder 2-1, and AJ Peters 2-3. The Mounts continue their season on Thursday night at Lampeter Strasburg for their first league contest.


ImageLast night (12/14) the wrestling had the first home dual meet of the season. Though the hopes are high for this season last night displayed there is still work to be done. The Mounts lost to the Golden Mules of Solanco, 48-22.

Picking up victories were Jordan Becker, Mike Evans, Corey Horst, and Blake Crowther. Becker continued his pinning ways with another first period fall, which makes 6 falls in 8 wins, both of which lead the team. Both Evans and Horst picked up forfeits at 112 and 119.

Blake Crowther closed out the night with an 11-3 victory. Blake kept pace with Becker with his team-leading 8th win in this young season while extending his lead in most takedowns.

The Mounts were without three starters last night. James and Zach Zimmerman were battling illness and injuries and will return within the next week. The third starter that was out was one who was expected to miss all season while recovering from an injury sustained during football. He is Jamar Horst and looks to make his return next week, two months prior to the original date. Jamar will help to solidify the line-up, leaving only the 103-pound weight class open.

The Mounts are in action this weekend at the Hanover Duals competing with several schools: Hanover, North Penn, Norristown, Springfield Township, Warwick, Hamburg, Boiling Springs, and Gettysburg.


ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Ice Hockey Team (5-1-0) bounced back from a tough loss vesus E-town with back to back wins. The Mounts downed Elco 11-0 and held on to beat a tough Shamrock team 5-4 (boxscore ) last night (12/11).

Shamrocks Trev Milstead started the scoring with his first of three goals with 14:49 left in the opening period. The Mounts came right back scoring three unanswered goals in the first. The first two goals were made by Brandon Pike, both of which were assisted by Shane Allen. For the third goal the two Mounts reversed roles and Pike assisted Allen.

The Shamrocks slipped another puck past Devon Williams with only 4 seconds left in the period making the score 3-2 in favor of the Mounts at the end of the 1st period.

After an early goal by Shane Allen, his 7th on the season, the rest of the second period remained scoreless.

Milstead added another Shamrock score with 11:48 left in the third cutting the lead to 4-3, but Ephrata answered back three minutes later as Pike recorded his hat trick and his 14th goal on the season. One minute later Milstead added his third goal on the night to pull the Shamrocks within one, but Williams kept the puck out of the net the rest of the way as the Mounts hung on 5-4.

The Mounts outshot the Shamrocks (1-1-2) 31-25 on the night. Ephrata is back on the ice Friday night (12/15) when they take on Lampeter-Strasburg (3-2-0) at the Lancaster Ice Rink (directions ).

ImageThis past weekend the Ephrata Wrestling team traveled to Solanco for the Mule Classic. After finishing 19th out of 20 with 2 place-winners a year ago the Mounts made a big jump finishing 9th out of 19 with 6 place-winners. They were led my James Zimmerman’s championship at 285 pounds. Zimmerman won his first two matches by 1st period fall before picking up two wins by way of decision. Jordan Becker joined him in the finals at 189.

Where Zimmerman found success Becker found frustration. Becker wrestled a stingy wrestler thus limiting his offense. Becker suffered a 9-1 loss, his 1st loss on the season. He had picked up 2 more falls and a major decision on his way to the finals.

After suffering an opening round upset Blake Crowther, 160, had a long road ahead of him if he wanted to place. After 4 victories on Saturday morning, one of which was a redemption over his opening round opponent, Blake lost a close 3-1 match to pick up a 4th place finish. Jared Becker picked up a 7th place finish after hitting a last second “Peterson” to win the match. Jared finished 3-2 on the weekend. He was joined in 7th place with Joel Yoder at 171. Joel won his match by way of forfeit. Joel also finished 3-2 on the weekend.

Rounding out the medals was Mikey Hanna picking up an 8th place finish at 125 pounds. Mikey was 2-3 on the weekend. The Mounts resume their season on Thursday the 14th with their first home match against the Golden Mules of Solanco.


ImageAfter a heart-breaking loss a night earlier, the Mounts needed to come back strong Saturday (12/9) against a very good Manheim Central team. In a game that was close throughout, Ephrata made the key plays down the stretch to pull out a 53-47 victory.

The Barons led by a point at the half, but a 9-2 run at the start of the third quarter put Ephrata in front, 35-29. The Mounts stretched the lead to 45-37 in the middle of the fourth, thanks in part to back-to-back scores from Brynn Lyons. But Manheim Central rallied with a 10-4 run to make the score 49-47 Ephrata with less than a minute to play.

On the ensuing Manheim Central possession, junior Gabbie Hondros blocked a game-tying shot attempt, and Christine Weaver was fouled fighting for the rebound. After struggling from the line earlier in the game, Weaver hit the two huge free throws to put Ephrata (3-2) up by four with 30 seconds to play. She then took a charge on the next trip, helping clinch the win.

Arielle Gordon scored a career high 17 points, including 8 of 12 from the free throw line. Hondros had 8 points and 10 rebounds. Weaver had 7 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 steals, while Nicole Martin had 6 points and 6 rebounds.

The Ephrata JV suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the Manheim Central JV, 49-26. Melanie Andrew led the Mounts JV (2-1) with 7 points. Jan Woolley added 6 points and 3 steals.

ImageOn Thursday afternoon (12/7) the Ephrata Boys swim team lost 35-134 to Lancaster Catholic, Tyler Eshelman took 1st place in the 500 freestyle.

The girls swim team took a tough loss with a score of 80 to 90. The Lady Mounts 200 Medley relay swam a District time of 1:58.08. The relay consisted of Noelle Brossman, Lia Denlinger, Shannon Ream, and Nicole Martin. Freshman Nicole Martin had Ephrata's only 1st place finish in an individual event in the 50 free. However the Lady Mounts collected many 2nd places with great times…Lia Denlinger in the 200 Free, Kayla Raptosh in the 200 IM, Shannon Ream in the 100 fly, C. Reading in the 100 free, Noelle Brossman in the 100 back, and Heather Ashton in the 100 Breaststroke. The swim teams next home meet is Wednesday, 12/13 against Penn Manor.


ImageWednesday night (12/6) the wrestling team traveled to Hempfield to take on the Black Knights. Heading into the contest the Mounts knew they had a tall task in front of them due to the fact that they are still missing 3 starters. Not to let this hold them down they gave a gallant effort coming up short 44-27. The Becker twins, Jared and Jordan, continued the hot start improving the records to 4-0 by picking up falls at 130 and 189 respectively. Also garnering victories for the Mounts were Joel Yoder, with a fall at 171, and Zach Zimmerman, with a decision at 215.

James Zimmerman earned his 50th career victory by way of forfeit at 285.  The wrestlers continue their season on Friday and Saturday as they travel to Solanco for the Mule Classic.


ImageDefensive Pressure gets the job done

A balanced offensive attack and defensive pressure produced another win for Ephrata.   Five players scored at least 6 points and the Mounts forced 25 Crimson Tide turnovers in an 52-42 win, their second in a row.
 
Down 9-8 early, the Mounts went on a 8-0 run without even allowing a Columbia shot attempt.  The Tide battled back to take a 24-22 lead, but soph Aly Goodman gave Ephrata (2-1) the lead for good when she drilled a three-pointer.
 
Goodman went on to lead the team with 13 points, while adding 4 assists and 6 steals.   Brynn Lyons added 10 points.
 
Christine Weaver chipped in with 9 points, 7 rebounds, and a career high 5 assists.   Arielle Gordon scored 8 while picking up 4 assists and 5 steals.
 
Columbia (0-3) was led by Tara Anspach's 18 points.
 
The Ephrata JV (1-0) started off their season strong, with a 41-25 win over the Columbia JV.   Melanie Andrew led the way with 10 points, while Alison Weaver collected 14 rebounds.  Jan Woolley added 7 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 steals for the Ephrata JV.

 

Varsity Box Score and JV scoring

COLUMBIA (42)
Kuhn 0 2-2 2, Deets 1 0-0 2, Shelley 1 2-2 4, Anspach 8 2-3 18, Gilbert 0 0-0 0, Aston 3 1-2 8, Afari 1 2-4 4, Simms 2 0-0 4.   Totals 16 9-13 42.
 
EPHRATA (52)
Beamesderfer 1 0-0 2, Goodman 6 0-0 13, C.Woolley 1 0-0 2, Thorp 0 0-0 0, Andrew 0 0-0 0, Gordon 3 2-2 8, Lyons 4 1-2 10, C.Weaver 4 1-4 9, A.Wilson 0 0-0 0, A.Weaver 0 0-0 0, Hondros 2 2-3 6, Martin 0 2-2 2, J.Woolley 0 0-0 0.  Totals 21 8-12 52.
 

 1
2
3
4
F
Columbia
13156842
Ephrata1813111052

 

 

 

3-Point Goals – Aston 1; Goodman 1, Lyons 1.   Fouled Out – none.  Officials – Wiggins, Novak.
JV Score – Ephrata 41, Columbia 25.
 
Ephrata JV Scoring – Andrew 10, J.Woolley 7, A.Weaver 6, L.Wilson 5, Miller 4, A. Wilson 4, Throp 3, C. Woolley 2.


ImageThis weekend the Ephrata Mounts wrestling team hosted the 2006 Ephrata Duals.  The 8 teams in attendance were Downingtown East, Columbia, Garden Spot, Cedar Crest, Reading, Hempfield, Daniel Boone, and Ephrata. 

Downingtown East was the champion, followed by Daniel Boone, Reading, Ephrata, Garden Spot, Columbia, Hempfield, and then Cedar Crest. 

The Mounts opened up with a victory over Columbia before falling to Daniel Boone and then Reading in the 3rd place match.  Three wrestlers went 3-0 on the day.  They were Jared Becker at 135, Blake Crowther at 160, and Jordan Becker at 189.  Rounding out the line-up were Mike Evans 1-2 at 112, Corey Horst 2-1 at 119, Mike Hanna 1-2 at 130, Pat Baker 0-3 at 140, David Belousov 0-3 at 152, Joel Yoder 1-2 at 171, Dylan Binkley 1-2 at 215, and Zach Zimmerman 2-1 at 285.

www.ephratamounts.com is also excited to announce that we have our fourth "sister" site. If you look to the left you should see a link for "Mounts Wrestling" which will provide you with team leaders, results, the schedule and all the wrestling history you can shake a singlet at. Enjoy! 


ImageThe Lady Mounts lost their opening game of the year, but came back strong in the consolation game winning the latter by 25 points.

In the first game it was all Panthers. Corielle Yarde earned a spot on the All-State team last year as a sophomore. She is on her way there again after pouring in 30 points as she led Schuylkill Valley over Ephrata, 70-54, in the opening round of the Daniel Boone Tip-Off Tournament on Friday.
 
Ephrata unveiled their new look, run-and-gun style. While they trailed by 6 at the half, the 37-31 score indicated that the game was played at Ephrata's pace. However, a 24-7 third quarter gave the Panthers enough cushion to hold off the Mounts.
 
Brynn Lyons led Ephrata with 12 points. Aly Goodman had a nice all-around game in her first career varsity start, scoring 8 points to go with 6 assists and 6 steals.
 
Christine Weaver set a team record with 5 blocks, while also scoring 7 points and added 12 rebounds.
 
Ephrata was down 22-13 late in the first, but put together a 9-0 run that featured a three-pointer from Claire Woolley. The Mounts were down 39-33 early in the second half, but an 18-2 run closed them out.
 
Ashton Pachuilo added 25 for the Panthers.
 
In the second game, Ephrata started a little slowly in the consolation game of the Daniel Boone Tip-Off Tournament Saturday. The Mounts, who aren't doing much slowly this season, got it in gear with a 24-6 run to cruise by Palisades, 61-36.
 
The balanced attack of Ephrata was demonstrated during that big first-half run, as 7 different players scored. Arielle Gordon (game-high 13 points) hit a three to open the second quarter and give the Mounts the lead for good.
 
Gordon added 6 assists and 5 steals for Ephrata. Brynn Lyons nearly had a triple double, with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 steals. The Mounts picked up 58 rebounds and collected 23 steals.
 
Aly Goodman added 8 points and 9 rebounds. Nicole Martin had 7 points and 6 boards, while Emily Beamesderfer scored 5 points and collected 8 rebounds.
 
Schuylkill Valley cruised to the tournament championship with a 64-35 win over host Daniel Boone.


ImageChampionships defended, over $14,000 raised!

The 3rd annual Dodgeball Tournament has concluded after another high energy filled weekend. Although the Dodgers weren't able to defend their title on the court, they were able to defend their title as the top money fundraiser in the Senior High School. The Dodgers raised more money then all the other High School teams combined.

Not to be outdone, Candy, Inc. raised almost $4,000 in the Middle School. Seven out of the 15 teams competing in the Middle School raised more then the minimum amount of money, which is fantastic. Candy, Inc. and the Dodgers will take home the DVD together for the last time as Candy, Inc. moves to the Senior Circuit next year. Both teams showed success on the court as well as they bothed reached the finals before dropping 2 to 1 decisions.

The Tigers were impressive in the Rookie Circuit as they cruised through the tournament as the only team to never taste defeat all weekend. Look for the Tigers to make an immediate impact in the Junior Circuit next year.

As for the adults, there has only been one champion and that's Demolition Dodgeball, who successfully defended their title this weekend, finishing first in the pool play and turning back the up-start All-Star team in the finals. 

You can view the final results here.

Click
here or on the link at the left to go to the Dodgeball home page.

Thanks to everyone that contributed this weekend, your help was greatly appreciated! 


ImageAlthough being outshot 21-16, the Mounts Ice Hockey team opened their season with a convincing 11-4 (boxscore ) victory over Penn Manor.  Scoring started early with Tim Wanner slipping one of his four goals in six seconds into the game.  Wasting no time, Shane Allen added another goal with a blistering shot from the blue line that the goalie never saw just 52 seconds later.
 
At one point in the first period Mounts were 6-6 shooting and held the lead at 6-2.  The Comets did make a game of it, pulling the score to 6-4 in the second period, but the Mounts onslaught was too much.  Shane Allen set the tone with a crushing hit on Olivia Pryzbylkowski early in the third period and the Mounts didn't look back.
 
Also adding goals for the Mounts were Brandon Pike (3), Robbie Barclay, Keith Sauder, and Sam Wiest.

ImageEphrata junior quarterback Blake Crowther wanted to make sure his senior teammates would not end their high school careers with a loss.

After running and throwing for a touchdown pass earlier in the second half, Crowther made a game-clinching interception in the end zone Friday night to lead Ephrata to a 14-10 victory (boxscore ) over Garden Spot and spoil the Spartans' bid for a district playoff spot.

Crowther preserved the victory by snatching Spartan quarterback Tyler Horst's fade pass into the corner of the end zone with just under five minutes remaining in the game.

"Before the play, I was thinking, 'c'mon, throw it my way," said Crowther.

ImagePool play times are now available! There are mandatory meeting times for all circuits on the schedule. All matches will be played at the Ephrata Senior High School. Click here to view the schedule. Once again all teams playing in the pools on Friday night and Saturday will be seeded and advance to the single elimination tournament.

Three teams set to defend titles

For the first time ever in the history of the Ephrata Dodgeball Tournament, three teams will be coming back to defend their title.

Three of the four winners last year are back to defend their titles.  There will be a new king crowned this year in the Elementary division as last year's champion the Money Makers have moved on to the Junior Circuit. Captain Ryan Lefever returns along with Kyle Phillips, but the rest of the cast has changed as well as their name. They will be competing in the Junior Circuit as "The Justice League".

The competition in the Junior Circuit will be tough as 15 teams will once again battle it out. Defending their title will be the Power Rangers, who graduated 2 players to the high school but the core group is back led by 8th grade captain Mark Lowrie. With the Wombats moving onto the Senior circuit, the Power Rangers stiffest competition may come from last year's semifinalists Candy, Inc. led by Captain Dusten Rutt. Last year's other semifinalists, a core of 6th graders, the Old School Ballers, were unable to compete this year due to the Midget Football B team's success.

The Dodgers are back once again in the Senior Circuit, but to defend their crown they'll have to survive the deepest bracket ever with 14 teams competing. They'll face stiff competition from the Playground Legends a Junior Circuit Champion and Senior Circuit finalist last year.

The adult league returns on Sunday the 12th with last year's champion and runner-up Demoliton Dodgeball and House of Pizza prepared to do battle again. Talks of the first ever "Last Man Standing" competition have swirled around and it looks like it may be a possibility this year, and based on favorable results something that could carry over into the senior circuit next year.

There has yet to be a two time champion in the history of the tournament. Will this be the year that someone walks away with their second "Champion" t-shirt?

Stop by November 10th, 11th and 12th to find out!

ImageEphrata dropped a 2-0 decision to Wilson in the first contest, while Manheim Township defeated Mechanicsburg, 2-0, in the nightcap.

Ephrata (18-4-2) will take on Mechanicsburg (19-4-2) in the consolation game, Saturday at 7:30 p.m., at Landis Field (directions ) behind Central Dauphin Middle School.

Manheim Township (24-0) will defend its District Three crown against Wilson in the championship game on Saturday, 8 p.m., at Hersheypark Stadium.

After a scoreless first half in the opener, Wilson senior Danny Guthrie netted a shot just 2:31 into the second, giving the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. Wilson iced the game when John Brehm found Cory Pfeifer, who booted the ball by Ephrata goalie Josh Peifer at the 78:00 mark.

Playing close games is not new to Ephrata. The Mounts reached the semis after beating Cumberland Valley, 3-2 in overtime, and Twin Valley, 2-1, in the first round.

"The last couple of games have been exciting right to the end. I thought that we might have had the better of play tonight, but winning the other games might have come back to haunt us," Ephrata head coach Rob Deininger said afterwards.

The Mounts outshot Wilson, 14-12, and had more corners, 4-2, but couldn't seem to get off a clean shot.

"They played us hard," Deininger said. "We made mistakes and they capitalized and they seemed to get in front of our shots."

The task now for Ephrata is to rebound from the loss. The Mounts can still earn a trip to the PIAA playoffs with a win over Mechanicsburg.

"We've been down this road before," Deininger said, referring to his program's 3-8 record in the district semifinals. "We'll tell them it's a reward to be here, there are only a couple of teams left and we're one of them."

ImageHeading into the District three Cross Country Championships held Monday afternoon at the Parkview Golf Course in Hershey, Ephrata's Alicia Harbold was the local favorite to advance to the State Cross Country Meet.

Afterall, Harbold has made the trip to States the last two years and as a senior has been one of the Lady Mounts' top performers.

Well, despite running an excellent time of 20:54.92, the EHS senior fell victim to a numbers game.

Although she finished 49th overall, she missed the State cutoff by just 11 places. The top five teams and 30 individuals qualified to move on, but just eight runners from the top five teams were included among the top 30 individuals, which is a low number. That left only eight extra runners or 38 total, which will advance.

Despite the disappointment, Ephrata Coach Steve Sweigart was pleased with Harbold's performance.

"Alicia Harbold was the closest on either of our teams to qualify," Sweigart said. "She had a real good effort, but she just came up 11 places short."

While Harbold's performance was Ephrata's personal best, the Lady Mounts as a team turned in a solid 12th place showing, finishing with 387 points. Four of Ephrata's top five placed in the top 100. In addition to Harbold, Jaime Singer was next in 69th place with a time of 21:13.86, followed by Dana Haas (70th, 21:15.34) and Brynn Lyons (98th, 21:44.31). Samantha Fink (143rd, 22:19.32) and Kate Anderson (194th, 23:01.64) rounded out the team scoring for Ephrata.

In the L-L League the Mounts finished behind Manheim Township (1st) and Hempfield (6th), while out-running Cedar Crest (16th), Solanco (17th) and Warwick (18th).

On the boys' side, Brad Sweigart was the lone Ephrata runner to place in the top 100 as the Mounts finished 24th overall out of 51 teams. He placed 66th overall with a time of 17:54.24. Other EHS runners in the top five included: Cordell Oberholtzer (123rd, 18:27.76); Givi Palagashvili (146th, 18:38.55); Mickey Molchaney 181st, 18:52.88); Andrew Redcay (197th, 19:00.27) and Ryan Trella (249th, 19:32.37).

Freshmen Mickey Molchaney was the 13th freshmen to cross the finish line.

ImageA cold Saturday evening at Governor Mifflin was not where senior Dan Hagey wanted his season to end. With Ephrata down 2-1 late in the game, Hagey took over. With four minutes remaining, Hagey took a pass, beat two defenders and then the goalie to tie the game.

 Hagey wasted no time in the extra session, netting the golden goal only three minutes into overtime. His second goal, his 26th on the season gave Ephrata a 3-2 victory.

Ephrata took a 1-0 lead early on, when Tyler Phillips scored in the fourth minute. The Mounts held the lead until Cumberland Valley scored twice in two minutes, the first coming on a penalty kick in the 60th minute.

Ephrata will play Wilson in the semifinals at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Hempfield (directions ). Following that game will be the other semifinal match between Manheim Township and Mechanicsburg.

The district bracket can be viewed here .


ImageSolanco head football coach Joe Pearson and his staff challenged the Golden Mules' offensive line during practice this week.

"We knew Monday that the weather would be bad tonight," said Pearson Friday night. "We needed to be able hold the line up front and run."

And run they did, piling up 247 yards on the ground in their 20-12 win (click here for boxscore ) over Ephrata Friday in Quarryville.

With driving rain falling, Ephrata (1-5 L-L, 1-8 overall) and Solanco (2-4, 3-6) combined to run the ball 89 times.

After a three-and-out by Solanco to start the game, Ephrata went to work on their 33. Quarterback Blake Crowther hooked up with junior running back Joel Yoder for a 15-yard strike to open the possesion. Crowther had runs of 14 and 11 yards on the next two plays and Yoder picked up two yards to reach the Solanco 25. Looking to keep running right at the Mules, Crowther turned to hand it off to Sam Weist but the ball popped out and was recovered by Solanco.

ImageTrailing 1-0 in the second half, the Mounts had two goals from Tyler Phillips to wrap up the win. Phillips tied the game off a sideline pass from David Wiegner at 67:25. With 16 seconds left in the game, Phillips bodied the winning goal off a cross from Dan Hagey.

 On the winning goal, Hagey weaved his way down the left sideline through four defenders before crossing the ball to a diving Phillips. 

Ephrata advances to the quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against Cumberland Valley. The game will be played at Governor Mifflin. Directions to the game can be found here .

Photos from last night's District opener can be found on the flickr website in the Ephrata Mounts Sports Photo Pool


ImageFirst-year Ephrata field hockey Coach Candy Rosenberry entered this season not knowing quite what to expect from such a young team that had just two senior starters.

Well, as darkness fell Tuesday night in Hummelstown, shortly after her Ephrata squad saw its season come to a close with a 6-0 loss in the first round of Districts to Mid-Penn power Lower Dauphin, Rosenberry said she considers this season a huge success.

"Playing (Lower Dauphin) in the first round was harsh for us, but again we were just happy to be here this year. (Playing in Districts) is not where we thought we'd be so we're just happy to be here."

"Just to get a taste of this experience this year, just to show the girls where we can be... They know they definitely have the potential to be there next year. My expectations are going to be a lot higher next year."

Tuesday, it was all about the experience for the Lady Mounts as Lower Dauphin flexed its muscles from the opening flick.

LD (22-0) was led by Lauren Alwine, who scored three goals and added an assist while Addi Harder chipped in with two other scores.

Alwine, whose supreme speed and stick-work were extremely effective in this game, got the Falcons on the board seven minutes in when she came down the right side and moved out in front and around Ephrata keeper Katie Jo Rice (five saves) for the easy score.

Then at the 18:02 mark, Alwine was at it again, following solid execution on a corner. Alwine delivered the ball into the box and moved to the side of the cage, where she took a feed and redirected it past Rice for the 2-0 lead.

ImageEphrata came to Saturday's L-L League soccer championship game with something to prove to Manheim Township, and to itself.

The Mountaineers lost the 2005 title game to Township, 5-3, and were handled 6-0 this year in a regular-season match.

Their urgent desire was to prove they were as good as, and maybe better than, their Township tormentors.

What was proven, in the end, was that Township -- this year -- is head-and-shoulders above the rest of the Lancaster-Lebanon League.

If there had ever been any doubt.

The Blue Streaks became the first L-L boys team to three-peat since Hempfield in 1987-89, and won their eighth overall title Saturday afternoon, besting Ephrata 3-0.

After sitting out the semifinal with an injury, midfielder Patrick Tell returned to the lineup scoring one goal and assisting on two others as the unbeaten Streaks extended their record to 21-0.

And if there was any doubt that the L-L's were an afterthought for Township in a much larger pursuit, the Streaks' play put that to rest.

"It definitely mattered," Tell said. "We wanted to win it."

"This was one of our goals from the beginning of the year," added Nick DeMasters, who scored Township's second goal, 28 seconds before halftime.

"That was huge!" said Streaks' coach Dave Ammon. "Because of the wind you didn't know what it was going to be like in the second half."

ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Field Hockey team ended Cumberland Valley's season on Friday, winning 3-2, in a play in game for the District 3 Field Hockey Championship, the loss finalized the Eagles' record at 9-8-1.

 Arielle Gordon scored twice and picked up an assist on Kilee Rosenberry's goal for the Mountaineers, who outshot Cumberland Valley 15-5 for the game.

Gordon's goals gave her 10 for the season, second best on the Mounts behind Rosenberry's 13.

The 17th-seeded Mounts (9-8-0), who'll play at top-seeded and undefeated Lower Dauphin (19-0-0) on Tuesday (10/24), did a good job of holding off Cumberland Valley's pressure.

You can view the entire District bracket here


ImageFor a while Friday night, it looked like Elizabethtown was still feeling the effects of last week's shocking 35-33 loss to Garden Spot.

"This week might have been my toughest week as a coach," said Bears head coach Jeff Polites. "It was tough on the players too."

In the end, the Bears rebounded and scored 26 unanswered second-half points to notch a 26-10 (boxscore ) victory over the Ephrata Mountaineers.

It was all Ephrata (1-4 Section Two, 1-7 overall) in the first half as junior quarterback Blake Crowther and his offense took advantage of poor E-town (3-2, 4-4) tackling.

On the Mounts' second possession of the game, Crowther scrambled for 36 yards to set up first-and-goal from the Bears' 5. Two plays later, junior running back Woody Miller snuck out of the backfield and Crowther hit him on a four-yard touchdown pass to give Ephrata the 7-0 lead with 5:20 to go in the first quarter.

ImageThe Ephrata Mounts boys and girls cross country team competed in the Lancaster-Lebanon League Meet on Thursday (10/19), the meet once again was hosted by Ephrata.

The girls team finished with a combined 187 time points which was good enough to place them fifth overall in the league.

Senior Alicia Harbold led the way for the Mounts finishing her home course in 20:44.7, Harbold's time placed her 18th overall.

Two underclassmen scored next for the Mounts, first junior Brynn Lyons (33rd, 21:09.7) and then sophomore Dana Hass (39th, 21:23.5).

Rounding out the team scoring for Ephrata was senior Jamie Singer (45th, 21:40.2) and junior Samantha Fink (56th, 22:06.1).

Also running for the Lady Mounts were Kate Anderson (57th, 22:07.1), Taylor Fletcher (96th, 23:20.3) and Emily Albright (107th, 23:44.10).

On the boys side, the Mounts finished with 285 points placing them 11th overall at the meet.

Ephrata's only 2 seniors led the way as Cordell Oberholtzer (28th, 17:42.6) and Brad Sweigart (34th, 17:55.6) both placed inside the top 35.

Junior Givi Palagashvili (39th, 18:00.3) was next, followed by freshman Mickey Molchany (91st, 18:58.4). Junior Andy Redcay (93rd, 19:02.9) finished the team scoring for Ephrata.

Also running in the meet were juniors Ryan Trella (114th, 19:39.1), David Dukeman (133rd, 20:05.6) and Fred Hubach (152nd, 21:11.1).

The teams will now prepare for the District 3 meet which will be held Saturday October 28th in Hershey at the Park View Golf Course , which is behind the Giant Center.

Good Luck Mounts!

ImageMelissa Speros was playing in a Final Four Soccer Showcase game last fall at Texas A&M in College Station, Tex., when her coach suddenly yanked her off the field and handed her a cell phone.

Tennessee women's soccer coach Angela Kelly was on the other end of the line.

"She called me and said that she'd seen me play earlier in the day," said Speros, Ephrata's outstanding senior midfielder.

"And then she offered me a full scholarship right there on the spot. She said she needed me and that she really wanted me to come to Tennessee."

 

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 Melissa Speros is ready for the move to Tenessee.
Photo courtesy of Andy Babin.

 

Speros, who plays club soccer for the Pennsylvania Strikers, made an official visit to Tennessee in late September, and she has accepted Kelly's full athletic scholarship offer.

After playing her senior season for the Mountaineers in the spring, she'll be off to Knoxville, Tenn., next fall to study premed or chemistry and to play soccer for the Volunteers in the Southeastern Conference.


ImageStanding on the turf at Hempfield in a misty rain that had begun to fall Thursday night, the wear and tear on Ephrata soccer coach Rob Deininger's face was obvious.

"I have a headache," he said with a tired smile.

Chances are, he wasn't the only one by night's end.

Getting the break it needed on Jeremy Yoder's penalty-kick goal with 1:19 left before halftime, Ephrata earned a spot in the L-L boys' soccer final for the second straight year by outlasting Lancaster Mennonite for a 1-0 semifinal victory at Hempfield High School.

Despite a gritty effort from Manheim Central in the nightcap of Thursday's semifinal doubleheader, Manheim Township finally broke the game open with a pair of goals in the final 20:44 to emerge with a 2-0 victory over the Barons.

As a result, undefeated Township (20-0) -- the top-ranked Large School team in the state in the latest Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association poll -- will meet Ephrata (16-2-2) for the L-L title for the second straight year Saturday at 1 p.m. at Hempfield.

The two-time defending L-L champion Blue Streaks beat Ephrata 5-3 in last year's final, before dealing the Mountaineers a 6-0 L-L Section One-Two crossover drubbing Sept. 21.

"Our goal was to get back (to the title game)," Deininger said. "We'd like to play the No. 1 team in the state and see if we've improved since our last go-round with them."

ImageThe Ephrata girls Volleyball team won their last game of the season for the second straight year.

In a closely paired matchup against Warwick the Mounts came out on top by the scores of 25-27, 25-21, 35-33 and 25-21.

Christine Weaver recorded 9 kills for the Mounts while she and Courtney Nice also had 2 aces each.

Linsly Church had 12 blocks for the Lady Mounts. With the win Ephrata finished their season at 1-13, while Warwick dropped to 4-10.

ImageNo one gave Ephrata much of a chance coming into Saturday's L-L quarterfinal showdown with Warwick, a team that has won seven titles in nine years and is the odds-on favorite to repeat as champs.

Perhaps the only ones who did believe Ephrata ha a chance Saturday at Hempfield were the lady Mounts themselves. And as it turned out, that almost was enough.

For 60 minutes and change, the Lady Mounts played even with the Warriors, as both teams had opportunities to seize control but failed to do so.

Then after the game went to overtime scoreless, Ephrata keeper Katie Jo Rice pushed hte game on farther when she stopped a penalty stroke opportunity by Warwick's Steph Kratzer.

 

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 Katie Jo Rice made nine saves for the Lady Mounts against Warwick.
Photo courtesy of Andy Babin.

Unfortunately for Ephrata, its dreams of a monumental upset ended less than a minute later when the Warriors' Becca Spengler one-timed a pass from Brynn Adams off a free hit and put it in the cage for the gamewiner and the 1-0 victory.

With the win, Warwick (17-1-2) advanced to Wednesday's semifinal round where they will face Hempfield a 2-1 victor over Lancaster Mennonite.

Ephrata (8-9) now will be idle until Friday when the Lady Mounts enter the District Three Tournament with a play-in game. The Lady Mounts, the 17th seed, travel to 15th seeded Cumberland Valley Friday at 3:30 p.m.

Despite the loss to Warwick, Ephrata Coach Candy Rosenberry said afterward that she was proud of the effort put forth by her young team Saturday.


ImageRevenge is dish best served cold — and what better time to seek it than on a cold, rainy night with advancement in the L-L League soccer playoffs on the line?

In their quest to earn a return trip to L-L finals and avenge a 5-3 loss to Manheim Township last season, Ephrata dominated Lampeter-Strasburg with a 5-0 victory in Tuesday night’s L-L quarterfinal opener at Township.

In the second contest at Township, Lancaster Mennonite (13-2-2) got revenge on Warwick (13-5), which handed the Blazers a 3-0 defeat earlier this season, with a 1-0 victory.

With the win Mennonite will take on Ephrata Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. at Hempfield , followed by Manheim Central against Manheim Township.

Last year’s L-L League runners-up Ephrata (15-2-2) gave notice of intentions to score early and often when Alex Wilson scored on a pass from C.J. Wilson just 2:35 into the game.

The quick start was important for the Mounts to get settled in against an opponent they hadn’t played before.

“It’s always important to to start fast,” says Ephrata head coach Rob Deininger. “To put pressure on a team that you haven’t seen before.”

Senior Dan Hagey raised the pressure a bit more when he scored back-to-back goals to give his team an early 3-0 lead. His first goal was 7:07 into the game while his second was on a pass from sophomore Tyler Phillips, giving Hagey his 24th goal on the season.

“Dan’s a player,” Deininger said with a smile. “He has all the tools to play Divsion I soccer; speed, skills and intelligence.

He’s a force. I’m glad he’s on my team.”

Lampeter-Strasburg (13-5-1) managed just five shots on goal against junior Josh Peifer. The Pioneers’ closest scoring opportunity came when Zech Rowe’s shot missed by inches in the first half.

Making just their first trip to the playoffs since 1996, the Pioneers’ nerves might have gotten the best of them against a seasoned team like Ephrata.

“It helps a lot,” Hagey said of his team’s postseason experience.

“I think this was L-S’s second year here, you could tell they were a little nervous and we were comfortable.”

The Mounts started the second half the same way the began the first. Devon Williams scored only 4:51 into the half on a kick the just snuck by Dakota Palmer.

Jeremy Yoder’s 25-yard arching kick found the top right corner to give Ephrata its ninth straight victory and added to their confidence.

“We’ve won nine in a row now and I was hoping that we would just continue to do it,” Deininger said. “We were pretty confident that we would do our thing.”

ImageIn desperate need of a spark, Manheim Central finally found one late in the third quarter.

It came -- as it has many times before -- in the form of Nate Groff.

The senior running back ran for three second-half touchdowns, two in a span of 1:42, as the Barons broke open a close game and pulled away for a 36-7 win (boxscore ) over Ephrata Friday night in Manheim.

"All you need is one big play to get the momentum going," said Groff.

That big play was a 67-yard TD run with 3:03 left in the third that allowed a seemingly lifeless Baron squad to stretch their lead to 22-0.

"That's what we needed," Groff added. "Everybody did their assignment and the hole was there."

With the win, the Barons moved to 7-0 overall and their 4-0 league mark keeps them tied with Conestoga Valley atop Section Two.

Despite that, head Baron Mike Williams was left scratching his head after this one.

ImageThe Ephrata Boys (13-8) and girls (17-4) cross country teams were both in action on Tuesday night as the finished the regular season with a tough match in Manheim Township.

They Boys lost to Manheim Township (18-3) and Lancaster Mennonite (19-2), while scoring wins over Northern Lebanon (1-20) and Lampeter-Strasburg (12-9).

Cordell Oberholtzer led the way for the Mounts with a season best time of 16:46. Brad Sweigart missed his season best mark by only seconds as he finished in 17:05.

Rounding out the scoring for the Mounts was Givi Palagashvili (17:26), Mickey Molchaney (17:59) and Andy Redcay (18:11). All three boys managed their seasons' best times.

The girls came into the meet in third place but had few answers for Township (21-0) and Lancaster Mennonite's (20-1) tough top 5. After splitting the meet 2-2, with victories over Lampeter-Strasburg (13-8) and Norther Lebanon (6-15), the Mounts finished the regular season in a very respectable 5th place.

On Tuesday Brynn Lyons led the way finishing 13th overall with a season best time of 20:01. Right on her heels was Alicia Harbold (20:02), followed by Dana Haas (20:16).

Finishing the scoring for the Mounts was Jamie Singer (20:30), Sam Fink (20:53) and Kate Anderson (20:54). All six Lady Mounts ran season bests on the day.

Next up for the Mounts is the League Tournament scheduled for Thursday October 19th at Ephrata.

ImageThe Ephrata girls field hockey team is headed to the L-L Playoffs, thanks to a terrific performance in the second half of the season.

At one time, the Lady Mounts sat at 3-3 this season but since have reeled off four section wins in five tries.

Monday afternoon, their fourth win in that stretch, a convincing 2-0 victory at Garden Spot, cliched a berth in the L-L Playoffs, which begin Saturday evening at Hempfield.

The top three teams in Section Two advance to Saturday. Manheim Central (10-1) claimed the title, while Garden Spot (8-4) took second and Ephrata (7-5) claimed the last spot.

With the third place finish the Lady Mounts will square off against Section One Champion Warwick (11-0-2).

Back to Monday afternoon where Ephrata dominated from start to finish. The Lady Mounts got on the board at the seven-minute mark of the first when Kilee Rosenberry fed hannah Hess for the game's first score.

With the score remaining 1-0 at the half, Ephrata got all the insurance it would need at the 10:27 mark when Rosenberry notched her second assist on a goal by Arielle Gordon.

For the game, Ephrata out-shot Garden Spot 7-2 and held a 10-1 advantage in corners. Katie Jo Rice earned the shutout in goal as she registered a pair of saves.

"From the beginning of the year I really thought we could contend in the section," said first-year Ephrata Coach Candy Rosenberry on Tuesday. "It was a goal of mine and I made it the girls' goal. And over the last couple games we've really put things together. We've shown good improvement in the second half of the year."

In addition to Monday, Ephrata also was in action last Wednesday where the Lady Mounts earned a convincing 5-0 victory over Lampeter-Strasburg.

In that one, Kilee Rosenberry scored a pair of goals while Claire Wooley, Hess and Gordon also found the cage for Ephrata.

In addition to qualifying for the L-Ls, Ephrata also has clinched a District Three berth. The District playoffs get underway October 20th.

ImageIt's the middle of October and that usually means two things, the leaves are starting to change colors and Ephrata's boys soccer team is wrapping up another section title.

 Well, the leaves began to turn a few weeks ago and tuesday night (10/10) in New Holland, the Mounts put the finishing touches on their third-straight Section Two crown with a convincing 5-1 victory over host Garden Spot.

Some things never change.

Ephrata (10-2-2 section, 12-2-2 overall), which has not lost to a Section Two opponent in the three years it has competed there, certainly was determined not to let it happen Tuesday night.

Tyler Phillips scored a pair of goals, while Jeremy Yoder, Dan Hagey and Eli Saenz also found the back of the net in the big win.

"It was a team effort. Everyone contributed," first-year Ephrata Coach Rob Deininger said following Tuesday's victory.

"Everyone worked hard to accomplish this goal, and now we'll play our last two games and get ready for next week. We'd like to win those games to get a better seed for Districts."

With Tuesday's victory, Ephrata will now face CV at home Thursday (7:00 pm) before closing the regular season out Saturday afternoon at the Middle School (1:30 pm) vs. Cocalico.

The L-L Playoffs are scheduled to begin next tuesday at a site and time to be determined. The Mounts are scheduled to face the Section Three runnersup which at this time appears to be Lampeter-Strasburg (8-3-1).


ImageOn the heels of a successful campaign that saw the Ephrata Mounts Golf team finish 29-12-1 in third place in Section Two, the Mounts will be sending three golfer's to the District Tournament.

OnTuesday afternoon junior Steve Tretter shot an 84 finishing in 26th place overall and secured one of the final qualifying spots.

Matt Wooley (86), Ryan Contres (90), Logan Mauer (94) and Eric Beamesderfer (97) all helped Ephrata to a 9th place finish in the League nudging past Cocalico who finished in 10th.
 

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Amy Nicholas returns to Districts for the second straight year.
Photo courtesy of Andy Babin.

 

On Wednesday afternoon the girls hit the links and two Mounts, Morgan Hosler, who shot a 104, and Amy Nicholas (110) both qualified for Districts.

Morgan finished 11th while Nicholas finished 17th, securing the last District spot awarded.

The District meet is scheduled for October 14th.


ImageConestoga Valley ventured into uncharted territory Friday night in Ephrata, as the Buckskins used a balance attack on offense, defense and special teams to shut out the Mountaineers, 35-0 (boxscore ).

"You have to realize these seniors have only won three games in their high school career and this is the first time they have won two in a row," said Buckskin coach Gerad Novak after the Section Two opener for both teams.

Special teams got CV (2-2 overall) going and defense kept them there.

Ephrata (0-4) received the opening kickoff, but after only three plays, the Mounts were forced to punt from their 31.

CV's Ty Bynum took the kick at his 37 and started up the middle, but cut to the outside, broke free and raced for a 63-yard score only two minutes into the game.

The Mounts' next drive stalled when they attempted to pick up the final two yards at their 25 and were stopped by the stingy Buckskin defense.

ImageThe Ephrata girls Volleyball team suffered a pair of 3-0 losses this past week, including Tuesday night (9/19) when the Lady Mounts dropped three-straight games to visiting Solanco (1-4 overall, 1-3 section).

The Mares made quick work in this one, winning by scores of 25-17, 25-12, and 25-11.

Ephrata did fare better last Thursday when they battled Manheim Township in three tough games despite coming away with a loss.
 

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Senior Christine Weaver prepares to serve in a recent match.
Photo courtesy of Andy Babin

 

Township took Game One by a 25-18 score before the Lady Mounts kept things tighter losing both of the next two games 25-23, 25-23.

Individually, Christine Weaver led the way for Ephrata with nine kills, three aces and a pair of blocks in the loss.

The Lady Mounts (0-5, 0-4) see action again on Thursday (9/21) when they travel to Garden Spot (6-2, 3-1). JV is scheduled to start at 6:00 with Varsity commencing at 7:00.


ImageEphrataMounts.com has teamed up with the Ephrata Basketball Booster Club in a fund raiser designed to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

We are proudly presenting the third annual Dodgeball Tournament. Remember you can always click on the "Dodgeball" link on the left for all the latest news. The tournament will be held November 10th through the 12th at the Ephrata Senior High School. Team schedules will be announced here no later then Wednesday November 8th. Deadline for registrants is October 25th. If you are in any of the "scholastic" leagues, you can count on playing Friday night, and finishing on Saturday. Sunday November 12th is reserved for the Adult bracket.

Just like last year, fun and exciting team costumes are more than welcome.

You will have to turn in a parent signed waiver form if you are under the age of 18. These waiver forms can be picked up from Mr. Geyer (Ephrata High School), Mr. Sweigart (Ephrata Middle School). They are also available on this website (see below). If you are in the Elementary bracket, or Adult bracket, information about where to return your registration is included with the registration form. Adult participants must be over 16, and require a guardian signature if under 18.

If you would like to donate to the fund, but don't care about the tournament please consider the JDRF link on the left. The link will take you directly to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, from there you can follow the links to their page for donations.

All forms below are in PDF format, and require Adobe Acrobat Reader:

Download the PDF flyer

Download the Registration/Waiver form

Download the Rules

We will make a difference!

ImageEntering Friday's game with Ephrata, Warwick head coach Bob Locker and his staff tried to explain the meaning of the George Male Trophy to his players.

Having lost the last three games against Ephrata, no one on his team had experienced a victory against the Mounts.

"We told the seniors that they might not know it now, but you don't want to graduate without winning the Male Trophy," Locker said.

It came as no surprise then, that four seniors helped lead the Warriors to a 39-18 (boxscore ) win at War Memorial Field.

The Warriors quickly marched 88-yards down field in seven-plays on their first possession to go up 7-0 on an six-yard run by senior fullback Teal Stutzman.

Just 50 seconds into the second quarter, Warwick junior quarterback Jon Resch doubled the lead, capping a 64-yard drive with a 11-yard pass to senior tight Ed Tobin. Tobin had four catches for 45 yards and a touchdown in the game.

Resch dumped a short pass off to Stutzman late in the second and with some help from a couple of blockers, Stutzman took it 24 yards to give Warwick a 21-0 lead at half-time.

To start the second half, Resch connected with junior wide receiver Matt Fitzpatrick in the back of the end zone for another touchdown and a 27-0 lead.

Ephrata's offense found pay dirt about midway through the third quarter when senior Sam Wiest bowled through the Warwick defensive line on a four-yard touchdown run. The Mounts looked to make a game of it when they recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. The kick was dropped by sophomore Randy Yost at the Warwick 17 and Ephrata recovered at the 11-yard line.

Ephrata junior quarterback Blake Crowther ran the ball twice from there, including a 5-yard touchdown run to make it 27-12. Crowther was 11-for-20 for 125 yards in the air and rushed for a pair of touchdowns.

Outside of the great play by the Warwick seniors, the story was Resch. For the game, Resch was 9-for-10 for 132 yards and three touchdowns.

"Before he tried to make things happen," Locker said about Resch after the game, "Now he manages the game. He hasn't thrown any interceptions this year; that's huge."

Resch will lead the Warriors into Section One play next week, and if they can duplicate the offensive performances of the last two weeks, their opponents might be in for a surprise.

ImageThe Thursday night crowd at Elden Rettew Field had something to cheer about, and it wasn't their beloved Barons football squad.

Instead, the Manheim Central field hockey team gave the hometown fans some excitement with a hard-fought 2-1 triumph over Ephrata in an early L-L League Section Two showdown.

Chelsea Lefever and Kendra Longenecker scored first-half goals for the Barons (2-0-0 L-L, 3-1-1 overall), who handed the Mountaineers (2-1-0, 3-3-0) their first league loss of the season.

While it's still early, the victory put the Barons in an unusual place in volatile Section Two: Alone in first place.

Image
Manheim Central's Kendra Longenecker, left, who had a goal and an assist for the Barons,
gets ready to cross the ball as Ephrata's Kelly Martin defends.
© Deb Grove — Intelligencer Journal
 

"To have a 2-0 start is huge for Manheim,'' said second-year head coach Michelle Haydt, who admitted she really didn't like doing the talking about her team.

That's OK, because the 2006 Barons know how to communicate among themselves and they let their actions speak volumes.

"We've grown together as a team,'' said Lefever, a senior forward who took a feed from Longenecker and lifted the ball over fallen Ephrata keeper Katie Jo Rice 18:44 into the contest.

"A lot of us have played together since at least ninth grade. We knew that this was definitely the year that should be our year.''

With 11 seniors on the roster, Lefever and her classmates have this one last shot at making something special happen. They weren't about to blemish their perfect league record on their new A-Turf artificial surface.

"We were expecting a tough game, and it was,'' said Lefever.

"I think we gave them a run for their money,'' said Ephrata rookie head coach Candy Rosenberry. "We knew we were going to have our hands full with Manheim.''


It was definitely a tale of two halves, with Central blasting seven shots on Rice in the opening 30 minutes, and getting two past the Mounts' keeper.

"I was on the pads and just lifted (the ball) up,'' Lefever said of her goal. "I knew if I tried to jam it in, it wouldn't go.''


ImageOn Monday night (9/11) the Mounts played host to the Garden Spot Spartans. The Mounts were more then kind to the Spartans in the first half allowing them to take a 1-0 lead off of a corner kick only 3 minutes into the game. The score remained 1-0 until the 48 minute mark when Jeremy Yoder scored his second goal of the season pushing one just inside the right post, off of a pass from Tyler Phillips. Less then a minute later Phillips fed Dan Hagey for his 10th goal of the young season and the Mounts took the lead for good.

Eli Saenz scored his first goal of the season at the 60 minute mark, with assists going to Hagey and Tom Renko. Hagey added another score off of a free kick to round out the Mounts scoring. With the 4-1 victory, the Mounts improved to 5-0 overall, 3-0 in section play. The loss dropped the Spartans to 0-4, 0-3.

The Mounts will be in action again Wednesday (9/13) when they travel to Conestoga Valley for an early Section II showdown. The game is scheduled to start at 4:00. 


ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Field Hockey team travelled on Saturday for a tournament in Susquehanna Township. In the first game the Lady Mounts drew Central Dauphin and despite outshooting the opposition 13-4, the Mounts could not find wood and lost a tough game 1-0.

 In the second game against Susquehanna Township the Mounts continued with relentless pressure, this time with a 14-2 shot advantage. Kelly Martin scored her first goal on the season off of a pass from Ely Rosati. Later Rosati added a score of her own on a pass from Hannah Hess which proved to be the goal winner as the Mounts prevailed 2-1. With the win the Mounts evened their season record at 2-2.

The Lady Mounts play again on Tuesday (9/12) when the travel to Lebanon. The game time is scheduled for 4:15. 


ImageEntering Friday night's non-league football tilt with visiting Susquehanna Township, Ephrata knew that trying to keep pace with the Indians' high-octane offense would be a tall order.

Therefore, the Mountaineers' plan of attack was to shorten the game by being methodical and efficient on the offensive side of the ball, and avoid turnovers.

Unfortunately that blueprint for success went out the window as Susquehanna Township ran past Ephrata, 47-28 (boxscore ), at War Memorial Field as the teams combined for nearly 1,000 yards of total offense.

The Indians' speed at the skill positions was overwhelming, with five of their seven touchdowns coming on plays of 54 yards and longer.

"They looked good on offense and they have some wheels, don't they?" remarked Ephrata's veteran head coach Ken Grove after the game, referencing the speed demons which Susquehanna Township spread all over the field.

The Indians (2-0) of the Mid-Penn Conference were led by senior quarterback R. Anthony Wagner, who threw for two scores on 4-for-10 passing for 185 yards and also rushed six times for 87 yards and two more scores.

Senior running back Obi Rajis ran for a 73-yard touchdown in the middle of the opening period and added sprints of 53 and four yards late in the third quarter to put the game out of reach on his way to a total of 140 on the ground.

Junior backfield mate Gabe Oliver provided some more firepower with a 61-yard touchdown reception on the third play of the second half, which propelled Township to a 34-7 lead, along with 105 yards on 12 carries.

"We did not adjust to their team speed,'' Grove said. "On defense we have to be able to group together and play tough man-on-man. On defense we have to improve overall. We have to tackle better and pursue better."

Junior quarterback Blake Crowther was the star of the night for Ephrata (0-2), going 14-for-16 through the air for 164 yards and two scores, and pounding out 56 tough yards and another score on 23 carries.

Grove assessed his gritty quarterback "as a game player. He always steps up to the plate and he's just a tough competitor. The biggest thing with him is that we can't ask him to do everything. At times I think he puts it all on himself because he thinks he has to."

Some of the load was taken off of Crowther's shoulders as junior running backs Woody Miller (14 rushes, 85 yards) and Joel Yoder (seven rushes, 50 yards, one touchdown; two receptions, 25 yards) and senior Sam Wiest (five rushes, 80 yards) tried to counter the explosiveness of Susquehanna Township.

"For us, as you can see, we are pretty methodical (on offense). We have to do things and execute correctly,'' Grove said. "Having two five-yard penalties on a drive will kill us. We have to execute efficiently on offense and I think we moved the ball well at times but have to eliminate the mistakes."

The Mounts racked up ten penalties for 55 yards and fumbled five times, losing two of them.

ImageIt took all of five minutes for Ephrata to dramatically introduce the wealth of speed it possesses.

And it took 9:42 for Elizabethtown to realize just how dangerous that speed can be.

Locked in a 1-1 tie in its Section Two opener with E-town Tuesday night, Ephrata exploded for three goals in the final 9:46 of the first half, before rolling to a 7-3 drubbing of the Bears at Ephrata's War Memorial Field.

The catalyst of the Mountaineers' offensive onslaught was senior striker Dan Hagey, who scored two goals and assisted on three others, as two-time defending Section Two champ Ephrata (2-0 overall) kept its section unbeaten streak going into a third season.

"We ran up against one of the league's quality teams," shrugged E-town coach James Sostack, whose team was playing its first game of the season after dropping down from Section One last year. "(Ephrata's) speed is unmatched. I haven't seen anybody that quick."

Apparently, neither had E-town's clan of young defenders, who had trouble keeping up with an Ephrata offense that held a 22-7 advantage in shots, an 8-4 edge in corners and created 18 quality scoring chances to the Bears' five by game's end.

In fact, had it not been for last-second clears off the goal line by E-town senior defender Patrick Klinger in the first half and freshman midfielder Jason Good in the second, it actually could have been worse.

"We were pumped," said Hagey, who now has five goals and three assists in Ephrata's first two games. "(E-town) came down from Section One and they might have thought Section Two was going to be a cakewalk.

"We wanted to show them that it's our section to lose."

Message delivered.

Despite answering a game-opening goal from Ephrata's Tom Renko 17:19 into the match with a blast from junior midfielder Tyler Aldinger 1:02 later, E-town finally began to succumb to Ephrata's barrage of pressure in the final 10:00 of the first half.

First to strike for the Mounts was sophomore forward Tyler Phillips, who squirted a centering pass from Matt Hubbard past diving E-town goalie Keith Frey to give Ephrata a 2-1 lead 9:46 before the break.

"I think we just had so much pressure on them that eventually (E-town) was going to have a mental lapse," Ephrata coach Rob Deininger said. "And it finally happened."

Again and again, it seemed.

In fact, after Hagey dribbled through two defenders down the left side and beat Frey to make it 3-1 with 2:16 left in the half, Ephrata notched what turned out to be the game-winner a mere 1:32 later -- this one compliments of Devon Goodman, who took a pass from Hagey and smoothly pushed the ball past the diving Frey's hands that made it 4-1.

And when Hagey used another burst of speed to get behind the defense and send a perfectly-placed rocket into the top right corner 1:02 into the second half, the Mounts' message had officially been delivered.

"It was just one of those games," Deininger said with a smile.

With speed like Ephrata's, there could be a lot more.

ImageAs he stood under the home-stand bleachers to avoid the lingering remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto that circled overhead, two letters stood out to Manheim Township football coach Mike Melnyk Friday night.

First, there was the C -- more accurately, the C-minus -- which he used to grade his team's opening-night performance.

Second, and way more important though, was the "W." The one that gets registered in the standings.

Despite rainy conditions that hindered senior quarterback Pat Bostick and the Blue Streaks' air attack, not to mention a gritty all-around performance from Ephrata, Township held on to secure a 13-10 (boxscore ) non-league victory over the Mountaineers in Neffsville.

Despite earning a first down at the Township 7-yard line with 57 seconds left in the game, Ephrata's chances officially unraveled two plays later when junior quarterback Blake Crowther had a short pass toward the right sideline picked off by Township senior linebacker Matt McDonald with 25 seconds left.

McDonald returned the interception 88 yards down the sideline for what appeared to be a touchdown, before an illegal block call negated the score and gave Township the ball at its own 15.

Regardless, 14.2 seconds and a knee by Bostick later, Township still had something to celebrate.

"We're not going to apologize to anyone for beating them by three," Melnyk said afterward. "I told my kids, 'I've been on the other side (in close games) with the "L" next to me a couple of times in the past, and I'd much rather be on this side.'

ImageKat Strohm defeated Shannon Leahy 6-0, 6-1 then teamed up with Greta Stemplinger, for a doubles match and won 7-5, 6-3 for the decisive fourth point as the Ephrata Mounts Tennis team turned back Lebanon 4-3.

The marathon 2 1/2 hour doubles match sealed the victory for the Mounts who came out of singles play with a slight 3-2 lead.

Stemplinger, returning from an injury that caused her to miss most of the preseason practice, narrowly lost her singles match to Anna Haitos 2-6, 7-6, 9-11. The final match extending to two super-tiebreak points.

The Mountaineer lineup has a new look this year starting with the coach, as Cheryl Fritz returns after an eight year hiatus to guide the Lady Mounts. Fritz who coached 13 years prior at Ephrata (1985-97) amassed over 100 victories in her previous tenure. The Mounts also have a new look on the court after graduating 4 seniors that played the majority of the matches over the last two years.

Lindsay Miller, Stemplinger, Liya Palagashvili, Strohm, and Lia Denlinger currently make up the top five flights.

Last night the Mounts had a tougher time with Garden Spot as the Spartans won 6-1. Palagashvili took a one set lead over Steph Fisher with a 6-1 first set, but dropped the next two 4-6, and 9-11 in a tight match at Flight 3.

Denlinger remained undeafted in Flight 5 with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Lindsey Riehl.

The JV Tennis team showed their depth as they recorded two victories, defeating Lebanon 7-0, and Garden Spot 8-4.

The Lady Mounts play Thursday August 31st at Lampeter-Strasburg with the first match scheduled to begin play at 4:00.

ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Golf Team was the first to be in League action this year with back to back Section Two showdowns. When the Fairway dust had cleared, the Mounts stood in sole possession of third place in Section Two. On Tuesday and Wednesday the Mounts lost to both Lampeter-Strasburg and Cocalico, while beating Elizabethtown, Garden Spot, Lebanon, and Manheim Central.

The Mounts (8-4) are three games out of first, and three games ahead of 4th place in the Section.

The Mounts were 12 strokes behind Cocalico on Monday and 25 strokes behind L-S, but on Tuesday the Mounts closed the stroke lead to 8 and 6 respectively. 

Individually Steve Tretter shaved 9 strokes off of his opening round of 83, with a solid 74 on Tuesday. The 74 was the 5th best score recorded in Section Two on Wednesday. L-S's Gray West and Lebanon's Sam Driebelbis both fired a 71 to lead all individuals.

Ryan Contres maintained consistency scoring an 80 on both days. Eric Beamesderfer scored 85 and 82. Logan Maurer scored an 89 and 86. Monday Matt Wooley placed in the top 5 with a score of 90, and on Tuesday Willie Helander scored an 86 to figure in the Mounts scoring.

The Mounts Golf Team returns to action Tuesday August 29th at Cocalico. 


ImageFour members of Ephrata's Section Two champion baseball team earned first team all-section status as the teams were announced this past week.

 Senior first baseman Chris Hull, sophomore outfielder Steve Tretter and senior pitcher Zac Schnader joined utility man senior Derek Sipe n the Section two first team. Hull batted .364 this season with two home runs and 13 RBI Tretter turned in an outstanding sophomore campaign, hitting .411 with 11 RBI, 17 runs and 12 stolen bases. Sipe concluded a super career for the Purple and Gold, batting .373 with a home run, 14 runs scored and seven steals.

Schnader went 4-1 with 44 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.05.

In addition to the first teamers, catcher Dan Hagey, third baseman Alex Weaver, shortstop Reid Martin and Sipe (pitcher) all earned honorable mention.


ImageDerek Sipe and Paul McHenry are two of the most accomplished soccer players in Ephrata’s program history.

That’s saying something, since they come from a program that has churned out its share of star players over the last decade.

And recently, the soon-to-be graduated seniors who were co-MVPs on the EHS squad this past season were rewarded as they both signed on to continue their respective careers in college. Sipe, who never missed the playoffs in baseball or soccer in his four-year high school career, signed on with Messiah, a Division III power that has won back-to-back national championships.

And McHenry, a goalie, who as a member of the Olympic Development Program has played all over the U.S. and as far away as Italy, will take his talents to Division One Seton Hall University, where he will receive what amounts to be a full ride (½ athletic, ½ academic scholarship).

While Sipe had the talents to also play at the Division One level, the attraction of joining a program with a winning tradition such as Messiah’s was too hard to pass up.

The two-time Section Two MVP who received All-State and All-American nominations did consider Division One Duquesne. But in the end, Messiah was where he wanted to go.


ImageIt didn't take long for Ephrata's Christin Wise to catch the eyes of Randolph-Macon Head Softball Coach Kevin Proffitt.

 While pitching with her summer team, the PA Mystics, at the harrisburg Showcase, Proffitt caught just a glimpse of the left-handed windmiller and that apparently was all he needed.

"He saw me pitch to like three batters and went up and told my dad that he wanted me to come to their school," Wise said recently.

That was enough to convince Wise and her parents that Randolph-Macon College, located in Ashland, Virginia, would be the place she would spend the next four years.

"It's such a gorgeous campus," Wise said of R-MC. "And they really have an up and coming program. They are a fairly new team but they are very good. They had a great record last year."

Randolph-Macon College softball was only in its ninth season of competition in the spring of 2006, and the Yellow Jackets achieved several milestones. R-MC set the program's record for wins in a season, with 17 victories, and at 17-17 had a .500 record for the first time ever. The Yellow Jackets also defeated Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) power Virginia Wesleyan for the first time in the history of the program.

Wise, who will major in criminology, accepted a a partial scholarship from the Division III School which competes in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. She said she was told her scholarship money will increase depending on the success she achieves.


ImageThe Ephrata girls softball team fell victim to Central Dauphin's one-two punch of Sara Romano and Nicki Averso in the opening round of the District Three AAA Softball Playoffs at Heishman Field in Newville Tuesday.

Romano, the designated hitter for the Rams, drove in all three Central Dauphin runs while Averso was splendid on the mound, allowing just two hits over seven innings as the Rams advanced out of the first round with a 3-1 win over the Lady Mounts.

Romano had a two-run homerun in the fourth and an RBI single in the sixth off hard-luck losing pitcher Christi Wise, who wiffed seven and scattered five base hits. Leah Shema went 2-for-2 to set the table for Romano's RBI as Shema's courtesy runner, Kiersten Darhower, had three stolen bases and two runs scored.

Averso struck out 10 and walked just one for the Rams (18-5), who placed second in the District a year ago.

Ephrata, which closed out the season at 12-9, got its lone two hits on the day from Erica Ewing, who was subbing for the injured Keirah Hoerner, and Alyssa Harnish.

The Mounts lone run of the game came in the fifth when they cut the lead to 2-1 as pinch runner Nicole Miller crossed the plate on an error by the Rams shortstop. 


ImageCentral Dauphin senior southpaw Zach Whitman rode a devastating curve to a one-hit, 10-strikeout performance and dealt the Mountaineers (16-7) their first shutout of the season, 3-0.

My catcher (Chris Albright) kept calling (for the curve) so I have to give him credit," smiled Whitman, who outdueled Zac Schnader and is now 7-1 this year. "I felt good the whole game."

Mounts coach Adrian Shelley was impressed with Whitman. "We ran into a buzzsaw," Shelley said. "I knew he had a pretty low ERA (1.54) in a league (Mid-Penn Conference) that's very respected and competitive. He was lights out tonight."

The Rams (13-10) rode a double by Tom Healy and an RBI single by Nate Shroy to a 1-0 lead in the third.

Levi Bailey's leadoff homer to right in the fourth made it 2-0. Schnader, a senior righty who surrendered eight hits and struck out seven, allowed an unearned run in the sixth when Jim Crowley reached on an error and courtesy runner Tim Hook scored on an RBI single by Mike Hartz.

The 3-0 lead proved to be more than enough for Whitman, whose no-hit effort was spoiled by Derek Sipe's third-inning single."

He carried us, he put us on his back," Rams coach B.J. Osevala said of Whitman, who owns two one-hitters and a two-hitter this season.

Shelley agreed. "(Whitman) commanded the game," he said. "We were overmatched."


ImageThe Ephrata Track team completed a successful season competing in the District Meet held at Shippensburg University.

Sophomore Brynn Lyons was th highest finishing Mount as she went 16 feet 7.75 inches in the long jump to claim a seventh place finish. Lyons also finished 18th in the 400 with a time of 1:01.06.

Taylor Fletcher finished 4th in her heat in the 100 meter hurdles, with a time of 17.13, but her time was not low enough to advance to the next heat.

The Ephrata girls 4x800 relay team claimed 10th place at the meet. 

CJ Wilson finished third in his heat with a time of 11.45 in the 100 meter dash, but finished 8th in his second run of the day with a time of 11.54. Wilson also competed in the high jump, but was unable to clear the 6-0 mark set at the start of Districts.

Dan Szabo finished 13th in the Javelin with a throw of 157 feet 5 inches. 


ImageAll season long, Manheim Township believed it was the best baseball team in the Lancaster-Lebanon League.

Now the Blue Streaks have the hardware to prove it.

Sean Rigney spun a five-hitter and Chris Hartl went four-for-four at the plate with two RBIs to lead Township past Ephrata, 6-3, in the L-L title game Thursday night at Ephrata's War Memorial Field.

The league championship marks the first for the Streaks (20-2) since 1980, when Township defeated Lampeter-Strasburg 2-1. The Streaks had played in four L-L championship games since but had gone winless in each, including an 11-7 loss to Hempfield in their most recent appearance in 1997.

"We were always very close," said Rigney, a senior left-hander who improved to 9-1 on the season and avenged his only loss, a 2-1 defeat at Ephrata (15-6) in an L-L Sections One-Two crossover game on April 24.

En route to outdueling Mountaineers right-hander Derek Sipe, Rigney threw 110 pitches, 66 for strikes, while striking out six and walking two. He also singled in two runs in the fourth to highlight a decisive four-run rally, and doubled in the sixth.

"We always had the talent but we never put it together," Rigney said of the Streaks' unrealized title hopes in recent seasons. "From the first practice this season, we had confidence in this team. We knew we had what it took. We felt we had the most talent and the best team, and we put it together."

The victory not only ended Township's 26-year L-L title drought, it also gives the Section One champion Streaks a first-round bye in the District Three Class AAAA playoffs that begin Monday.

For Bill Sassaman, the league championship marks the first in his 14 seasons as Township head coach.

"You get into high school coaching for the kids, not for awards," Sassaman said as he held the coveted trophy. "But every coach wants to experience one moment of winning a league championship."

ImageSchnader, Mounts grind out win over Hempfield

 In the most recent string of overused sports cliches, "blue collar" and "worker's mentality" are at the top of the list, especially when the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers are in the conversation.

It isn't a cliche when it comes to Ephrata pitcher Zac Schnader, though.

Hard hat and all.

"It all started with that helmet,'' Schnader said Tuesday night. "The trainer wanted me to wear it, so I decided to try it out and threw with it in the bullpen. It was OK, but I didn't have it. Then I took it off and I got back to what I do."

In Schnader's second start since returning from a concussion, he donned a hard hat, even though cleared of any restrictions, for the first four innings before shedding it and throwing three game-ending shutout innings.

Tuesday night, Schnader worked his way through a 128-pitch complete game, scattering 10 hits and four runs, while his teammates did the rest. Center fielder Steve Tretter's two-run single highlighted a four-run second inning as the Mounts knocked off Hempfield, 6-4, in the L-L League semifinals at Ephrata's War Memorial Field.

Section Two champion Ephrata advances to the L-L League championship game to face Manheim Township at 7 p.m. Thursday at Ephrata.

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Ephrata's Zac Schnader goes to work against Hempfield in Tuesday night's early game at Ephrata. Schnader went the route for the victorious Mountaineers, striking out five and walking four.
© Deb Grove — Intelligencer Journal


Schnader was the winner in the Mounts' section title game against Conestoga Valley, but was advised to wear a hard helmet for Tuesday's start by a concussion specialist.


ImageThe Ephrata Mounts boys volleyball team found themselves in a tough pool at Penn Manor Tuesday night. Unfortunately for the Mounts, it was a pool they couldn't get out of as they were eliminated from the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs.

Hempfield defeated Ephrata 25-14, 25-16, and 25-21 to start the pool play. Ephrata then faced current #1 team in the state Lancaster Mennonite who put the Mounts down 25-6, 25-12 and 25-17.

In the third round of pool play the Mounts dropped their match to Penn Manor 25-17, 25-23 and 25-11.

The 0-3 record in pool play eliminated the Mounts from the tournament.

Congratulations to all the members of the team for qualifying for the League Tournament. 


ImageEphrata advanced to the L-L semi-finals, which are scheduled to be played this Tuesday at the War Memorial in Ephrata.

Conestoga Valley (15-6) and Manheim Township (18-2) play in the second game at 7:30 p.m., preceded by Hempfield (11-8) and Ephrata (15-5), scheduled for 5:30.

Ephrata (15-5) benefited from a five-run outburst, in the second inning, to stop Annville-Cleona 5-0.

The Mountaineers' Derek Sipe had an efficient outing, throwing just 57 pitches in six innings before exhausting his legal allotment for the week (he had thrown eight innings Monday).

Sipe scattered three hits, struck out one and walked nobody as Annville-Cleona (14-6) hit just one ball out of the infield.

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"I'm not usually this efficient," he said. "They were just putting the ball in play and my defense was making the plays behind me."

The Mounts, who have now won 13 of their last 14, reached A-C ace Nolan Hostetter in a second-inning bat-around plus one.

Alan Kliewer plated the first run with a bases-loaded pop-up to short left. Alex Weaver, hitting last in the lineup, delivered the key blow, doubling off the fence in left to drive in two runs.

"You never know in the playoffs who is going to be the hero at the plate," said Mounts coach Adrian Shelley. "Today it was [Weaver] in the nine-hole."

Sipe smoked a two-run single through third baseman Andrew Tilley's legs to cap the outburst, and carried his lead home.


ImageBrynn Lyons captured gold at the recent L-L League Championships held at Hempfield High School. Lyons went 16-9 in the long jump to capture 1st place.

Lyons also finished in 5th place in the 400 Meter Dash.

Ephrata's Relay Team of Lyons, Dana Haas, Alicia Harbold and Samantha Fink finished in second place in the 3200.

 On the boys' side C.J. Wilson earned third place in the 100 yard dash, and 5th place in the High Jump.

Devon Williams also earned an individual medal securing 5th place in the Discus.

Ephrata's 400 Meter Relay team (Burkholder, stauffer, Yarbrough, Wilson) also finished 4th.

The Mounts will now turn their attention to the District Meet which starts Friday evening at Shippensburg University


ImageReid Martin provided the power, Zac Schnader the pitching, and the combination proved potent enough Wednesday to give Ephrata its third L-L League Section Two baseball title in four years.

"This has been our goal, and it's great to achieve it," said Martin, who stroked a single to left field in the bottom of the seventh inning to rally the Mountaineers past Conestoga Valley, 3-2, in the section championship played at Manheim Township.

"We're a clutch team, we've been like that all year," said Schnader, who hurled a five-hitter in his first mound appearance since suffering a severe concussion two weeks ago.

The dramatic victory was the ninth one-run win this season for the Mounts (13-4 in the L-L) and sends them into Saturday's opening round of league playoffs opposite Section Four runner-up Annville-Cleona (11-5).

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The Buckskins (12-5) will face Section Four champ Pequea Valley (12-4). Starting times for Saturday's quarterfinals at Ephrata's War Memorial Field are expected to be announced today.

Ryan Crowther got the Mounts going in the seventh when he was hit by a pitch from Bucks reliever Joe Wengerd with one out.

Steve Tretter followed by driving an 0-1 delivery to right center for a double. Trying to score from first, Crowther was tagged out at home by catcher Greg Dissinger in the second of two outstanding defensive plays by the Bucks.


ImageIn a game where lateral passes came to die, Section One runner-up Hempfield and Section Two runner-up Ephrata exchanged offensive firepower for the entire game, but the scoring chances were the difference maker.

 "We missed a few opportunities that we should have had, but I think they missed more than we did. That could have been an 8-6 contest," Hempfield coach Keith Nagley said. "We just found a way to come up with big stops when we needed them and score goals at the right time."

Hempfield capitalized on the majority of its early scoring opportunities thanks to the success of its forwards getting under the Ephrata defense on balls from the midfield.

"We made an adjustment coming into the game with which side we wanted to attack and how we wanted to play. We wanted to get the ball to the weak side and get it in there when it was open," Nagley said.

With that method in mind, Hempfield rattled off first-half goals from Caitlin Moore and two virtually identical scores from Amy Wengrenovich and Marina Pappas in the 19th and 23rd minute, giving it a 3-1 lead at the break.

The Knights struck first in the second half on Greenawalt's tally for a three-goal lead, but Ephrata managed to keep attacking.

The Mountaineers broke through with 17:00 to go on Aly Goodman's second goal, and again with a point-blank shot by Melissa Speros to cut the lead to 4-3.

Ephrata kept plugging and with just over a minute remaining, Arielle Gordon couldn't convert on a breakaway shot, as Hempfield managed to hold it.

"It turned out to be a nailbiter, but it shouldn't have been. They needed to pop one in and just couldn't get it done. Phew, I don't need anymore like that. It'll give me ulcers," Nagley said. 


ImageChristine Wise (11-6) scattered 8 hits allowing the Mounts to hold of the Bears in Elizabethtown Monday night 4-3.

The Bears struck first in this one pushing a run across in the bottom of the third on a suicide squeeze.

The Mounts came right back in the top of the fourth scoring three runs. Keirah Hoerner (.483 BA) scored first on a Jen Keith ground out, and Jolyn Stauffer followed with an RBI single in the inning, Nicole Miller then courtesy ran for her, promptly stole second, the stole third and advanced home as the throw from the catcher skipped into the outfield. The Mounts collected three hits in the inning and took the lead 3-1.

The score remained there until the fifth inning when the Bears leadoff batter Bigler tripled and was plated on an Ahern single.

Again the Mounts came right back in the sixth loading the bases before Erica Ewing reached on a fielding error which plated Caitlin Mull who had singled earlier in the inning and the Mounts stretched the lead back to two, 4-2.

The Bears went 1-2-3 in the sixth, as did the Mounts in the seventh.

Then things got interesting for the Mounts. In the bottom of the seventh Hipple reached on a fielding error, and was replaced by Heisey as a courtesy runner. The Bears Libby struck out on a wild pitch allowing Heisey to move to second, she then stole third with Bigler up again.

Again Bigler blasted a shot, this time to deep right field, scoring Heisey, but Mull tracked down the ball fired to Audrey Thorp who relayed it to Stauffer to nail Bigler at the plate and keep the lead at 4-3.

The Bears followed with another single, but the momentum had long since shifted to the Mounts and Wise induced Klim into a comebacker to end the game.


ImageWinner earns Section crown, date with Annville-Cleona and an automatic District spot

Ephrata rallied back several times Monday evening before putting Elizabethtown away, earning a hard fought 9-8 victory. The Mounts put a run across in the seventh to tie it and won the game in the eighth on an error by the Bear's secondbasemen. The win kept the Mounts (12-4) tied with Conestoga Valley (12-4) at the top of Section 2.

The Mounts will meet the Buckskins Wednesday afternoon at 4:15 to determine the Section Champ, the game will be played at Manheim Township. The teams split during the regular season, and both have assured themselves a spot in the League playoffs. The loser of the game will play Section 4 Champ Pequea Valley (12-4) on Saturday at Ephrata, the winner gets Annville-Cleona (11-5).

The other playoff matches on Saturday at Ephrata include Manheim Township (14-2) vs Donegal (11-5), and Northern Lebanon (12-4) vs Hempfield (8-8). 


ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Girls Soccer Team needed overtime to get past a pesky Elco team (9-7-1) on Saturday afternoon. Melissa Speros scored the winning goal on Saturday at 82:30, propelling the Mounts to a Quarterfinal date with Section One runner-up Hempfield (13-3-1).

The Mounts started the scoring in the first half 23 minutes into the contest Emily Beamesderfer slid one past Jacklyn Smith (6 saves) to give the Mounts an early 1-0 lead.

That lead looked like it might be enough to win until Ashley Gardener scored at the 75 minute mark, knotting the game at 1-1, a score that would hold until the end of regulation. 

Once in overtime, Speros wasted little time scoring the final goal of the game. Becca Cetkowski turned away 10 Elco shots enroute to the victory.

The Mounts (12-4-1) play Hempfield on Tuesday at 7:30 at Conestoga Valley . Their game follows the 5:30 game of Lancaster Catholic (16-2) and Warwick (8-6-1). 

Good Luck Mounts! 


ImageThe Mounts tuned up for the League meet this past weekend participating in the Blue Streak Relays. The girls finished 8th overall, while the boys finished 11th overall.

But it was Brynn Lyons and Amber Davies that stood out as they set a meet record in the Long jump with a combined total of 31 feet 11.5 inches. For the girls, Ephrata also claimed to third place finishes in the 4 x 1600 relay and in the 4 x 800 relay. The Mounts finished 4th in the Shuttle Hurdle Relay and capped off the scoring with a 6th place finish in the High Jump.

The boys placed second in the 4 x 100 with a time of 44.2, a third place finish in the shot put with a distance of 92 feet .5 inches. They also finished fifth in the Sprint Medley Relay, and 6th in the Triple Jump.

Junior High Track News: On Friday, May 4, 2006, the Ephrata Mounts Junior High Track and Field team came up short to a tough Hempfield team. The highlight of the night was the amount of records that were broken!

It started when 8th grader Allison Hunt broke team mate Gabby Gehr's record of 13.3.  Allison shaved a tenth of a second off the previous record, lowering it to 13.2 and picked up a first place finish along the way.

Two events after, Mickey Molchany ran victorious in the mile breaking Givi Palagashvilli's 2004 record of 5:10 with a second place finish, and a new record of 5:09.  Keeping up with this "fast track" the girls 4x100 relay of Jenna Miller, Megan Bramble, Hunt, and Gehr ran to a new school record of 55.9. 

The last two records that were broken were both in the 800 meter run.  First, coming in first place, 7th grader, Kathleen Andriani ran her heart out lowering Brynn Lyons' record of a 2:38 down to 2:36.  Right after that Daniel Witwer ran a 3rd place finish with a time of a 2:21.


ImageEphrata is one of four teams trying to fill the two available spots in next week's Lancaster-Lebanon League girls' soccer playoffs Saturday at Pequea Valley High School .

Section Three runner-up Lancaster Mennonite (13-2-2) will take on Section Two third-place finisher Manheim Central (9-6-3) in the first game of a qualifier doubleheader at 2 p.m., before Section Two runner-up Ephrata (11-4-1) squares off against Section Three third-place finisher Elco (9-6-1) at 4 p.m. The Mounts did not play Elco during the regular season.

The winners of each game earn a spot in Tuesday's quarterfinals, which will be played at Hempfield and Conestoga Valley.

The winner of today's Manheim Central-Lancaster Mennonite game will face Section One champion Penn Manor (14-1-2) Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Hempfield. The Ephrata-Elco winner earns a date with Section One runner-up Hempfield (13-3-1) Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Conestoga Valley .

Other quarterfinal games Tuesday include Section Two champion Conestoga Valley (12-3-1) vs. Section One fourth-place finisher Manheim Township (9-4-4) at 7:30 p.m. at Hempfield, and Section Three champion Lancaster Catholic (16-2) against Section One third-place finisher Warwick (8-6-1) at Conestoga Valley at 5:30 p.m.

Pequea Valley will host Thursday's semifinals (5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.) and Saturday's championship game (time to be determined).


ImageEphrata's Rory Burkholder pitched with poise and intelligence Monday afternoon amid sun-soaked surroundings in Witmer.

In the process, the junior left-hander paced the Mountaineers to an 11-6 win over Conestoga Valley and into a first-place tie with the Buckskins in the L-L League's Section Two standings.

But that's just half the story. Burkholder gained the big-game assignment only because scheduled starter Zac Schnader suffered an injury Sunday night when he was hit in the head by a line drive while pitching batting practice for his younger brother's Little League team.

"I've been waiting for an opportunity," said Burkholder, who went 6a-c innings and threw 112 pitches in his first start of the season.

"I just thought about what I had to do -- throw strikes and keep 'em guessing."

Making just his second mound appearance of the season, Burkholder owned a three-hit shutout through five innings against a Bucks offense averaging better than 10 runs per outing. By game's end, he had helped the Mounts improve to 10-3 in the L-L and 11-4 overall with three games remaining in the regular season.

ImageAccording to Leah Sipe, the heartbreaks were becoming increasingly harder to swallow.

For starters, there was that 4-3 loss to Conestoga Valley late in the Section Two season last year, during which the Mountaineers watched a 3-0 lead disintegrate in the game's final 12:00.

Then there was April 11 in windswept Witmer, when Ephrata came out on the short end of a 3-2 overtime decision to the Buckskins.

Eventually, something had to change.

"We felt this was the game to win," Ephrata's sophomore midfielder said of the Mounts' Section Two clash with CV Monday night. "We knew we would come in here (wanting to win) it. And the result was awesome. Awesome."

Not if you were wearing a CV jersey.

Using its quick-strike offense to rack up three unanswered goals after halftime, Ephrata reversed years worth of disappointment by drilling the Bucks, 4-1, at Ephrata's War Memorial Field.

ImageLast night at home and under the lights for the first time this season, the Ephrata Softball team knocked Warwick out of a first place tie in Section One, and moved into a tie for second place in Section Two, in front of their largest crowd on the season.

The Lady Mounts hung on for a 2-1 win (boxscore) over the Warriors, while Cedar Crest topped Elizabethtown, leaving the Bears and the Mounts with identical 8-3 league records.

Ephrata struck first in this one, taking advantage of a Warrior mental error. In the third inning, Ephrata's Keirah Hoerner laced a single to left-center field, but Warwick's centerfielder Pickel fired a strike to Martin to nail Ephrata's Caitlin Mull at third base for the second out of the inning. Hoerner would later advance to third on a wild pitch, and it looked like Warwick's Kreiter would get out of the inning when she induced Jen Keith to hit a ground ball back to her. Rather then going to first for the third out however, Kreiter went for the play at the plate and Hoerner's collision with Gabers jarred the ball free and the Mounts led 1-0.

Meanwhile, Christi Wise (8-5, 2.26 ERA) held the Warriors in check as she carried a no-hitter through 5 innings.


ImageThe Boys Tennis team is preparing for the League tournament. The pigtail matches are complete and unfortunately for Ephrata's Logan Auker, his singles season is over, as he lost to Elizabethtown's Michael Sweigart in straight sets 6-2. 6-0.

Surviving the preliminaries was Shane Burridge who dropped McCaskey's Joel Coble 6-1, 6-1. Burridge brought his singles record to an even 4-4.

Today in Flight One at Conestoga Valley, Brad Sweigart (6-8) will face Garden Spot's Zach Eberly. A week ago (4/20), Sweigart defeated Eberly 6-3, 6-2.

In Flight Five at Manheim Township, Burridge advanced to meet Jesse Blank from Annville-Cleona. Ephrata did not play Annville-Cleona this year, but look for Burridge to advance.

In doubles action, Sweigart and Cameron Auker (7-7) may have their hands full with Donegal's Derek Musser and Matt Hotchkiss. This may come down to the third set.

In Flight Two of doubles, Shane Burridge and Logan Auker have teamed up and will face Annville-Cleona's Max Winters and Jesse Blank. Burridge may help to defeat Blank twice today.

Good Luck to all the Mounts in action today!


ImageThe Ephrata girls soccer team just went through their least successful week of the season.

That's the bad news. The good news is despite an upset 2-1 loss at L-S last Wednesday, and a 2-2 tie with Manheim Central Friday, the Lady Mounts can still make a run at the Section Two title.

The Lady Mounts (6-2-1) are in sole possession of second place behind first-place Conestoga Valley (7-0-1), and if they take care of business this week their rematch with the Buckskins could be big next Monday night (7 p.m.) at War Memorial .

But back to this past week when the Lady Mounts were upset at L-S.

ImageFor three hours, the Cocalico and Ephrata track teams laid it all on the track, the pits and the field. Then, they spent a leisurely five minutes celebrating -- together.

That's how high school sports is supposed to be: Give it your best shot as athletes, then congratulate each other as students.

"They're our crosstown rivals, but it's also a friendly competition,'' said Cocalico senior Donnie Graybill, who won four events and scored 20 of his team's points as the Eagle boys toppled Ephrata 101-49 in a Section Two meet Thursday night in Denver.

"Coming into the season, we thought we would be able to compete for the section title,'' said Ephrata coach John Keller, after his girls' team grounded the Eagles 105-44.

After their win, the Cocalico boys (4-0 L-L, 5-0 overall) put themselves into position to capture their first Section Two title since finishing off a run of three straight championships in 2001. The biggest obstacle left for the Eagles is a season-ending showdown May 8 at Garden Spot (3-0 L-L). The Mountaineer boys dropped to 2-2, 3-4.



CJ Wilson sprints to victory

Ephrata's C.J. Wilson holds off Cocalico's Kyle Fisher to win the 100 in 11.0.
Wilson also won the 200 in 23.0 and anchored the winning 400 relay.
© Suzette Wenger—Intelligencer Journal


Likewise, the Ephrata girls (4-0, 7-0) remained unbeaten, but their biggest test will come Monday in New Holland and will also be at the hands of defending section champion Garden Spot (3-0 L-L). The Cocalico girls fell to 1-3, 2-3.

"We thought we would have a chance to win the section and now we're in position to do it,'' Graybill said. "We've all been gunning for it and we really want to get it.''

Graybill certainly did his part Thursday, recording personal bests in winning the high jump (6-4) and long jump (20-0.75), tying his best in the pole vault (13-6), and coming close to his best in the triple jump (41-9.75).

He came within a hair of breaking the school record when he tried to clear 14-1 in the pole vault. He barely grazed the bar on his way over on his final attempt.

All of this coming from a kid who was sidelined with a foot injury until last week.

ImageEphratamounts.com is proud to announce the launching of our third "sister-site". Sharp eyes may have already noticed along the left hand side the addition of "Mounts Softball". Clicking on that link will direct you to the Lady Mounts Softball home where you can find schedules, directions to away games, results, boxscores and more stats then you can shake a stick at.

The site is often updated the same night the game is played.

Although this site does open in a new window, you can trust that all pages are being generated by ephratamounts.com.

The Softball site joins the popular Mounts Football and Basketball "sister-sites". Speaking of which, both of these sites had their archive sections updated to reflect this seasons efforts.

ImageFor the players, the most nerve-wracking moment had nothing to do with the plethora of defensive stands they had been forced to make, or with any of the other close calls and near misses that are common in a game between two section powers.

Instead, it had everything to do with one tiny coin. More accurately, which side of that coin would be facing skyward once it finally completed its descent to the ground.

Aided by a coin toss that gave it a coveted wind advantage entering overtime, Conestoga Valley got the game-winning goal from Morgan Gerz 6:51 into the extra session, and escaped with a 3-2 Section Two victory over Ephrata Tuesday afternoon in gusty Witmer.

The win pushed the Buckskins (4-0-1 section, 5-2-1 overall) into first place in the section standings, one point ahead of Ephrata (4-1, 6-2).

"With the young team we have the biggest thing this (win) does, hopefully, is give us confidence in big games," CV coach Bob Scotten said afterward.

Unfortunately for Scotten, his confidence began wavering a bit after regulation, once he realized his team captains had suddenly disappeared.

"I was talking to someone on the bench and I turned around and our girls were already walking (onto the field)," Scotten said, referring to the coin toss that would decide which goal each team would defend in OT.

"I had told them earlier that I wanted to go with the wind. I was just hoping they remembered."

ImageLast week the Ephrata Boys Lacrosse traveled to Hempfield to take on one of the best teams in the state the last few seasons.

The game started out tough for the Mounts, who gave up their first goal just 15 seconds into the game. A tough, hard checking Hempfield defense, kept the Ephrata offense shut down in the first quarter, while Hempfield found the net a total of four times.

Ephrata finally got on the board in the second, with Jake Harley and Eric Petters each getting a goal from the outside to make the score, 7-2 in favor of Hempfield.

Ephrata was able to play the Black Knights even in the third, with both teams getting two goals. On the Ephrata side it was Harley and Brandon Rook getting the unassisted goals. A very deep Hempfield team took advantage of their fresh legs in the fourth, and outscored Ephrata 5-0 to close it out with a 14-4 Hempfield victory.

Despite the loss, Ephrata Head Coach Mike Ream felt his team played will.

"I was really proud of our kids," he said. "To have a score of 9-4 at the end of the third was a moral victory for us. We're playing with a total of 12 field players, where Hempfield is playing with about 24. They just wore us down in the fourth."

On Thursday the Mounts opened their home field play against a tough Hershey team. The past three years, the game was decided on one goal, and this one was no different.

Ephrata jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, but Hershey came right back. Ephrata entered the fourth quarter down 5-4. Tough defense from the long poles: Adam Gerhart, Will Rabuck, Luc Felak and Casey Seibert, helped hold off a determined Hershey offense.

Ephrata managed to outscore Hershey 3-1 in the fourth to pull out an exciting 7-6 victory.

Scoring for Ephrata were: Harley 3, Rook 2, with Mike Summers and Petters each adding one goal.

ImageThere are times every season when you are presented with certain challenges ot validate your team.

And for the Ephrata girl's soccer team, theirs came Monday afternoon (4/2) at Manheim Central.

The Lady Mounts, who were looking for their fourth-straight victory to start the year, faced their first big test of the season in the Barons, who along with the Lady Mounts and Conestoga Valley are expected to battle it out for the Section Two title.

Well, Ephrata delivered the first big blow in the section race Monday with an exciting 2-1 decision over the Barons. With the score knotted at 1-1 early in the second half, Melissa Speros notched the game winner off a nifty "through ball" pass from teammate Leah Sipe.

Speros went in all alone on Baron keeper Emily Swarr and put the ball behind her to lif her team to the all-important win.
"It was just a great goal," Ephrata Coach Chris Dutton said of the game winner.

The win not only improved the Lady Mounts record to a perfect 4-0, but also put them in sole possession of first place with a 3-0 section mark.

"We try to treat every game like a championship game," Dutton said when asked about the importance of this early-season tussle. "We have to address each game that way, but it is really big on the confidence side."

Ephrata needed little time to gain the upper hand in Monday's contest. Arielle Gordon got the Lady Mounts on the board just 1:25 in when she scored on Swarr, who notched eight saves on the afternoon.

Aly Goodman earned the assist on the Ephrata goal, which was an important score in Dutton's eyes.

"That goal really set the tone for the rest of the game," the coach said.

Manheim did rally to tie the game late in the first half on a goal by Katie Gleason, but that set the stage for the Speros score early in the second.

While the Barons did get 10 shots on Ephrata keeper Becca Cetkowski (a former dodgeball champion), the Lady Mounts were able to control the ball down the stretch and pull out of Manheim with the big victory.

In addition to the win over Manheim, Ephrata also was in action last Thursday at home where the Lady Mounts pulled out a 1-0 victory over Lampeter-Strasburg.

Goodman scored the lone goal of the contest late in the first period off a Gordon assist.

Ephrata did dominate play, out shooting the Pioneers 18-5. Cetkowski turned back all five shots to record the shutout win in goal.

ImageBoth the Ephrata Mountaineer track & field teams won their Section two opener last Thursday afternoon (3/30) at conestoga Valley high School. The girls won 84-66 while the boys earned a hard fought 83-66 decision.

Taylor Fletcher led the Lady Mounts with two wins, copping both the 100 hurdles (17.5) and 300 hurdles (52.2). She also ran on both winning 4x100 and 4x400 meter relay teams.

Other winners on the track for the girls were Brynn Lyons in the 400 (62.5), Smantha Fink in the 800 (2:33) and Dana Haas in the 1600 (5:37.6). Winning relay teams consisted of the 4x800 relay team of Fink, Alicia Harbold, Haas and Kate Anderson (10:30.7); the 4x400 meter relay of Fletcher, Fink, Megan Royer and Karyn Noll (4:30.7); and the 4x100 meter relay of Deb Morrison, Fletcher, Amy Sherman and Noll (53.9).

The girls record is now 2 wins and 0 losses.

CJ Wilson once again led the boys team, capturing the 100 dash with a time of 10.9 and the high jump with a leap of 5 ft. 10 in. Cordell Oberholtzer won the 1600 in 4:45.4 while the boys captured two relays; the 4x100 relay (Mike Burkholder, Dallas Stauffer, Jordan Yarbrough and Wilson, 45.4) and the 4x400 relay (Kyle Sensenig, Dallas Stauffer, Oberholter, Derck Fritz, 3:44.2).

The Mounts also had a big day in the field.

Winners included Devon Williams in the shot put (45-9.25), Victor Volynets in the discus (118-6) and Dan Szabo in the javelin (158-1).

John Landis rounded out the win column for the boys with a victory in the pole vault (10-0).
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ImageEphrata High School senior Chelsea Weik put an exclamation point on her team's season with a 258 final game to lead the Mountaineers to their second straight Pennsylvania State Team Bowling Championship.

After the preliminary rounds on Saturday, the Ephrata girls climbed into first place, qualifying for the finals Sunday at AMF Rocky Springs Lanes.

Ephrata is paced by seniors Weik and Ashlee Eberhart, with underclassman Caitlin Edwards, Christine Gummel and Ashley Snyder.

Of their team's success, Weik simply said, "We bonded. We are bowling and having fun being friends and teammates. We practiced really hard to get where we are. Our parents have supported us through everything."

Eberhart agreed. "We supported each other," she said, "and our goal is to win."

This comes on the heels of three Ephrata girls earning individual medals on Saturday at Dutch Lanes --Samantha Santoro, second; Chelsea Weik, third and Ashlee Eberhart, fifth.

"We talked about repeating after we won the championship last year. I knew we had the ability and I was more confident this year when we reached the finals," said Ephrata head coach Sean Garman.

With over hundred parents and fans cheering them on, the Ephrata girls approached the finals with the confidence that they had been there just one year before -- and were returning the same team.

In the team championship match, the Mountaineers pounded out a 1074 game (214 average per girl) against Midd-West team's 893.

The 1074 game was the top team single rolled in the state team tourney, which consisted of 36 girls' teams and 42 boys' teams.

The Ephrata's team individual scores included: Ashlee Eberhart 209, Caitlin Edwards 221, Ashley Snyder 184, Christine Gummel 202 and Weik 258.

"When she is competing, she is confident and focused and really has a strong desire to win," Eberhart said of Weik.

Of his anchor bowler, the coach said that she rises to the occasion.

"She'll usually pick out the other team's best bowler and try to match up with her," said Garman.

The Ephrata girls' final team game was higher than any boys' teams by more than 100 pins -- the highest boys' team score was 970.

Pennsylvania State Team Championship results:

(Girls) 1. Ephrata, 2. Midd-West, 3. Penn Hills, 4. Chartiers Valley, 5. Gateway, other county teams finishes - 33. Columbia 3341.

(Boys) 1. Selinsgrove, 2. Penn Trafford, 3. Mifflinburg, 4. Penn Hills, 5. L-S. other L-L team finishes -14. Manheim Township, 22. Penn Manor, 32. Warwick, 37. Annville Cleona, 39. Garden Spot, 40. Columbia.

At the 2005 Pennsylvania Bowling Championships, Ashlee Eberhart received a silver medal for the second high single game of the tournament. Caitlin Edwards received a plaque and a medal for sixth place in average and was selected as a member of the All-State Second Team. Chelsea Weik received a plaque and a medal for fourth place in average and was selected as a member of the All-State First Team.

ImageThree of the top five finishers in the girls' singles competition of the state High School Bowling Championships came from Ephrata, which has a herd of thoroughbred bowlers.

Samantha Santoro, who was the Lancaster-Lebanon League singles champion, finished second, Chelsea Weik finished third and Ashlee Eberhart finished fifth. The threesome will receive medals today at Rocky Springs Lanes, following the team competitions.

The singles tournament pitted Ephrata girls against each other in two rounds of the stepladder finals, held Saturday night at Dutch Lanes.

In the first match, fourth-place qualifier Eberhart was edged by fifth-place qualifier Santoro. The match came down to the last frame, with Santoro rolling a 210 to Eberhart's 200.

Santoro edged third-place qualifier Tiffany Shubrooks of Conrad Weiser in a nail-biting match that also came down to the final frame. The score was 161 to 152, with Santoro advancing. Santoro then defeated second-place qualifier Weik by a score of 188 to 156.

In the final match, Santoro took on a tough competitor from Oley Valley, Jen Bitler, who notched a 202 to Santoro's 184.

Individual results:

Girls -- 1. Jen Bitler, Oley Valley; 2. Samantha Santoro, Ephrata; 3. Chelsea Weik, Ephrata; 4. Tiffany Shubrooks, Conrad Weiser; 5. Ashlee Eberhart, Ephrata.

Boys -- 1. Travis Celmer, Conrad Weiser; 2. Craig Newham, Penn Hills; 3. Andrew Rubin, Bensalem; 4. Jayson Ulrich, Governor Mifflin; 5. Mario Parenti, Schuylkill Valley. Other top L-L finishers -- 8. Mark Haney, Penn Manor; 10. David Gerhart, Manheim Township; 11. Todd Sigeti, Warwick.

ImageTwo Ephrata seniors completed their scholastic swimming careers this past weekend. Ephrata's Megan Royer tied for tenth place in the 50 freestyle event with a time of 24.41. She also finished in 30th place in the 100 Yard Freestyle Event.

Fellow senior Justin Brown, who lost most of the year to an ankle injury, finished his career with a 22nd place finish in the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.12. Brown will swim next year at the collegiate level for Towson University.

Congratulations to both.

ImageScouting reports were minimal, so the Ephrata High School hockey team wasn't sure what to expect when it met Kennard-Dale in the biggest game in the Mounts' hockey history.

Ephrata's players had seen the Rams' scores in the paper and on the internet.

But was that enough of a read?

Where there might have been mystery, there was soon swift evidence that Ephrata was a far superior team to their opponents from York County.

Having many more skilled players, Ephrata blew out Kennard-Dale 10-1 to win its first Viola Cup, emblematic of the Central Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League's Tier II championship Friday night at the Hersheypark Arena.

Ephrata junior Shane Allen scored five goals and teammate Brandon Pike had two goals and five assists in leading the Mounts to the rout.

Ephrata's Jeff Bohler helped set the tone in the first game. His check on Kennard-Dale leading scorer Beau Roeder behind the Ephrata net enabled Pike to grab the puck and feed Allen, who scored on a breakaway 3:30 into the game.

"We wanted to score that first goal,'' Allen said. "Then we started getting more and more, so it worked out for us.''

Allen and Pike made for a particularly lethal combination. Pike assisted on four of Allen's five goals.

"We've played together for so long,'' said Allen, "street hockey, ice hockey, whatever.''

Ephrata scored four goals in the first period and K-D managed only five shots, the first of which didn't come until nine and a half minutes into the game. One of Ephrata's goals heading into the game was to keep the Rams' shots to a minimum because Sam Wiest was playing his first game of the season in net.

"The whole team played amazingly,'' said Wiest, who was subbing for Devon Williams. "It was the best defense I've seen all year.''

Wiest finished with 17 saves. Ephrata, meanwhile, unleashed a 50-shot barrage on K-D goalie Greg Kemp.

Ephrata pushed its lead to 8-0 before Jeff Hartman scored the Rams' lone goal in the final minute of the second period. But with the Mounts enjoying a seven-goal lead, the third period was played with a running clock.

"It feels great,'' said Jeremy Martin, one of only three Ephrata seniors. "We've never gotten farther than the first round so this feels great.''

ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Hockey team wants to take that last step to grab a prize it's had its eye on all season.

Ephrata, which is riding a 12-game non-losing streak, wants to stay on a roll. The Mounts will play Kennard-Dale for the Tier II title at 6:45 p.m., at the Hersheypark Arena (directions).

Ephrata, however, will have to win it without goaltender Devon Williams, who was declared academically ineligible for the game. Sam Wiest, a forward, will don the pads in place of Williams.

Ephrata's Wiest isn't totally unfamiliar with goaltending. He was a goaltender for a short period of time several years ago. This time, though, he's stepping up in competition and in game importance.

The Mounts will go into the game trying to do what they did against Cedar Crest, namely, keep the opposition's scoring chances to a minimum. In that game, Cedar Crest managed only 18 shots.

"Our goal is to take a two- or three-goal lead and then play a trap,'' said Ephrata coach Keith Allen. "We have to come out aggressively right away.''

Any mention of Kennard-Dale's team certainly includes the name Beau Roeder. Roeder has 10 goals in just three playoff games. He scored four times in K-D's 10-4 win over Red Land last Friday, propelling the Rams into this Viola Cup game.

With Wiest's inexperience in net, Allen will continue to skate Jeff Bohler on defense instead of at forward.

"Jeff makes things happen and stops things from happening,'' Allen said.

While K-D (12-4, 3-0) overwhelmed Red Land, it needed a goal from Jeff Hartman with 39 seconds left in regulation to beat York Suburban 4-3 in the York Division title game.

Kennard-Dale has reached the Tier II title game in only its second CPIHL season. The Rams were 4-12 last season.

Greg Kemp is the Rams' goalie. He's averaged 34 saves in K-D's three playoff games.

Ephrata (14-1-1, 3-0) is led by juniors Shane Allen and Brandon Pike. Allen scored the game-winning goal in the third period against Cedar Crest last week in the Lancaster/Lebanon/Berks Division title game.

Allen (38 goals, 27 assists, 65 points) and Pike (38, 25, 63) ranked third and fourth, respectively, in scoring in Tier II during the regular season. Allen has three post-season goals and six assists. Pike has four goals and four assists in the playoffs.

"We have some horsepower,'' Keith Allen said.
ImageEphrata's Megan Royer finished third in the girls' 50 Yard Freestyle and Justin Brown placed fourth in the boy's 50 Yard Freestyle at the District Three Championships on Friday, qualifying the pair for the PIAA Championships held this year at Bucknell University March 14th through the 18th.

Missing the cut for States were Dereck Fritz, who finished 10th in the 200 Yard Freestyle, and 12th in the 100 Yard Freestyle. Megan Royer also finished 7th in the 100 Yard Freestyle, and Amber Davies, who finished 9th in the 100 Yard Butterfly and 18th in the 100 Yard Backstroke. The girls 200 yard Medley Relay team also placed 7th. The 200 Yard Freestyle Relay team finished 9th.

Good Luck to Megan and Justin at States!
ImageEphrata took the early lead early with a goal by Kyle Sauder and beat Cedar Crest 2-1 at the Lancaster Ice Rink to win the Commissioner's Cup and the CPIHL Lancaster/Lebanon/Berks championship.

The Falcons tied it up within three minutes in the second with a goal from Derek Spitler, assisted by Wyatt Earp.

The Mounts responded 10 minutes later with a goal from Shane Allen, assisted by Jeremy Martin.

Ephrata kept the Falcon goalie busy as well. Cedar Crest's Philip Petena made 32 saves off 34 shots while Ephrata's Devon Williams made 17 saves on 18 shots.

The Mounts will face Kennard-Dale next for the Viola Cup and the Tier 2 championship, next Friday at the Hersheypark Arena (directions). Kennard-Dale, the York champion, defeated Mid-Penn champion Red Land, 10-4, Friday night.
ImageThe District III seedings were announced for the upcoming Swim Meet to be held this weekend at Cumberland Valley High School.

On the girl's side, Ephrata's 200 yard medley relay team is seeded 8th. Megan Royer is seeded 7th in the 50 Yard Freestyle, and 13th in the 100 Yard Freestyle.

Amber Davies earned the highest seed for the Lady Mounts, she is the 6th seed in the 100 Yard Butterfly. She is also the 18th seed in the 100 Yard Backstroke. Ephrata is also seeded 10th in the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay.

The boys team have a pair of seedings this year as well. Dereck Fritz is seeded 13th in the 200 Yard Freestyle, and 21st in the 100 Yard Freestyle. Senior teammate Justin Brown earned the 13th seed in the 50 Yard Freestyle event.

Congratulations and good luck at this weekend's meet!
ImageThe Lancaster-Lebanon League recently announced their All-Star Teams for the recently completed league season.

Leading the way for the Mountaineers were Samantha Santoro and Chelsea Weik who were selected to the First team, while Ephrata's Catlin Edwards was selected for the second team.

Listed below are the Section Two All-Stars:

First Team:


Name
Average
School
Chadd Rudy
216.58
Garden Spot
Timothy Breen
213.17
Lamp.-Stras.
Samantha Santoro 210.37
Ephrata
Ryan Sheckler
208.36
Lamp.-Stras.
Zachary Sweigart
208.31
Cocalico
Chelsea Weik
207.03
Ephrata



Second Team


Name
Average
School
Catlin Edwards
206.07
Ephrata
Austin Beck
205.73
Ephrata
Josh Stegeman
202.62
Cocalico
Andrew Kelley
202.15
Lamp.-Stras.


ImageMost coaches will tell you that playing from behind isn't a good thing.

In the case of the Ephrata High School hockey team, however, trailing turned out to just what the team needed.

The Mounts fell behind 3-1 after the first period in their Central Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League Tier II playoff game against Elizabethtown Monday night at the Lancaster Ice Rink.

The dose of reality was the tonic the Mounts needed as Ephrata scored six unanswered goals in the final two periods to defeat the Bears 7-3 in the Lancaster/Lebanon/Berks South Division championship game.

The victory sends the Mounts (16-1-1) to the LLB title game against Cedar Crest (8-7-3), which won the LLB North Division with a 7-2 win over Cocalico (13-4-1). Ephrata and Crest will play at 8:15 p.m. Friday at the Lancaster Ice Rink (directions) for the chance to meet the York/Mid-Penn winner (Red Land or Kennard-Dale) for the CPIHL Tier II title or Viola Cup.


Nicholas Fetter on the move
Defenseman Nicholas Fetter clears the puck for Ephrata,
with goalie Devon Williams in the background.
© Deb Grove / Intelligencer Journal


Shane Allen and Brandon Pike each had two goals for Ephrata. Allen added four assists to give him a six-point game. Jeremy Martin provided the game-winning goal with 3:34 to play in the second period.

Matt Fasick, who had a hat trick in E-town's win over Penn Manor last week, turned the trick again Monday against Ephrata but it wasn't enough as Ephrata's speed, particularly from Allen and Pike, wore down the Bears (14-4).

Fasick struck early for E-town, scoring from a sharp angle about a minute into the game and then again with Allen in the penalty box for roughing. Jeff Bohler Jr. got one back for Ephrata but then Fasick scored again off of Zach Lokey's touch pass.

"Each time we've been scored on first this season, we've played more aggressively,'' said Ephrata coach Keith Allen. "It's dangerous to play that way but it's worked for us.''

Ephrata's comeback may have started with its goaltender, Devon Williams (20 saves). In the first minute of the second period, Williams stopped Lokey's shot with his mask and then got a pad on the rebound attempt by Dillon Filpas. Less than a minute later, Pike drew the Mounts within one, scoring from 15 feet out.


Devon Williams in goal
Mountaineers goalie Devon Williams makes a stop on E-town's Matt Fasick,
who scored all three of the Bears' goals.
© Deb Grove / Intelligencer Journal


The Mounts tied the game on a rush by Shane Allen and Pike. Pike went wide and fed the puck to Allen for an easy redirection goal.

"Ephrata picked it up a notch,'' said E-town coach Brian Singer. "We play only four defensemen and all four carry the puck so it can be tough on them.''

Martin gave Ephrata a 4-3 lead late in the second off of assists from Allen and Bohler.

Allen then scored on a slapshot from just over the red line to push the Mounts' lead to 5-3. Wanner added a third-period goal as did Pike, getting his second of the game.

"We didn't shoot the puck as much as we should have,'' said Singer, whose team managed only eight shots in the third period. "We were trying to dance it in a little too much.''
ImageEphrata's high powered offense shifted to a grind-it-out method to secure a win.

Brandon Pike and Tim Wanner each had a pair of goals to push Ephrata past Lampeter-Strasburg 5-2 (box score).

As a result, Ephrata will meet E-town in round two of the Lancaster/Lebanon/Berks South Division playoffs at 7:30 p.m. Monday (February 27th) at the Lancaster Ice Rink (directions).

The Mounts, the top seeds in the LLB South, were challenged early by the fourth-seeded Pioneers, who took a 1-0 lead on Russell Hauser's nearly rink-long rush midway through the first period. L-S kept that 1-0 lead, thanks to two big saves from goalie Matt Loss near the end of the period.

But Ephrata struck for two goals just 41 seconds apart early in the second. Jeff Bohler Jr. scored on a shot from the point on the power play. Then Pike got his own rebound and scored.

"The morale on the bench changed after that,'' said Ephrata coach Keith Allen. "We realized we had to move Loss around to score on him.''

Charlie Latanzio knotted the game at 2-2, somehow slipping the puck past Ephrata goalie Devon Williams from behind the goal line. Pike broke the tie with 1:11 to play in the second and Wanner added a pair of third-period goals.

Ephrata outshot L-S 42-12 in the game.

"We wanted to slow then down,'' said L-S coach Bob Hauser. "We played our hearts out in the first two periods and that's all we can ask.''

OTHER ICE NEWS:
The CPIHL All-Stars were recently announced representing the Mounts were Jeff Bohler, Nate Haller, Jeremy Martin, Shane Allen and Brandon Pike.
ImageIf you happened to check the brackets for the upcoming Wiffleball tournament before yesterday (Feb. 22nd) you may want to check them again. Recent changes have altered both the rookie and junior circuits. You can find the latest bracket information here.

If you're looking for your dodgeball times you'll have to wait just a little longer. The Wiffleball tournament (February 24-26), the Dodgeball tournament (March 3-5) and the 3 on 3 basketball tournament (March 10-12) have been scheduled for three consecutive weekends this year.

Matt Wooley is already talking about taking the trifecta. Can anyone stop him?

Dodgeball brackets should be available by the weekend.
ImageThe Mounts take the ice tonight (Wednesday February 22nd) at the Lancaster Ice Rink (directions) in a match against Lampeter-Strasburg. The first puck is expected to drop at 8:30.

The Mounts (14-1-1) come in with one of the most explosive offenses in the league. The Mounts racked up 138 goals while giving up only 38 this year.

Over half those goals came from the one-two punch of Chad Allen and Brandon Pike. Allen finished the season in third place on the scoring leader board with 38 goals and 27 assists for a total of 65 points. Pike (38 G-25 A; 63) wasn't far behind Allen in 4th place.

Devon Williams started the season of slowly but has improved greatly inside the cage for the Mounts this year. His .868 save percentage and 2.38 goals allowed average is good for 8th best in the league.

The Pioneers (7-7-2) have met the Mounts twice this year, losing both contests. The first contest was a 10-1 loss, and the second a 4-1 loss.
ImageDistrict pairings have been announced for the upcoming wrestling tournament. Ephrata will be sending two wrestlers to Districts.

At 125 the Mounts Jared Becker (14-15) will square off against Kevin Moyer of Central Dauphin (24-11).

At 275 James Zimmerman (23-8) will face Zach Stosius (20-7) in the first round.

Despite having a strong performance this past weekend, Ephrata's Blake Crowther missed the cut for Districts.
ImageWhen is a good time to have the best game and best series of your life?

Of course, if life were perfect, you would roll both in the Lancaster-Lebanon League Individual Bowling Championships.

That's exactly what Ephrata High School sophomore Samantha Santoro did in Tuesday's L-L championships at Leisure Lanes.

With nearly 100 bowlers -- most of them boys, since girls do not have a separate league -- Santoro topped off the six-hour tournament with the championship. Ephrata also sent Brandon Funk, Christine Gummel, Catlin Edwards, and Chelsea Weik.

The field of 100 was cut to 40 after one round, and Santoro and Edwards remained alive from Ephrata.

After the second round of qualifying, the field was cut down to 10. Samantha was the number 6 qualifier while Edwards missed the cut.

She began the semi-finals with 15 strikes in a row, notching a perfect game in the first of her three game series.

Santoro followed with a 246, then capped the series with 267 for an 813 -- her first perfect game and highest series. For the entire tournament, she averaged 232.


Santoro LL League Champ
Samantha Santoro bowled a 300
during the League Championships!


"Throughout the tourney, she was very relaxed and willing to listen to any directions I gave her,'' Ephrata coach Sean Garman said. "She had an awesome day."

To reach the semifinals, Santoro rolled 653 and 656 series for sixth place, with the top 11 moving to the semi round.
ImageAttention all potential Dodgeball participants, registration forms and donation pledges are due this Wednesday February 15th. All forms for the Elementary and Open Division need to be submitted to Dave Erb, while Middle School students should return their forms to Mr. Sweigart. High School students should submit their forms to Mr. Geyer.

If your team raised over $500, in addition to other prizes, your team qualified for t-shirts, and should indicate the desired adult size on the team roster or a separate piece of paper.

The event slated for March 3rd and 4th looks to shatter last year's fund raising mark. It's also clear that there will be an Adult Open Division this year slated for March 5th.

The event originally scheduled at the E.M.S. has been moved to the Ephrata Senior High School.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to click the contact link on the left and send me an email.
ImageThe Mounts finished the regular season in second place with a record of 32-16. The team now moves on to the league championships which will be held at Leisure Lanes on February 21 for the singles event and Clearview Lanes on February 23 for the team event.

Last Wednesday the team enjoyed a record breaking day as they defeated Manheim Central 4-0. Catlin Edwards bowled a 289 enroute to a 708 to lead the Mounts. Ashley Snyder and Chelsea Weik each rolled a 660, while Christine Gummel (651) and Ashlee Eberhart (614) rounded out the individual scoring. The Mounts set team marks for High Game (1169) and High Series (3293).

In the season finale on Friday the Mounts were led by Weik (220-210-257; 687). Eberhart (623) and Edwards (608) helped the Mounts to a 3-1 victory over Garden Spot.
ImageThe Mounts finished out their season last week, winning two out of their last three games to finish with a 9-14 mark, two games better than last year.  On senior night, Marcy Dull scored 18 of her game-high 22 points before halftime as Ephrata beat Solanco, 48-41.  Brynn Lyons and Aly Goodman put the Lady Mares away with a pair of key three-pointers in the final four minutes of the game.  Arielle Gordon added 5 points and 7 steals for Ephrata.
 
At Elizabethtown, Ephrata couldn't find enough offense to beat the Bears for the second time this year.  Dull scored 17, but Ephrata got just 32 as E-town prevailed, 44-32.  The Mounts were down by 13 early in the fourth before Goodman, a freshman, made two threes to try to rally Ephrata.  They got it back to 35-29 before the Bears finished the game on a 9-3 run.  This game completed Ephrata's league season at 7 wins and 9 losses.
 
Finally, Ephrata closed things out with a non-league win at Pequea Valley, 43-30.  In her final game, Dull had 14 points and 13 rebounds.  Christine Weaver added 8 points on 4 of 5 shooting.  Gordon matched her season high with 7 assists.
 
This completed an exciting season that included seven games decided in the final few seconds, and featured three buzzer-beating baskets.  Dull finished as Ephrata fourth-leading scorer all-time, with 1,109 points. See the players that scored 1000 points here.
 
The JVs finished strong by winning five of their last six games to finish at 8-13.  Goodman finished as the team's leading scorer, followed closely by Jan Woolley and Audrey Thorp.
ImageEphrata's indoor track and field team competed in the PTFCA (PA Track and Field Coaches Association) Meet that was held on February 11, 2006 at Lehigh University.  This is a highly competitive meet featuring some of the top athletes from around the state.

Ephrata set several indoor school records. The 4 x 800 relay team of Sam Fink, Alicia Harbold, Dana Haas, and Kate Anderson finished with a time of 10:19.5  Also setting a school record in the 4 x 200 relay was Caiti Strausser, Kelly Martin, Karyn Noll, and Deb Morrison with a time of 1:56.14.  In addition, Willie Hopkins' long jump of 18' 9" was a school best.  

Placing third in the high jump was CJ Wilson with a jump of 5'11".

This has been a very successful indoor season.  Coach John Keller looks for the the performances to springboard the team into the outdoor track & field season.
ImageThe Ephrata High School ice hockey team has its eyes on repeating as division champs in the Central Pennsylvania Interscholastic Ice Hockey League.

Problem was, prior to Friday night, the Mounts were going to have trouble accomplishing their goal while looking up at Elizabethtown in the standings.

Friday night was their chance to do something about their situation, with the Bears lining up across the red line from them at the Lancaster Ice Rink.

E-town had beaten Ephrata in the teams' first meeting, 6-3. On this night, however, the tables were turned in a big way.

Ephrata forwards Shane Allen and Brandon Pike each scored a pair of goals and Mounts goalie Devon Williams kicked out 15 of 16 shots to lead Ephrata to a 7-1 victory.
ImageThe Mounts had their playoff hopes ended Tuesday at Garden Spot, as the Spartans stole a 55-53 overtime victory.

Brynn Lyons capped off a furious comeback in regulation, connecting on a three-pointer with two seconds left to force the extra session.  The Mounts trailed 43-33 with 1:26 left in the game, and found a way to pour in 13 points in the final 86 seconds to extend the game.  She opened the OT with another three to keep things rolling.  With the score 50-50 and a minute left, an out-of-bounds call went against Ephrata, and GS converted on the other end to take a 52-50 lead with 30 seconds left.  Lyons hit her fourth three-pointer of the game with 19 seconds left, putting Ephrata back on top, but Garden Spot made a three with seven seconds left and hung on for the win.

Marcy Dull scored 18 points and added 19 rebounds, but was denied several trips to the free throw line.  Lyons had 14, and Arielle Gordon added 9, all in the fourth quarter.

Gordon's three started the game-ending run, cutting the margin to 43-36.  The Spartans made a free throw, but Aly Goodman answered with her first-ever varsity basket, a three-pointer, to make it 44-39.  After a GS miss, Gordon scored on a baseline drive to cut it to 44-41.  Dull then stole the ball at midcourt and Gordon was fouled in the scramble.  Her free throws made it 44-43 with 23 seconds left.  The Spartans made two more foul shots with 14 seconds left before Lyons hit the big three just before the horn.  It was the second time this year Lyons forced overtime with a buzzer-beating three-point shot.

Ephrata is now 6-8 in the section and 7-13 overall.  They play their final home game on Friday against Solanco, as seniors Dull, Jessi Alexander, and Carrie Hall will be honored.  The league schedule ends next Tuesday at Elizabethtown, where Ephrata will have a chance to play spoiler.  The team's final game will be next Thursday at Pequea Valley.

Last Friday, the Lady Mounts hosted the Buckskins of Conestoga Valley.

Conestoga Valley is the defending Section Two champion in girls' basketball, but Ephrata has their number.  The Lady Mounts beat CV for the second time this year, this time defending the home court in a 55-52 thriller.

Marcy Dull led the way with 17 points and 19 rebounds.  Arielle Gordon added 11 points and 7 assists.

Up 32-21 in the middle of the third, Gordon hit a big three-pointer to boost the Ephrata lead to four.  CV came back to take a two-point lead, but Gordon answered with two more baskets.  CV tied the game at 41 late in the quarter, but Dull beat the buzzer with a three-pointer that gave Ephrata the lead after three periods.

After CV took it's last lead at 45-44, Dull scored in the lane to put Ephrata back in front.  A huge three from Brynn Lyons and a clutch jumper from Christine Weaver helped keep Ephrata in front.  With Ephrata on top 53-52 with 30 seconds left, Gordon connected on both ends of a one-and-one to boost the lead to three.  CV missed a pair of game-tying threes in the final ten seconds.

Lyons added 10 points for Ephrata, while Nicole Martin had 9 points and 12 boards as well.
ImageBy all pre-season accounts, Ephrata was a solid favorite to repeat as Section Two champions and enjoy another long post-season run through February and March. For whatever reasons, and there are probably several, it didn’t happen. Inexplicably, the Mounts hit a mid-season rut that turned into a gigantic nine-game losing streak that put the kibosh on any thoughts of section championships or playoff runs.

Now, with everything out the window, the Mounts have finally hit their stride. And they are starting to look like the basketball team everyone expected to see when those pre-season predictions went out back in December.

Tuesday night at home, Ephrata won their third-straight game, and did so in impressive fashion.

Seth Zimmerman got the Mounts out early, scoring 12 of his game-high 21 points in the opening quarter to spark the team to a 56-45 victory over Garden Spot.

The Mounts (4-10 section, 6-15 overall) doubled up the Spartans 34-17 in the first half and rode it out for the easy victory.

Todd O’Brien led GS (5-9, 11-9) with 13 points.

Friday night at CV, the Mounts again rode the hot hand of Zimmerman and then went 7-for-9 from the foul line down the stretch to upset the second-place Buckskins, 58-50 in Witmer.

Like Tuesday, Zimmerman came out of the gates smoking, and set the tone for the rest of the game with his 11 first-quarter points. The senior guard finished with a game-high 25 points to go along with nine big boards to give the Mounts their second-straight section win.

“My teammates have played with me for a while now and they know when I’m hot,” Zimmerman said of his first quarter performance. “They are going to get me the ball.”
ImageThe outnumbered Ephrata boys swim team finally got in the win column last Thursday afternoon in a home meet vs. Manheim Central.

Sparked by double winner Dereck Fritz, the Mounts splashed the Barons, 75-59 to grab their first win of the season, and also their first since 2004.

The Ephrata girls then made it a clean sweep on their side, dusting the Barons, 111-58 behind a balanced attack.

The EHS boys improved to 1-11 on the year as Fritz was a winner in both the 200 free and 100 back while also helping two Ephrata Relays to victory.

In addition to Fritz, Justin Brown swam to a win in the 50 free with a time of 23.15, while Tom Ossman captured the 500 free in a time of 5:50.07 to round out the individual winners.

On the girls' side, Megan Royer finished with a pair of individual victories to pace the team.

Royer earned wins in both the 50 free (25.70) and 100 free (57.69).

In addition to Royer, others who won individual events included: Kayla Raptosh, 200 free (2:19:18); Amber Davies, 100 fly (1:00.23); Courtney Reading, 500 free (6:05.51); Valerie Numbers, 100 back (1:10.56) and Allison Royer, 100 breast (1:20.11).

The Ephrata girls improved to 8-4 on the season.
ImageJust put two perennial CPIHL powers on a sheet of ice at the same time and what do you get? A great hockey game.

Last Wednesday night that was the case as the 10-1 Ephrata Mounts faced off against the 10-1-1 Muhlenberg Muhls.

Both teams came looking for a fight, trying to stay on top of their respective divisions. The Mounts had not been tested since their December 9th game against Cocalico and the concern was, would they be ready for this?

That question was answered early, they were not, as the Muhls jumped on Ephrata for three goals, all within a minute of each other, just three minutes into the contest.

But Ephrata did not fold as captain Brandon Pike (35 goals, 22 Assists on the season) scored off a pass from Joey Accardo and Jeremy Martin. Then Pike scored again off a nice pass from Shane Allen (30 goals, 22 Assists on the season) with 36 seconds left in the first period.

In the second period, both teams went at each other, trying to take control. But with all the shots taken, the teams were only able to exchange goals as the Muhls' Jonathan Swavely, who leads all divisions in scoring, added his second and the Mounts' Pike, who now trails Swavely by just two points, scored his third. At the end of the second period the score was 4-3 favor of the Muhls.

In the third the battle continued when three minutes in, Ephrata's Allen scored off a feed from Pike and Chris Lyons to tie the game at 4-4. Just one minute later Pike scored his fourth goal, this time from Allen to take the lead for the first time in the game.

But the Muhls did not go quietly either, as they scored with 9:44 to tie the game again. From that point on both teams took their shots, but both goalies decided enough was enough and the battle ended in a 5-5 tie. Click here for the complete boxscore.
ImageThe Ephrata high School rifle team fell victim to a sharp-shooting Manheim Central team Tuesday afternoon as the Barons cruised to a 495-472 victory in the regular-season finale.

All five Manheim Central shooters scored 98 or higher, including Anna Auker, who scored a perfect 100.

Ephrata was led by Danielle Zimmerman, who turned in a team-high score of 97. Caitlin Mull with 96 was next, followed by the trio of Laurelin Smith, Sammi Whitcomb and John Landis, all of whom turned in scores of 93.

In addition to Tuesday's action, Ephrata was also on the range last Thursday (1/26) where they dropped a 493-478 decision to Manheim Township.

Katie Blackman sparked the victorious Streaks with a perfect score of 100.

Ephrata received fine shooting from Landis, who led the way with a 98. Mike Snader followed with a 96, whild Zimmerman (95), Whitcomb (95) and Smith (94) rounded out the top five for the Mounts.

With the regular season now complete, Ephrata will take aim on the L-L League Tournament which it will host this Saturday, beginning at 9 AM.
ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Wrestling team had a long row to hoe this weekend heading into the Elizabethtown duals. The Mounts forfieted five weight classes (103, 112, 125, 152 and 160) in four matches and four weight classes in their fifth match (not 152) leaving the Mounts with a huge hole to climb out of.

It was a hole that, unfortunately, was just too deep, the Mounts lost all five matches; losing to Selinsgrove 24-58, Elizabethtown 33-40, Columbia 18-51, McCaskey 21-48, and Cocalico 18-48.

A couple of individuals had strong performances led by Blake Crowther (140) who went 4-1 on the day, including two pins. Zach Zimmerman (215) went 3-1 recording three falls. James Zimmerman (275) also went 4-1.
ImageThe Ephrata indoor track team participated in the Franklin and Marshall College High School Track and Field Invitational this past Saturday. Dana Haas captured first place in the 3000 Meter run with a time of 11:46.89. The Mounts also captured first place in the 4x800 meter relay, as the team of Samantha Fink, Alicia Harbold, Haas, and Kate Anderson finished with a time of 10:32.04.

The 4x400 relay team (Leah Sipe, Kelly Martin, Taylor Fletcher, and Fink) also gave the Mounts a third place finish with a time of 4:19.26.

In sprints, Caiti Strausser finished in 4th place with a time of 28.24 in the 200M dash.

In the field, Cariline Epler earned 6th place in the long jump with a leap of 14 feet 3.5 inches, while Amber Davies went 20 feet 3.5 inches in the triple jump for 4th place.

Katie Ream went and Lily Sears both went 4 feet 8 inches, while Ream took second place (fewer misses) and Sears took fourth.

Devon Williams put of 46 feet 5.5 inches was also good for third place. You can find the complete results here.
ImageMarcy Dull joined an elite group of Mountaineers when she scored her 1000th point on Friday night. Dull, who came into the night needing only 6 points to set the mark, finished with 1010 points. Marcy passed both Diane Kopp and Ali Balmer settling into 4th place on the all time list. Ahead of Marcy on the list is Carla Wenger, Tonya Wenger and Carrie Yoder-McCarty.

The Mounts survived the final seconds as the Warriors turned the ball over on their final possession with two seconds remaining.

Dull who scored 16 in the game, had missed two crucial free throws on the other end of the floor, on the previous possession.

Aislinn Sutcliffe led the Warriors with 10 points.
ImageJordan Becker was named Section Two wrestler of the week, after going 2-0 at 171. Becker beat E-town's Adam Zollman 8-0, then bumped up a weight class and pinned Garden Spot's Jeremy Diehm in 4:16 to clinch the Mounts victory over the Spartans.

The Mounts are preparing for the League Championships held this weekend at Garden Spot. The following are the first round pairings for the Mounts.

119 Becker (EPH) vs Wissler (GS)
125 Supplee (GS) vs Hanna (EPH)
130 Horst (EPH) vs Notter (A-C)
135 Baker (EPH) vs M. Blaszczyk (LC)
140 Hughes (LC) vs Crowther (EPH)
145 Davis (EPH) vs Elvey (SOL)
152 Yoder (EPH) vs Reynolds (MC)
160 Becker (EPH) vs Rodriguez (McC)
189 Rubenstein (MT) vs Burkholder (EPH)
215 Miller (CC) vs Lillis (EPH)
275 Koch (CV) vs Zimmerman (EPH)
ImageAt halftime of every game this year, the Lady Mounts have been in a close game.  Not Friday, as Penn Manor ran out to a 34-19 lead at the break, in the first section crossover game of the year.  But Brynn Lyons came to the rescue, pouring in 19 of her career-high 25 points after halftime.  When Penn Manor's potential game-winning three-pointer clanked away at the final horn, Ephrata escaped with a 57-55 win.

Lyons also did it defensively, with an amazing eight steals.  She scored 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting in the third quarter, as Ephrata scored 25 points in the frame and cut the margin to 48-44.  The sophomore guard opened the quarter with a trey, stole the ball a few seconds later, and scored a layup to give Ephrata a lead they'd never lose.

Marcy Dull nearly had a triple double, with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists, and added 5 steals of her own.  Arielle Gordon added 7 assists for Ephrata, who now has sole possession of second place in Section Two, with a 4-2 mark, just one game behind Lebanon.

Earlier in the week on Tuesday, Ephrata dominated the inside against the league's best post player, building an early lead en route to a big Section Two win at home over Elizabethtown, 56-49.  Ephrata's forwards combined to shoot 10-for-11 from the field, while holding Bears' star Janelle Garber to 14 points.

Behind a strong first quarter from Nicole Martin (8 points) and Arielle Gordon (5 points), Ephrata raced out to a lead that they'd retain throughout.  The Bears closed to within five at the break and within three in the second half, but couldn't catch the Mounts.

The team's leading scorer was Arielle Gordon, who poured in 15 points while forcing the Elizabethtown defense to widen.  The forwards took advantage by making everything they shot:  Nicole Martin (5 of 6), Christine Weaver (3 of 3) and Gabrielle Hondros (2 of 2) combined to make over 90% of their shots.  Marcy Dull drew much attention and still scored 13 points while adding 10 rebounds and 5 assists.
ImageThe Ephrata rifle team turned in a strong performance Tuesday, but it was still not enough as host Manheim Township held on for a tight 484-482 victory.

Ephrata was paced by John Landis and Laurelin Smith, who both shot scores of 98. Mike Snader and Caitlin Mull were next in line, shooting a pair of 96s while Zach Silbert rounded out the lineup with a 94.

In addition to Tuesday's match, Ephrata also was in action last Thursday at home vs. CV where the Mounts dropped a 489-470 decision to the Buckskins.

John Landis was the top shooter for Ephrata, firing a score of 97 while Andrew Renford and Laurelin Smith each scored a pair of 94s. Erin Felak (93) and Caitlin Mull (92) rounded out the top five for Ephrata.
ImageThe Ephrata boys and girls swim teams went up against a tough foe Tuesday afternoon on the road at Manheim Township.

The host Streaks overpowered Ephrata on both sides, earning a clean sweep of the Mounts.

In the girls meet which ended up a 125-58 Blue Streak victory, Ephrata claimed just one win on the day and it came in the 200 free relay as the Lady Mounts swam to victory in 1:46.48.

On the boys' side, Ephrata managed two wins on the day as the Streaks earned a 134-34 decision. And both came from Dereck Fritz who earned both the 200 free (1:56.74) and 100 free (51.57) titles.

In addition to Tuesday's meet, Ephrata also was in action last Thursday afternoon when they earned a split with host Lancaster Catholic.

The EHS girls pulled out a tight 86-84 win over the Crusaders.

Amber Davies and Megan Royer led the way for Ephrata as both swimmers enjoyed a two-win day. Davies copped both the 200 IM (2:20.50) and 100 back (1:03.42) while Royer earned wins in both the 50 free (25.36) and 100 free (58.14) events.

The Ephrata girls also took all theree relays to help key the victory.

The Ephrata boys, meanwhile, suffered a 116-32 loss to Catholic.

Fritz again was a bright spot, winning both the 200 free (1:58.68) and 100 free (52.72) titles. Tom Ossman added the other Mount victory and it came in the 50 free as he recorded a winning time of 24.74.
ImageBrynn Lyons started the game 0-for-6 from three-point range, but with her team trailing 53-50 in the game's final seconds she gave it one more try.  She connected with less than two seconds remaining, forcing overtime.  After earlier trailing by seven points with two minutes left, Ephrata went on to pull out a 66-57 victory in the consolation game of the Ephrata Holiday Tournament.
 
Marcy Dull poured in a career-high 32 points, including 25 after halftime.  She also nabbed 18 rebounds.  Nicole Martin had 9 points and 12 boards, and held L-S star Meredith Chura in check throughout the game.  Christine Weaver added 12 points and 7 rebounds.
 
Lyons kept her streak of at least one three-pointer in each game alive with her game-tying shot.  Arielle Gordon played all 36 minutes for the Mounts while collecting 5 steals.
 
Ephrata improves to 3-6 overall, and are 2-2 in the league.  They return to section play Tuesday against 3-1 Elizabethtown, in a key battle as the Mounts currently sit just one game out of the section lead.

Two weeks ago, the Lady Mounts picked up another exciting win.  On Friday night in Quarryville, the Mounts edged Solanco, 43-40, to move to 2-2 in Section Two.

Arielle Gordon connected on 4 of 4 free throws in the final three minutes to boost Ephrata to the victory.  After trailing 36-31 in the fourth, Ephrata ran off 8 straight points to hold off the Golden Mares.

Marcy Dull had 16 points and a career high 20 rebounds.  Brynn Lyons added 9 points and 5 steals for Ephrata.

The JV team pulled out an exciting come-from-behind win as well, rallying from down 11 in the fourth to win 51-45 in overtime, behind 14 points from Aly Goodman and 12 from Jan Woolley.
ImageThe Lady Mounts finally broke into the win column Friday night.  Marcy Dull capped an excellent all-around game with a coast-to-coast buzzer-beating basket to down Conestoga Valley, 45-43, in Witmer.

With CV holding for the final shot, Dull forced her defender into a tough leaning jumper that was off the mark with about six seconds to play.  She collected the rebound and beat the defense and the clock to the opposite end, banking in a six-foot runner just before the final horn.

Dull was Ephrata's leading scorer, with 15 points, and added 14 rebounds and 7 assists.

The game was close throughout, with CV holding a one-point lead going into the final quarter.  Soph guard Brynn Lyons (10 points) sparked an 9-0 run to start the quarter, with a three and a layup, and junior forward Christine Weaver (14 points and 8 rebounds) followed with two more baskets, putting Ephrata up by 8.  A furious CV rally, including two three-pointers, tied the score before Dull's heroics.

Junior guard Arielle Gordon also played a key role, helping contain the 2005 LL leading scorer as Ephrata allowed the Bucks to shoot just 28% from the field.

The Lady Mounts make their home debut Tuesday against Garden Spot, in a game scheduled for broadcast on Blue Ridge Cable-11.
ImageThe Mounts Ice Hockey team returned to action this week as they turned back ELCO 6-3 (box score). It was all Ephrata in the first period as Sam Wiest started the scoring for the Mounts on an assist from Kyle Sauder. Brandon Pike then fed Jeff Bohler with his first assist of three on the evening. Three minutes later with 8:15 left in the period Pike scored a goal of his own to make it 3-0.

Jeremy Martin scored early in the second period to make it 4-0 and it looked like Ephrata was on their way to another blow out victory. However ELCO's Seric Kapp had other plans as he scored three goals of his own in less then 11 minutes and ELCO pulled within one, cutting the score to 4-3 favor of the Mounts. With 27 seconds left in the period Ephrata's Shane Allen put the biscuit in the basket stretching Ephrata's lead back to two goals.

The third period was quiet in terms of scoring until with 4:52 left in the match Pike fed Allen giving the Mounts a comfortable three goal lead. Devin Williams recorded 18 saves in the victory.
ImageAshlee Eberhart rolled an incredible 708 series, but the Mounts needed a little more as they fell to Cocalico 3-1. Eberhart rolled a 243, 207 and a 258 to lead all bowlers. Cocalico's Zachary Sweigart was second best on the afternoon as he nearly bowled a 700 himself, finishing with a 279, 236 and 180 game for a total of 695.

Chelsea Weik finished third on the day, bowling 3 straight 200 games herself. Weik finished with a 224, 222, 213 for a total of 659.
ImageIf Tuesday night's Section Two opener at Ephrata is any indication of the type of season it’s going to be, well then it’s going to be quite a ride. "I have a feeling this section is going to be a bear," Ephrata Coach Dave Dubbs concurred after watching his team upend a strong Lebanon squad 57-54 in an overtime thriller.

The Mounts actually trailed for most of the contest Tuesday before clawing back to tie it behind a big second half by senior forward Paul McHenry, who led all scorers in the game with 28 points.

Then in the extra session, McHenry went 4-for-6 from the line in the final 1:24 to give the Mounts their second-straight victory after opening the season at 2-2.

"Paul came up big", Dubbs said. "He played the way a senior is suppose to play. He just came up big. We ran things for him and he delivered. That’s a sweet thing."

Lebanon, playing its first game of the season with 6-6, 295-pound center Jared Odrick, controlled play in the early going and owned the glass for most of the night.

However, the Cedars never could shake the Mounts, who started three sophomores (Steve Tretter, Morgan Bartholomew and Josh Peifer) to go along with the steady senior tandem of McHenry and Mark Sweigart.
ImageMy hours at my real job have adjusted for the Winter season so updates in the morning will be harder for me then normal. I'll keep doing the best I can but if coaches could supply game wrap-ups via email, that would be awesome.

The Winter season kicked into high gear last week and I'll try and do a quick recap here.

ImageThe Ice Hockey team way back on 11/18 trounced Northern Lebanon with a mercy-rule enforced 11-0 victory. The box score will reveal another fine game by Shane Allen (2 goals, 2 assists) and Brandon Pike (2 goals, 3 assists).

Last Monday (12/5) The Mounts returned to the ice and put 11 more goals in the net as they skated to an 11-4 (box score) victory over Cedar Crest. Brandon Pke remained on fire scoring 4 goals and assisting on 2 others. While Shane Allen (2 goals, 1 assist) also helped with the scoring.

And on Friday (12/9) with the county frozen over from our first snow storm the Mounts fittingly were on the ice as the came up with a huge section win over Cocalico 5-4 (box score). Pike again remained hot, scoring 4 goals in consecutive games. The loss was the first on the season for the Eagles.

The Mounts (4-1) are next on the ice Wednesday (12/14) when they take on ELCO (2-3-1) at 7:00.

ImageThe Boys Basketball team started the season just like they did last year dropping their first two games in the York Suburban tip-off tournament. The Mounts lost on Friday night 71-67. Paul McHenry led the Mounts with 23 points. Saturday in the consulation game the Mounts again came up short losing to Cumberland Valley 57-52, led once again by McHenry (18 points).

On Saturday (12/10) the Mounts hosted their first home game of the season and soundly handed Manheim Central a 71-44 loss. McHenry for the third straight game led the Mounts with 17 points.

The girls team hasn't faired any better losing their first three games despite Marcy Dull's scoring efforts. Marcy is well on her way to become the sixth girl to score 1000 points in Ephrata history. She scored 22 point in a 69-58 loss to Wilson on Saturday (12/3), 20 points in a 60-45 loss to Elco on Tuesday (12/6), and 17 points on Saturday (12/10) in a 51-60 loss to Manheim Central.

ImageThe defending state champion bowling team started the season off with a 4-0 win over Conestoga Valley. Chelsea Weik had a high game of 229, while Ashlee Eberhart had a high series of 601.

From there it was on to the 3rd Annual Girls Division Icebreaker Classic, On Saturday December 10 held at Limerick Bowl. In the qualifying round, the girls bowled games of 922, 1062, and 1005 to qualify as the #1 seed entering the bracket finals. The team was led by Christine Gummel with games of 226, 225, and 202 for a 653 series and Ashlee Eberhart with games of 192, 202, and 236 for a 630 series.

The team had a bye in the first round of the finals, and then they faced Governor Mifflin in the second round. The game came down to the 10th frame with Ephrata prevailing 1008 to 975. The team was led by Chelsea Weik with a 235 and Catlin Edwards with a 229.

The girls moved on to face Neshaminy in the finals. After a slow start, they pulled away to a 969 to 841 victory to give them their second straight Icebreaker Classic Girls Division Team Championship. The team was led by Chelsea Weik with a 229 and Christine Gummel with a 213. Christine Gummel and Ashlee Eberhart were named to the All Icebreaker Team for their overall performance.

The team returned to league play Monday (12/12) with a 3-1 win over Lampeter-Strasburg, this time the Mounts were led by Chelsea Weik (211-204-186; 601) and Christine Gummell (238-221-194; 653).

ImageThe wrestling team is off to a slow start this season. The finished 10th in their own tournament (out of 11 teams) to start the season. James Zimmerman (2nd) and Jordan Becker (4th) earned individual marks for the Mounts.

The Mounts then faced Hempfield (12/6) and was soundly defeated 56-15. Hanna (119), Crowther (145), and Lillis (215) were the only winners for Ephrata.

The Mounts then competed in the Mule Classic held at the Solanco High School, unfortunately no Mount placed in the top 4, and the Mounts finished in 19th place out of 20 teams.

ImageLast but not least is the swim team. The Girls team is off to one of their better starts in recent years as the number of swimmers has increased for both the boy's and the girl's teams. The girls team won on Thursday (12/8) 95-75 over Warwick.

They followed up that win with a 119-51 win over Conestoga Valley on Monday afternoon (12/12).

The boys swam well but lost to Warwick 115-40. Justin Brown picked up two individual wins in the 50 and 100 free.

Monday (12/12) the Mounts didn't fair as well losing to Conestoga Valley 129-26. Conestoga Valley ended up sweeping all the events on this day.
ImageEphrata senior swimmer Justin Brown, who was a District Three silver medalist for the Mounts a year ago, has announced he is accepting a partial swimming scholarship to Towson University. The freestyle sprinter drew interest from the likes of LaSalle, Drexel, Shippensburg and Lehigh. But in the end, Brown chose Towson for what the program has to offer.

“I just liked their overall team aspect,” Brown said last Tuesday. “I liked the atmosphere there and I feel I can really fit in with their program. I think their program will really takeoff the next few years and it’s really going to be great to be a part of it.”

Brown has been a key contributor to the Ephrata boys varsity since coming out for the team during his sophomore season. He said he really never thought about swimming at the next level until his fine post-season run a year ago when he finished second in the District in the 50 free and then went on to compete in his first State meet.

“I think I realized I could swim (in college) after what I did last spring,” Brown said. “After what I did at Districts and then qualifying for States, that’s when people started contacting me.”

Brown, who will continue swimming in the sprint races at Towson, will major in Business Administration.

Towson University is located just north of Baltimore, Maryland. The Tigers compete in the Colonial Athletic Association.
ImageComing from a rival school, Ephrata’s new head wrestling coach has quite an interesting perspective on the Mountaineer program.

“When I was in high school Ephrata had a certain mystique about them that many people feared wrestling them,’’ said 1998 Manheim Central grad Josh Clair, recently named as the successor to Kerry Hyman, who resigned in August. “It’s not that the mystique is gone, but the style has changed. I want to get the guys back to their roots of being a team that is hard-working, hard-nosed, blue-collar type wrestlers. I want to bring back that “old school” mystique.

Clair, 26, was actually hired by Ephrata back in August as a high school health and physical education teacher. Following graduation in December of 2002 from Lock Haven University, he returned to Central to coach under Justin Barbush. Last year, he was the coach of a JV team that went 11-0 and was part of the staff that won back-to-back Section Two titles. He was also the team’s strength coach for two years.

From his days as a Baron wrestler under who he considers “legendary” coaches George Way and Walt Price, to the present; he has had a chance to take a good look at the Ephrata program.

“I wanted to get involved coaching wrestling here,” Clair said last week. “I know of the great tradition of Ephrata wrestling and I wanted to be part of it. When Kerry Hyman stepped down I decided that I wanted to put my name in for the position because I see a lot of potential in these wrestlers and I don’t want it to go to waste.”
ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Ice Hockey Team dropped their first game as the Elizabethtown Bears skated to a 6-3 victory Monday Night (boxscore).

Ephrata got things going first as Shane Allen scored on a feed from Jeremy Martin, after Zach Lokey scored for E-town, Allen scored his 2nd goal assisted by Brandon Pike. But Lokey would add two more goals for E-town as would Zach Zellman as the Bears built a 4-2 lead.

With 1:57 left in the 2nd period Allen scored his third goal to cut the lead to 4-3, but unfortunately for the Mounts that would be their last goal of the game.

In the third period E-town slid two more past Devin Williams (27 shots, 21 saves), as the Bears wrapped up the scoring.
ImageEphrata senior Kyle Sensenig came up with a game-saving interception and caught the game-winning touchdown pass as the Mounts edged Warwick, 24-21, in a non-league rivalry game Friday night in Lititz.

Ephrata retained the George Male Trophy for the third straight year thanks to a 5-yard TD pass from quarterback Blake Crowther to Sensenig with 1:01 remaining.

Ephrata won its final three games to finish the season 5-6 overall and 3-4 in Section Two, while Warwick fell to 2-9 for the year and 1-6 in Section One.

Crowther finished 16-for-20 for 197 yards passing and two touchdowns. He also had 78 yards rushing, while running back Mike Burkholder ran for 64 yards and a touchdown. Burkholder also had 68 yards receiving. Click here for the complete boxscore.

The top performer for Warwick was running back Tyler Steffy, who ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns.

The Warriors also received a spark from Trevor Sell, who ran for 54 yards and a touchdown on just three carries.

Sell's fourth-quarter touchdown gave Warwick a 21-17 lead with under six minutes remaining and an Ephrata fumble forced by Warwick's Jason Griffith and recovered by Jason Mosimann gave Warwick the ball at the Ephrata 24-yard line with the lead.

But Sensenig picked off Warwick quarterback Chris Uibel's pass deep in Ephrata territory and returned the interception to the 50-yard line, which began the game-winning drive.

Crowther and Sensenig also connected on a key 13-yard pass on fourth down to keep the final drive alive.

The teams entered halftime deadlocked at 14-14, after a first half that featured a 14-yard touchdown pass from Crowther to Eric Petters and a 23-yard TD run by Burkholder for Ephrata. Warwick's scores came on 1 and 2-yard runs by Steffy.

Ephrata got an important 32-yard field goal by Eric Petters early in the fourth quarter, which in the end was the decisive score.
ImageSeveral Mounts garnered individual recognition following the Mounts Section II championship season. For the second year in a row Derek Sipe received the Section II MVP award and was nominated for All-State as well as All-American.

Along with Sipe, Paul McHenry and Dan Hagey earned 1st team league All-Star status, while Tom Renko and Dan Szabo were named to the 2nd team.

This past Monday (November 7th) the Mounts had their own awards ceremony. Collecting individual accolades from the Varsity team were Dan Hagey (Outstanding Offensive Player), Dan Szabo (Outstanding Defensive Player), Dallas Stauffer (Haberman Award) and Paul McHenry and Derek Sipe shared the Co-Most Valuable Player award.

From the JV team, Kyle Nelms received the Outstanding Offensive Player Award, Ian Bippus took home the Outstanding Defensive Player Award, and Brennan Harding received the Coaches Award.

Also on Monday head coach Chris Jahnke announced his resignation. "I believe the program deserves to have someone who could give it the time it needs to remain successful", Jahnke commented on his decision. "I couldn't continue committing as much time as I was, in my position as assistant principal" Jahnke added.

Jahnke, a 1985 Brunswick High alumnus, coached 12 years at Ephrata, finishing with a 162-74-17 record.
ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Ice Hockey team blasted Annville-Cleona in their season opener. The Mounts got better each period on their way to a 11-4 victory (box score). Devin Williams recorded 13 saves between the pipes.

Ephrata won the first period 3-2, the second 4-2 and the last period 4-0.

Ephrata spread the scoring around getting 2 goals a piece from Jeremy Martin, Jeff Bohler, Brandon Pike, and Michael Cox. Sam Wiet, Shane Allen and Kyle Sauder added individual goals for the Mounts.

Allen also added 3 assists for the Mounts. Also assisting were Cody Bowen (2), Timothy Wanner (2), Christopher Lyons and Bohler.

The Mounts next play November 14th at 8:30, at the Lancaster Ice Rink.
ImageJunior Alicia Harbold finished a very respectable 138th this past weekend at the State Cross Country Meet. Harbold's time of 20:44 was 33 seconds faster then her sophomore time. As a sophomore Harbold finished in 165th place.

The meet held this past Saturday concludes the Mounts Cross Country season.
ImageThe football seemed to be in the air on every play at War Memorial Field Friday, but was actually only lofted downfield two-thirds of the time in the relentless air attack from both Conestoga Valley and Ephrata.

Ephrata (3-4 L-L, 4-6 overall) beat the Buckskins at their own game, riding the hot arm of sophomore quarterback Blake Crowther and the hands of senior wide receiver Kyle Sensenig in a 49-34 slugfest.

Crowther completed 16 of 19 passes for 231 yards and five touchdowns, while Sensenig caught 10 passes for 171 yards and three scores, helping blow open a 14-12 game. (Click here for the complete boxscore.) Sensenig expanded his school record for touchdown catches in a season to 12 with one game remaining.

"The team is rallying around Blake right now," said Ephrata head coach Ken Grove. "I tell you, though, No. 2 (Sensenig) is making some catches for us. Blake did a great job. He is a good kid who wants to play hard."
ImageSophomore QB leads Mounts to a pair of victories in his 1st 2 career starts, including last Friday's 56-28 triumph over Solanco. For his efforts, Blake has been named the New Era Player Of The Week this week.


Talk about making the best of a bad situation.

Ephrata was down in the dumps at 1-6 overall, with losses to Manheim Township (8-1), Cocalico (7-2), Manheim Central (8-1) and Elizabethtown (5-4).


Blake Crowther at the War

Ephrata QB Blake Crowther is the New Era Player of the Week.
© Andrew P. Blackburn/New Era


And to make matters worse, senior quarterback Seth Zimmerman went down with a shoulder injury — an injury that will force him to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder in the coming days.

Enter sophomore Blake Crowther.
ImageJunior Alicia Harbold sprinted to a 30th place finish overall, qualifying for States in the process, as she led the Lady Mounts to a 10th place finish overall this weekend in Hershey, PA. Harbold finished the course in 20:23.73, almost 30 seconds faster than her time last season. Manheim Township was the top L-L finisher as they earned 5th place, they were followed by Hempfield (8th) and Ephrata. Chambersburg, who placed all 5 runners in the top 31, easily finished first.

"Alicia ran a fantastic race. She got away from the start very well and was able to maintain her position throughout the race", noted Coach Steve Sweigart.

The district is young however, only eight seniors finished in the top 40. There were 11 freshmen in the top 40, 8 sophomores and 13 juniors, including the top 4 finishers.

The Mounts are also young, as next season should be even better for the Lady Mounts. Following Harbold were junior Jamie Singer (79th, 21:23.31), sophomore Samantha Fink (98th, 21:39.25), sophomore Brynn Lyons (99th, 21:40.37), senior Kelly Holst (131st, 22:09.17), freshman Dana Haas (136th, 22:13.72) and senior Amber Davies (146th, 22:20.42).

Running well for the boys was junior Brad Sweigart (137th, 18:17.54), sophomore Givi Palagashvili (158th, 18:23. 64) and senior Niraj Amin (210th, 18:49.68). None of the boys qualified for States, thus ending their season.
ImageIf defense is your cup of tea, the football game at Ephrata's War Memorial Field on Friday night was a big gulp-sized serving of black coffee.

The Section Two tussle between Ephrata and Solanco was all offense, an eye opening 908 total yards of offense, but it was the Mounts serving up big plays all game long.

"This one was probably fun for people to watch," Ephrata coach Ken Grove said.

Led by sophomore quarterback Blake Crowther, who had a hand in six touchdowns, five passing and one on the ground, Ephrata shellacked Solanco, 56-28 in Section Two play.

The Mounts had six scoring drives (the term being used loosely) that lasted three plays or less, three that required only one play to find the end zone.

"We didn't make too many mistakes tonight," Grove said. "The line did a nice job, we threw the ball well, and kids made some big plays."

Ephrata (2-4 Section Two, 3-6 overall) had six plays from scrimmage that topped 40 yards, five of which were touchdowns, with tight end Chris Hull on the receiving end of three.

"To Blake's credit, our execution with the line, and the overall execution on offense I was really pleased with," Grove said.

Crowther was 8-for-11 for 214 yards in only his second start at QB, while his brother Ryan Crowther, a senior running back, had 98 yards on the ground and caught a 43-yard touchdown pass. Click here for complete boxscore.

"It's really exciting. It was a lot of fun tonight and everyone did well, especially the (offensive) line did well for us," Blake Crowther said.
ImageIt's a Wrap!
The 2nd annual Dodgeball Tournament has concluded another high energy filled weekend. And for Anthony Rinaldi, Kurt Sensenig, Steve Tretter, Morgan Bartholomew, Matt Wooley, Ben Vavreck, Mark Lowrie and Scott Liebl the "trifecta" is still within reach. The "trifecta"? you ask... Well... it's obviously winning the Wiffleball tournament, the Dodgeball tournament and the Three-on-three basketball tournament held this weekend in Ephrata! All players mentioned have been part of championship teams for the first two legs of the trifecta!

You can view the final results here.

Click
here or on the link at the left to go to the Dodgeball home page.
ImageAndrew Clemens' penalty-kick goal with 17:27 remaining was the difference for the Cedar Crest Falcons (11-9-1), who upset the top-seeded Mountaineers (17-2-1) at Ephrata's War Memorial Field.

The Falcons, the 16th seed, were awarded the penalty kick when officials decided Falcons sophomore forward Greg Shertzer was pulled down just inside Ephrata's penalty box.

Clemens, a senior defender, eventually made good on the freebie by punching a shot into the upper left corner.

Ephrata took a 1-0 lead 20:29 into the game when junior striker Dan Hagey headed in a 30-yard pass from Fernando Buitrago.

Crest, which matched Ephrata's shot total (seven) for the game and finished with a 6-5 advantage in corners, answered 10:38 into the second half on a goal from midfielder Stephen Melnick.

After failing behind on Clemens penalty kick, the Mounts eventually had a chance to tie it with 5:50 left, but Hagey's shot from the right wing trickled just wide of the far post.

Ephrata, the two-time defending L-L League Section Two champion, was undefeated in its first 18 games this season, before losing to Manheim Township, 5-3, in Saturday's L-L championship game.

The Falcons will face Wilson in Saturday's semis at a site and time to be determined.
ImageTick. Tick. Tick.

BOOM!

Another day, another three-goal explosion for the Manheim Township soccer team.

Another Lancaster-Lebanon League championship.

The Blue Streaks (16-2-1) successfully defended their L-L title with a 5-3 verdict over Ephrata, dealing the Mounts their first loss of the year.

It was Township's seventh league title overall and third in the last six years.

Playing in an occasional downpour and persistent shower Saturday afternoon at Pequea Valley, Township exploded for three goals in the first eight minutes of the second half to open a 4-1 lead.

It was the second game in a row where Township took command of a game with a sudden, three-goal flurry, having buried Elizabethtown in Thursday's league semifinals.

Saturday, Ephrata (17-1-1) got off the deck and made a game of it, pulling to 4-3 with 22 minutes to play.

With momentum on their side, the Mounts attacked and, with 15:00 to play, nearly had the equalizer when Dan Hagey got behind keeper David Flynn and sent a loose ball rolling toward the line.

A line guarded by Cameron Bertel, who kicked the ball out of danger.
ImageGood parking, good seating, less complaining in your ear. As it turns out, losing streaks aren't all bad after all.

The Ephrata Mounts football team snapped a 5 game losing streak Friday night in front of 57 damp Ephrata supporters. The Mounts (2-6) stopped the Wildcats (1-7) by the score of 27-7. No one was talking red rose vs white rose, but in the end it was the Mounts that came out smelling like roses causing 6 turnovers, while only turning the ball over 1 time themselves.

The Wildcats fumbled the ball 5 times (losing two of them) and threw 4 interceptions, while the Mounts only had one interception, and no fumbles (some credit to Ephrata's ball boy for keeping the ball dry perhaps?).

This was not a game about long sustained drives. After 8 minutes of scoreless action Dallastown's Kyle O'Donnell (23 rushes-113 yards) rumbled in from 2 yards out to give Dallastown the early lead. That drive consumed 37 seconds, and it would be the 2nd longest of the evening.

After the extra point, the Mounts returned the kick to their own 30. Blake Crowther (11 rushes-132 yards) took the snap and sloshed 70 yards for the Mount score, the extra point by Eric Petters would tie the game at 7-7. Drive time: 22 seconds.

Following a Wildcat turnover on downs, Blake Crowther found Kyle Sensenig along the Ephrata sideline for a 47 yard touchdown pass, the kick looked good, but was wide left, and the Mounts led 13-7. Drive time: 15 seconds.

The Mounts defense stopped the Wildcats again and the Mounts took over with 5:34 left in the half. From here the Mounts went on their longest drive encompassing 8 plays and 72 yards. Blake Crowther rushed for 53 yards and passed for another 10 on the drive, but it was senior brother Ryan Crowther that punched it in from the 3 yard line to give the Mounts the lead 20-7. Drive time: 230 seconds.

The third quarter featured 4 first downs, two by Ephrata and two by Dallastown.

Will Rabuck recovered a Zach Shue's fumble with 8:18 left in the fourth quarter, setting up a 1st and 10 for Ephrata at the Dallastown 30. From there Blake Crowther (4-11 94 yds) found Kyle Sensenig (3-87 2 TDs) again to give the Mounts a 27-7 lead. Drive time: 10 seconds.

All together the Mounts scored 4 times, consuming a total of 4 minutes and 37 seconds. Click here for the complete box score.

The Mounts now turn their attention to the Solanco Mules, who they host on home coming night October 28th.
ImageDespite running well, the Ephrata Mount Girls found themselves at the end of the league meet, where they were at the end of the regular season, in third place. But the Lady Mounts distanced themselves from fourth place by finishing 62 points ahead of Hempfield.

Lancaster Mennonite went 1-2, as Lindsey Shertzler and Lisa Wingard finished ahead of Ruthie Rosenberger (MT). Lancaster Mennonite won the meet with an impressive score of 68. Manheim Township finished second with 83, and the Mounts followed with a total of 90 (though I came up with 94?).

Alicia Harbold cracked the top 10, while Ephrata placed 5 girls in the top 24. Harbold, nearly cracked the 20 minute mark with her 10th place time of 20:04.

From there the Mounts packed it in like they have all year with Jamie Singer (18th; 20:28), Kelly Holst (20th; 20:32), Brynn Lyons (22nd; 20:34) and Dana Haas (24th; 20:39) all finihing within 11 seconds of each other.

On the Boys' side, Craig Miller (MT) won his fourth straight league title finishing almost 30 seconds ahead of Vince McNally of Conestoga Valley, who finished 10 seconds ahead of Brad Miller (MT). Manheim Township easily won the league title coming in with a jaw-dropping 27 points (1st, 3rd, 4th, 9th & 10th), Conestoga Valley was second with 95 points. The Ephrata Mounts boys finished in 13th place with 372 points.
ImageDetermined to earn a spot in Saturday's Lancaster-Lebanon League boys' soccer final for the first time, Ephrata never gave Cedar Crest a chance to continue their upset run.

Getting the eventual game-winner from Derek Sipe 8:58 into the first half, Ephrata reached the title game with a 2-0 semifinal victory over Cedar Crest Thursday night at Hempfield.

The win for the Mounts (17-0-1), coupled with Manheim Township's (15-2-1) drubbing of Elizabethtown (by the score of six-nil), propels the two school's into Saturday's Championship game at Pequea Valley scheduled for 2:00.

The Mounts not only remained undefeated, but notched their school-record 13th shutout of the season. Josh Peifer and Paul McHenry each recorded four saves enroute to the shutout.

Cedar Crest came in looking to build on their wins over Cocalico and Section one Champion Warwick. But Sipe's blast into the bottom left corner of the net early in the game turned the momentum the Mounts' way.

Then less then 13 minutes later, Dan Szabo picked a header out of the air and tucked it under the crossbar to give the Mounts a 2-0 lead. The Mounts went on to out-shoot the Falcon 15-12.

A collision with a Falcon player and Peifer left Ephrata's sensational sophomore goalie on the ground, with 3 minutes left in the half. Peifer finished the half but was replaced to start the second half, and if you weren't from Ephrata you might consider it a good thing that Ephrata had to resort to their second string goalie.

But Paul's been between the pipes before, as many know, and proved once again that he can still get the job done. As a testament to that fact, McHenry made a dazzling kick save early in the second half, which thwarted a Falcon attack.

It's uncertain at this time if Peifer's injury is serious enough to keep him out of the title game. He seemed confident and relaxed talking along the sidelines during the second half, which may mean the removal was only precautionary. But, if Peifer can't go, Ephrata will surely miss McHenry's offensive contributions (13 goals, 8 assists) at the striker position.

Good Luck Saturday Mounts!
ImageThe Ephrata Middle School will once again play host to the Lancaster-Lebanon League cross country meet to be held this afternoon (10/20/05).

The girls' run will begin at 4:15 PM with the boys to follow at 5 PM.

The Ephrata girls are expected to challenge for a top five spot in the team standings, but Lancaster Mennonite (21-0) would have to be the favorite for the girls team title going into today's race. The Blazers are led by sophomore sensation and defending league champion Katie Ruth, junior Lindsey Shertzer and sophomore Lisa Wingard, with sophomore Alyssa Groff and freshmen Katelyn Rittenhouse, Ali Brown, Becca Yoder and Izzy Hoffer providing an excellent pack behind the top three runners.

Ruth will be looking to duplicate her victory from a year ago. The last female to win back-to-back individual league championships also came from Mennonite, with Greta Hertzler performing the feat in 1997 and 1998. In addition, perhaps the stars are aligned for the Blazers.

After going 20-1 last season and finishing third at leagues (only 16 points behind first-place Solanco), Lancaster Mennonite is the team to beat this time around. The Blazers will get some tough competition from Manheim Township (20-1), Ephrata (19-2) and Hempfield (18-3).

The Blue Streaks are led by freshman Ruthie Rosenberger and senior Katie Calhoun.

Ephrata relies on a strong pack since the Mountaineers do not have anyone who can run up front with Ruth, Shertzer and Rosenberger. Juniors Alicia Harbold and Jaime Singer, sophomores Brynn Lyons and Samantha Fink and freshman Dana Haas consistently run within 45 seconds of each other.

A plan of attack for these teams against LM would be to have their top runners try to position themselves near Ruth, Shertzer and Wingard and then pack in their third, fourth and fifth runners ahead of Mennonite's fourth and fifth spots.

The big story will be on the boys' side where Manheim Township's Craig Miller will be going for his fourth-straight individual championship. Manheim Township (21-0) is the county's powerhouse and is led by the senior twin brothers Craig and Brad Miller. Along with Craig Miller seeking his fourth straight L-L title, the Blue Streaks will also be looking to achieve their third team championship in four years.

Miller may be facing his toughest challenge up to now, with his brother Brad and Conestoga Valley sophomore Vince McNally lurking right behind him.

After bursting onto the scene as a freshman last year and finishing third at the league meet, McNally has been improving steadily and has the potential to upset Miller in the last mile of today's race.

McNally only lost to Miller by six seconds at the Gettysburg Invitational on Sept. 10 with their respective times of 14:56 and 15:02 being two of the fastest high school 5,000-meter times in Pennsylvania in the past five years.

All qualifiers from Thursday's race will enter the District Three Meet which will be held October 29.
ImageAfter watching Section One Champ Warwick blow a 2-0 lead in the game before theirs, Ephrata's soccer team was not about to do the same thing.

Standing on the runway the Mounts watched as Warwick lost their game on penalty kicks, sending the section champs home and advancing Cedar Crest.

The Mounts came out and applied pressure early, but were not rewarded a goal in the first half. However less then 5 minutes into the second half Dan Hagey found the back of the net to give the Mounts a 1-0 lead. That score would remain until Derek Sipe led Jordan Agudelo with a perfect entry pass with 21:50 left to play. That score turned out to be the final score as Ephrata won 2-0.

Although Pequea had their chances, Ephrata ultimately outshot the Braves 13-8. Josh Peifer recorded 2 saves enroute to his 12th shutout of the season.

The Mounts (16-0-1) will now travel to Hempfield to play Cedar Crest (10-8-1) on Thursday at 5:30.
ImageThe regular season now behind them, the Ephrata Mounts soccer team left a wake behind that many small boats felt. The Mounts (15-0-1) rolled through the regular season scoring 68 goals, while allowing only 7.

Dan Hagey led the goal scoring with 17 followed by Derek Sipe (16) and Paul McHenry (13). McHenry and Tom Renko (6 goals) led the team with 8 assists each, while Hagey added 7 and Dan Szabo (6) and Fernando Buitrago (5) also finished in the top 5.

The Mounts now turn their attention to playoffs, looking to turn around their previous playoff luck. The Mounts first face Pequea Valley, an up and down team this year. Pequea comes in with a record of 13-4-2, they own the distinction of both tying and beating Lancaster Mennonite (11-1-1), but losing to Elco (7-4-2) Donegal (5-6-2), Penn Manor (3-8) and Conrad Weiser. The Braves also tied Garden Spot this year.

The match is scheduled for 7:30 Tuesday at Conestoga Valley. The winner of tonight's contest will play the winner of the 5:30 game at Conestoga Valley which features Warwick and Cedar Crest. That match is scheduled for Thursday at 5:30 at Hempfield.
ImageAmy and Katie Nicholas recently competed in the District Golf Tournament. Although they missed the cut to advance to the second round, they finished the wet course in the top 40.

Amy who shot a 128 and finished in 38th place, and Katie (130) finished in 39th place. Those two marks were the highest finishes ever for girls' golfers at EHS.

The top 15 golfers qualified for state play.

"I want to commend the girls for setting a goal (qualifying for districts) and achieving it", commented Ed Gambler, the EHS golf coach.

The District match concluded the season for the Ephrata Golf team.
ImageElizabethtown was due — way overdue. For the last three seasons, Ephrata has beaten up pretty badly (a combined 110-53) on the Bears.

That all changed Friday night when Elizabethtown got some revenge by taking out three years of frustration on the Mounts.

Cole Barnes rushed for a game-high 152 yards and A.J. Shippling scored four touchdowns to lead the Bears to a convincing 42-7 triumph on Homecoming Night in E-town. Click here for the complete boxscore.

The Bears improved to 4-1 in Section Two, which keeps them tied with Cocalico for second place. Manheim Central, which played a non-league game Friday night, is 4-0 and atop the standings.

The second-place tie will be broken next week when the Bears travel to Denver to take on Cocalico. E-town and Cocalico have each already lost to Central.

"We're all playing together right now," said Shippling, of the Bears. "The chemistry is there."

Shippling, a rock-solid senior fullback, rushed for 92 yards and scored on four of his 15 carries, including three in the second half.

"Everything comes from the line," said Shippling. "They work hard for us. They have been blowing people off the ball. The holes were huge. Anybody could have run through those holes."
At the girl’s Lancaster-Lebanon League Golf Championships, the Nicholas sisters punched their ticket to districts.  Katie and Amy Nicholas both extended their seasons by qualifying for the District 3 tournament.

This is the second straight year that Katie will attend, after becoming the first Ephrata girl ever to make Districts last year.  This will be Amy's first trip, but it was also her first attempt, since she is in her first season as an Ephrata golfer. For their efforts, Katie and Amy are the Athletes of the Week for the week of 9/28/05 through 10/5/05.

ImageA classic tale of too little, too late.

With losses earlier in the week to Garden Spot and Conestoga Valley, the Ephrata Mounts Field Hockey team were already eliminated from post season play.

But that wasn't going to stop the Lady Mounts from beating first place Cocalico. The Lady Mounts jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on Cocalico and held on to win on Hannah Hess' overtime goal 4-3. The win proved that the Mounts can certainly play with the best.

After jumping out to the 2-0 lead on two goals by Marcy Dull, the Mounts gave up goal to Kaitlin Mitchell and Savannah Graybill to knot the score at 2-2 at the break.

Ephrata struck first in the second half on a goal by Jenna Garber (2 assists), but that goal was quickly answered when Graybill scored her 2nd goal of the game tying the score at 3-3.

The score stayed that way until the overtime period. In the overtime period, Hess spent little time finding wood, as she scored in 1:37 to seal the victory for the Mounts.

Katelyn Shelley also had an assist for the Mounts.
ImageEphrata’s Lily Sears and Megan Royer came within an eyelash of advancing to the L-L Tennis Finals Tuesday afternoon at Conestoga Valley.

The top-seeded tandem in Flight Two from Ephrata went to a third set supertiebreaker in their semifinals match vs. Hempfield’s Rose Conwell and Andrea Konas. Unfortunately, the Black Knights team, which eventually captured the Flight Two crown, prevailed in that third and decisive set, winning by a 10-8 decision.

“I’m still so proud of Lily and Megan,” Ephrata Coach Allison Ohline said Tuesday night. “They played their hearts out but to lose the way they did is such a heartbreaker. It’s so sad to see it end that way but (that match) was the best tennis they played.”
ImageThe Ephrata Mounts girls team were finished before the fourth runner ever crossed the finish line on Tuesday. Their bid to upset a slightly favored Township team ended in a close 25-30 loss. Manheim Township finished 1-2-3 sealing the victory over the Mounts. Alicia Harbold led the Mounts with a fifth place time of 20:49. Following her was Jamie Singer (6th; 20:59), Brynn Lyons (7th; 21:02), Dana Haas (9th; 21:24) and Sam Fink (11th; 21:34).

The Mounts top five all finished ahead of Township's fourth place runner, but as stated earlier the Mounts were already mathematically eliminated.

The Girls were clearly strong enough to dispose of Elco 17-50, and gathered forfeit wins from both Elizabethtown and Lebanon.

That's right, Elizabethtown forfeited the last match of the year to Ephrata. Don't expect any type of turmoil over this.

The Mounts finished the season in third place at 19-2 behind Township (20-1) and Lancaster Mennonite (21-0).

The boys team split their match, losing to a dominate Township team 15-55. The Township boys outdid their girls team, as they sent the first 6 boys across the finish line.

The boys lost a close one to Elizabethtown 26-34, but defeated Lebanon 19-39.

The Mounts were led by Givi Palagashvili (11th; 18:00) and Brad Sweigart (12th; 18:12) and crowd favorite Niraj Amin (14th; 18:46).

The Mounts who ran most of the season without their number one runner finished the regular season 6-15.
ImageApparently, Manheim's Maroon Machine also runs on Monday nights.

Just ask Ephrata's football team, which hosted Central in a rescheduled L-L League Section Two game at War Memorial Field.

The Barons manhandled Ephrata in the trenches, treading for 375 rushing yards while allowing only 47 total yards in a 61-0 thrashing of the host Mounts. Click here for the complete boxscore.

Consider it a tuneup for the mighty Barons. That's how coach Mike Williams viewed it, anyway.

"We are headed for that final phase of the season," said Williams, who won his 250th career game two weeks ago at Cocalico. "We have got to improve in some areas."

Nothing about the Barons (4-0 L-L, 5-1 overall) appeared to be in need of repair Monday night in Ephrata.

Central scored nine touchdowns in four different methods — five on the ground, a pair through the air, one on defense and one via special teams.

"That's what you need to be a championship team," Williams said of the scoring variety.

Senior quarterback Brandon Miller had one of his finest games of the season, rushing for 165 yards on 11 carries and a pair of first-quarter touchdowns.

He also threw for two scores, and completed 4-of-7 passes overall, with no turnovers, for 108 yards (27 yards per completion).

"He's just a first-year starter. He's basically in his sixth game of experience," Williams said of his 5-11, 175-pound signal-caller. "He has gotten better each week."

Central's defense also continued to show improvement since a 31-20 season-opening loss to Central Dauphin. The Mounts' (1-3 L-L, 1-5) only trek onto Central's half of the field came four minutes into the final quarter.

Central has allowed 27 points over the past five games, with three shutouts during that span.

"I was most pleased with the defense. We shut (Ephrata) down completely," Williams said.
ImageThe Ephrata Mounts tennis team gracefully bowed out of the singles competition yesterday, but stayed alive in the Flight 2 doubles.

In Flight 2 second seeded Lily Sears defeated Pequea Valley's Eliza Martin in three sets (6-3, 3-6, 10-6). Things looked good for Sears as Rose Conwell (seeded 4th) knocked off the number one seeded Stephanie Milliken (MT). But Conwell stayed hot and defeated Sears in the finals 6-4, 6-1.

At Flight 4 un-seeded Amy Sherman played well but was defeated by the number one seeded Anna Meyers (Warwick) 6-2, 6-2. The loss brought Sherman's season to an end.

In the Flight 2 doubles, top seeded Sears and Megan Royer breezed through their only match of the day defeating Maunette Watson and Cinnomin Uhler (Elco) 6-0, 6-2.

Sears hopes to gain revenge as Sears and Royer now play Conwell and Andrea Konas (Hempfield) who won their match over CV's Julie Wiker and Kirsten Gregg in three sets 4-6, 6-1, 10-4. Conwell and Konas are the 4th seed.
This weekend's rainfall altered the schedules of several Mounts schedules, below you'll find a recap of what I currently know about:

ImageThe Mounts football game with Manheim Central is now scheduled for Monday night at 7:00 at the War Memorial Field, this game is still being televised by Cable 11 and the PCN network.

The Mounts JV game scheduled for Monday night at Manheim Central has been cancelled.

The Mounts midget teams were postponed this weekend and will be made up on Wednesday night.

ImageIMPORTANT UPDATE: The Mounts game scheduled with Cocalico Monday night has been moved to Thursday.

What started out as a big week for the field hockey team got even bigger. Quite simply if the Mounts can manage to win out this week, they make the playoffs. But to win out now... the Mounts (5-4; fourth place) will have to defeat Garden Spot (3-4-2; fifth place)(rained out from Saturday) on Tuesday, Conestoga Valley (5-1-3; 3rd place) on Wednesday, and Cocalico (7-2; 1st place) on Thursday (rescheduled from Monday).

ImageThe Mounts soccer team hung onto the number 2 ranking in the state, however they lost a game from their schedule as the game with Section One Hempfield was taken off the schedule.

The Mounts will finish up their regular season this week with a match Tuesday against Lampeter-Strasburg (3-6) and a trip to Cocalico Thursday night to play the Eagles (6-3-1).

ImageThe Mounts tennis team had their playoff schedule pushed back as well, the remaining Mounts will now play matches today. Flight two Lily Sears (14-2) faces Eliza Martin (PV), Flight 4 Amy Sherman (12-4) faces Anna Meyers (War) and the doubles team of Sears and Megan Royer (13-1) faces Munett Watson an Uhler (Elco). All these matches will be played on Monday at Conestoga Valley starting at 8 AM.

The finals scheduled for Monday have been moved to Tuesday starting at noon at Conestoga Valley.
ImageThe writing had long since been on the wall.

After all, it was no secret back in August that Ephrata was returning the bulk of its Section Two championship team from last year.

And when the Mountaineers went out and started winning by football scores over the next few weeks, speculation quickly grew that Ephrata was on the verge of a second straight section crown.

Thursday night in Manheim, the Mounts made it official.

Using its wealth of speed, pinpoint passing and a few defensive mistakes from Manheim Central, Ephrata got a pair of goals in the game's first 8:08 and eventually rolled to a 5-0 victory over the Barons at Elden Rettew Field.


Sipe moves upfield

Derek Sipe, who scored two of Ephrata's goals in a five-minute span
during the first half, controls the ball as Kyle Kiralfy defends for Manheim Central.
© Deb Grove / Intelligencer Journal


The result was the Mounts' second Section Two title in as many years. Perhaps even more impressive was that Thursday's victory enabled Ephrata (11-0-1 Section Two, 13-0-1 overall) to keep its 26-game, regular-season unbeaten streak alive.

Since moving from Section One prior to the 2004 season, the Mounts are now 24-0-2 against Section Two opponents.

"This team is very good," Ephrata coach Chris Jahnke conceded of his players. "They're smart, they're solid and, as you saw here, they just don't stop moving."
ImageEphrata sent five tennis players to Leagues and from that group three remain alive in either singles or doubles matches.

In Flight one Lauren Donmoyer defeated Chelsea Bollinger (Warwick) 7-6, 6-3 to move to the second round. Unfortunately it was there that she faced the number one seed from Manheim Township Leah DeMasters who defeated Donmoyer 6-0, 6-0. The loss eliminated Donmoyer (6-10) from the bracket.

In Flight Two Lily Sears defended her number two seeding by breezing through the first two rounds. She dropped Rebekah Shanaman (Elco) in the first round 6-0, 6-0. Then defeated Sami Souders (Lancaster Catholic) in the second round 6-2, 6-2.

Sears (14-2) will now face Eliza Martin, who is the third seed from Pequea Valley. Number 1 Stephanie Milliken (MT), and number 4 seed Rose Conwell (Hempfield) are also still alive.

In Flight 3 heavily favored Megan Royer (2nd seed overall) was upset by Kim Vo from Elco. This match was a tight one as Royer (11-4) lost 6-7, 6-4, 9-11.

In Flight 4 Amy Sherman lost the first set 6-0 to Janelle Krantz (Solanco), but stormed back to take the second set 6-2 and the third 10-5. In the second round she breezed by Kelly Smith (Lancaster Catholic) 6-2, 6-1.

With the win in the first round, Sherman (12-4) eliminated the fourth seed. She must now face Anna Meyers (Warwick) who is the number one seed.

At Flight 5 Lindsay Miller (5-10) was eliminated from the tournament by Dani Klim (E-town) in straight sets 2-6, 2-6.

In number one Doubles Donmoyer and Sherman (6-9) lost to Lindy Beamesderfer and Nicole Meckley (Cocalico) in straight sets 3-6, 1-6. The loss dropped Donmoyer from the competition.

At number two Doubles, the number one seeded Sears and Royer (13-1) won easily 6-0, 6-1 to move to the second round where they will face Munett Watson and Uhler from Elco.
ImageThe Ephrata Mounts golf team will be sending two players on to District Level competition. On Wednesday afternoon Katie Nicholas and Amy Nicholas finished in the top 15 and thus qualified for Districts. Unfortunately Morgan Hossler did not as her score or 118 left her in 16th place.

Katie, who was the first girl ever to qualify from Ephrata last year, qualified again. Her sister, Amy is playing on the golf team for the first time. Katie (112) and Amy (113) had respectible scores, but the winner Sara Bejgrowicz of Manheim Township was in another league with her score of 75. A score which would have placed her only two strokes back when compared to her team mate and Boys Champion Josh Shoffstall's 73.

As a whole the Mounts "had a season during which our younger players improved tremendously" remarked head coach Ed Gambler.  This season the Mounts were led by Alan Kliewer who was incredibly steady throughout the season, posting a 77.5 scoring average, the lowest of any Ephrata golfer in well over a decade.  He finished second in section II scoring, less than a stroke (.6) behind the winner.  "Unfortunately, he did have a bad day at the League Tournament, failing to qualify for Districts." added Gambler.

The bad day he was referring to was Tuesday's 89 Kliewer left on the course, his worst score of the season. Steve Tretter and Kyle Morgan also competed each scoring a 91. With the cut line for District's set at 81, it left the Mount boys on the outside looking in.

But the future appears bright for the young Mounts as Gambler explains, "We have a number of young players on the team who show the potential and desire to improve their game in the future.  Hopefully, this will lead to success for them and the team."

For now though, we have the Nicholas's and we wish them the best of luck in Districts!
ImageAfter finishing an outstanding 10-4 regular season campaign, the Ephrata girls' tennis team will look to carry that success into the Lancaster-Lebanon League Tournament, which begins Thursday at various sites throughout the county.

The Lady Mounts enter the tourney, which continues Saturday before finishing up next Monday (at CV both days), with some lofty expectations.

In addition to being represented in all five singles flights and both doubles, Lily Sears and Megan Royer each have garnered #2 seeds in their respective singles flights, while that tandem is the top seed (12-1 record) in Flight Two doubles.

Sears, 12-2 at number two this year, sports the top singles record on the team while Royer was 11-3 in the third spot.

The last two years, Royer, a senior co-captain has bowed out in the semifinals at leagues. This year, her goal is to take that next step.

"I just want to get farther than I did the last two year," she said Tuesday. "I feel comfortable since I've been there before so I hope to use that experience to my advantage this time around."

Another player with high expectations this week is Flight 4 player Amy Sherman (10-4), a senior co-captain who made the finals a year ago at number five.

"I just want to have fun, take it game by game and just go as far as I can," Sherman said.

The other two team members who will be competing are Lauren Donmoyer (5-9) in flight One and Lindsay Miller (5-9) in Flight 5.

The top-seeded doubles team of Sears and Royer will be joined by Ephrata's #1 team of Donmoyer and Sherman, who earned a hard-fought 7-5, 6-4 victory over Lancaster Country Day in preliminary action Monday.

ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Girls cross country team (16-1) completed a sweep yesterday, setting themselves up for a showdown for 2nd place next week when they host Manheim Township (15-1). The Lady Mounts easily handled a Garden Spot team that came in with a record of 12-2, as they won handily 21-40.

The Lady Mounts also beat Penn Manor 20-47 and Manheim Central 15-55. The Mounts placed six runners in the top 10, and 10 in the top 24.

Once again Alicia Harbold paced the Mounts with a 2nd place finish tackling the course in 21:33. Jaime Singer (4th; 21:52), Brynn Lyons (5th; 22:03), Kelly Holst (6th; 22:10), Dana Haas (9th; 22:25) and Amber Davies (10th; 22:35) were the other Mounts cracking the top ten.

Since recovering from an early season injury Leah Sipe (11th; 22:41) has been turning in some nice times as well. On this afternoon Samantha Fink (12th; 23:00) was right behind her.

Kate Anderson (17th; 23:39) and Taylor Fletcher (24th; 25:01) also figured into the scoring to help the Mounts.

Garden Spot also defeated Penn Manor and Manheim Central to lift their record to 14-3.

Things didn't turn out so well for the boys (4-13), although they did place three runners in the top ten. Givi Palagashivili finished the course in 18:32 which was good enough for third place, while Brad Sweigart (5th; 18:44) and Niraj Amin (10th; 19:35) also placed in the top 10.

The Mounts lost to Garden Spot on the sixth-man rule 29-29, and also lost 23-36 to Penn Manor and 26-33 to Manheim Central.

ImageIt's been said — or is that sung? — that you can get by with a little help from your friends.

Monday afternoon, Lindsay Doutt was singing a happy tune when she found out that you also can get by with a little help from your foes.

Doutt, Lampeter-Strasburg's junior forward, netted a pair of goals to lift the host Pioneers over Ephrata 3-0 in L-L League field hockey action.

Lisa Charles added the final score for L-S (6-2-1, 19 points), which stands in second place in Section Two behind front-runner Cocalico (7-1-0, 21) with four league playing dates remaining. Ephrata (5-4-0, 15) dropped into fourth behind Conestoga Valley (5-1-2, 17). Only the top three teams qualify for the league playoffs.

It was on Doutt's first score — 6:55 into the second half — that she showed some imagination and benefited from a little luck.

"We had a nice 2-v-1 (two on one) on the goalie, and I was just trying to pass it to Jamie (Doughty),'' Doutt said. Doutt's pass never found Doughty's stick.



Jenna Garber on the defense

Ephrata's Jenna Garber (26) and the Pioneers' Jess Charles, left, look to contest
an airborne ball. Charles would later score for Lampeter-Strasburg.
© Dan Marschka / Intelligencer Journal


Instead, it ricocheted off an Ephrata defender's stick and right back to Doutt, who tapped it into the cage. In essence, Doutt got the assist on her own goal.

"No, I didn't try it that way,'' Doutt said. However, she wasn't about to give back that goal.

"It was an awesome play by her,'' L-S first-year head coach Cassie Thorius said of Doutt. "She was looking for the give-and-go (with Doughty). Then, she just made it (the goal) happen.''

The outcome was in stark contrast to the first meeting between these teams when the Mounts (10-6-1 overall) overcame a 4-1 deficit to knock off L-S (11-2-1) 5-4 in overtime Sept. 15 in Ephrata.

"Our defense fell apart last time,'' Thorius said. "We just had a mental breakdown.

ImageBruce Crabb a 5-11, 195 pound senior scatback, rushed for 197 yards on 23 carries and scored three touchdowns to carry the host Spartans football team (2-1 Section Two, 2-3 overall) over the Mounts (1-2, 1-4).

Click here for the complete boxscore.

It was Crabb's three-yard touchdown run with 50 seconds remaining that finally put the game out of reach, spoiling a late comeback effort from Ephrata, which trailed by as many as 21 points in the second half before closing the gap to seven in the fourth quarter.

The Spartans (310 yards rushing) led 21-7 at the half on the strength of Eric Wisler's 87-yard touchdown return on the opening kickoff as well as second quarter TD runs of 15 and 7 by Crabb and Brian Abreu (15-88 rushing) respectively. They added to that cushion when sophomore QB Tyler Horst (7-14-1 passing for 161 yards, 2 TDs) hit wideout Josh Fisher on a 21-yard touchdown pass with 5:10 remaining in the third.

Ephrata closed the gap to 28-21 with 1:47 to go in the quarter after a 29-yard fumble return by Mike Burkholder and a 70-yard bomb from QB Seth Zimmerman (14-37-2 passing for 254 yards, 2 TDs) to wideout Kyle Sensenig (6-110-2 receiving).

With the Mounts seemingly taking over, the Spartans recovered an onside kick attempt and regained control, marching 62 yards on 12 plays on a drive culminating in Crabb's 12-yard TD catch.

Then after Zimmerman and Sensenig hooked up for their second score of the night, a six-yard pass with three minutes to go to make it 35-28, the Spartans recovered another onside kick and capped off the drive with Crabb's clinching touchdown.
ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Girls Field Hockey team, came back from a tough loss to CV by beating Lebanon 3-1. The Cedars (0-6) played aggressively outshooting the Lady Mounts 11-9. But Ephrata's Katie Rice turned back 10 shots to keep the score tight.

With the Mounts locked up at half time 1-1, Jenna Garber scored her second goal of the game, and Eli Rosati added another to finish out the scoring for the Mounts. Katelyn Shelley, who leads the team in assists added another yesterday, as did Kilee Rosenberry and Rosati.

L-S (2-2-1) beat the current Section 2 leader Cocalico (5-1-0), which makes the top of the standings even more crowded.
Athletes of the WeekDan Hagey: Friday, in a soccer match against Manheim Central, Dan scored 3 goals in a 4-0 win. Including 1 goal only 11 seconds into the match. Tuesday against L-S, he scored 1 goal, and Thursday against Cocalico, he scored 2 more goals. He is now the leading scorer on the team with 9 goals and 3 assists.

Kilee Rosenberry:
In the game against LS this week, the field hockey team was losing 4-1.  Kilee was a contributor of one of the three goals to bring them to a tie at 4-4.  In overtime, she was part of an offensive break away and had a fantastic lofted shot to win the game, 5-4.  Also, against Daniel Boone on Tuesday, she assisted the game-winning goal.  Finally, against Garden Spot on Wednesday, Kilee scored the final goal in a 3-0 win.  For the season, Kilee is leading the team offensively with 8 goals and 1 assist.

For their efforts, Dan and Kilee have been named Athletes of the Week for the week of 9/15/05 through 9/22/05.
ImageThe Ephrata Mounts girls cross country team has 9 girls that can consistently run under 23 minutes, while this is a good thing for league meets, it's going to leave to Mounts on the outside looking in when Districts arrive.

Until then however, the Mounts will benefit from their deep depth. Tuesday afternoon was no different as the Mounts easily defeated Cedar Crest (18-43), Lampeter-Strasburg (20-43), Columbia (20-43) and Conestoga Valley (19-41).

Five Lady Mounts cracked the top 5, while 4 finished inside the top 25. Leading the way for the Mounts was Alicia Harbold who finished third with a time of 20:49. Brynn Lyons (5th; 21:31), Samantha Fink (7th; 21:34), Kelly Holst (8th; 21:35) and Jaime Singer (9th; 21:36) rounded out the top 10 scoring.

Also running well were Amber Davies (11th; 21:39), Dana Haas (14th; 21:47), Leah Sipe (17th; 22:11) and Kate Anderson (22nd; 22:40).

The Boy didn't fair as well, but they did avoid the sweep by defeating Columbia 20-36. The Mounts fell to CV 44-15, Cedar Crest 35-24, and narrowly lost to Lampeter-Strasburg 31-26.

Givi Pavagashvili led the Mounts with a 9th place finish with a time of 18:02. Brad Sweigart (10th; 18:10) and Niraj Amin (12th; 18:16) also placed for the Mounts.
ImageIn the most recent Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association poll, the Mounts (8-0-1) are ranked 2nd in the state in Class AAA (Large School), trailing only Germantown Academy. Warwick and Manheim Township are outside the top ten, listed as honorable mentions. District 3 Gettysburg comes in at #9.

On a soggy Monday afternoon at Solanco, the Mounts erupted for 7 goals as they easily handled the Mules 7-1. Tom Renko and Dan Hagey each had 2 goals, while Derek Sipe, CJ Wilson and Elis Saenz also found the back of the net.

Solanco's lone goal came off of the foot of Kyle Bean in the first half, which gave Solanco a brief tie at 1-1. But CJ Wilson answered less then 3 minutes later, and the Mounts would never look back.

Dan Hagey, Tom Renko, and Dan Szabo all had assists for the Mounts.
ImageJunior running back Roshaan McCain scored three touchdowns on run of 10, 2 and 37 yards to help the Whippets defeat visiting Ephrata in non-league play. McCain carried 18 times for 183 yards as Downingtown West (2-2) rused for a total of 311 yards.

Ephrata senior running back Ryan Crowther had two touchdowns (one rushing, one receiving), 10 carries for 29 yards and three receptions for 29 yards to lead the Mounts (1-3).

Click here for complete boxscore.

The Mounts offense showed complete control at times maintaining two long drives, each lasting over 7 minutes. But the defense could not seem to corrall the Whippet's speedy backs.

Fast Fun Fact: Mr. Fred Geyer is a Downingtown West Whippet alumni!

Correction: Mr. Fred Geyer, much older than expected, went to school back when Downingtown was only one school, not two. He was actually an Abington Galloping Ghost. Our deepest apologies to Mr. Geyer.
ImageThe Ephrata boys soccer program has been a model of consistency over the years in becoming one of the top programs in the Lancaster-Lebanon League.

Now because of their outstanding play, they are beginning to receive recognition statewide.

In the most recent Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association poll, the Mounts (6-0-1) are ranked 4th in the state in Class AAA (Large School).

The Mounts trailed Germantown Academy (Private), West Chester Henderson and Strath Haven. Warwick (10th) was also ranked. Ephrata beat Warwick earlier in the season 2-0.
ImageMarcy Dull is on a roll. Coming into Tuesday's game versus Daniel Boone, Dull had 3 assists on the year, but no goals. In two games Dull scored 4 goals and has lifted the Mounts (5-1-1) past Daniel Boone, and helped separate them from Garden Spot in the standings.

Ephrata dominated Daniel Boone Tuesday. The Mounts outshot D.B. 18-7. Dull started the scoring for the Mounts in the first half, leading the Mounts to a 1-1 score at the break. But the Mounts constant shooting was too much for Wunderlich who made an impressive 15 saves. Callie Sweigart made it 2-1 and Dull iced the game with her second goal. Jenna Garber (2) and Katelyn Shelley had assists for the Mounts.

Last night Shelley scored her second goal of the season sliding one past the Spartans Beth Sitar (11 saves) in the first half. Dull then added two goals in the second half as the Mounts blanked the Spartans 3-0. Kira Shelley made 9 saves in goal earning her second shutout of the season.

The Lady Mounts next host a high powered Pioneer offense when Lampeter-Strasburg visits Ephrata this afternoon (9/22/05).
ImageA pattern has developed over the past three matches. The Lady Mounts take three out of five singles matches, then win a doubles match to finish things off.

Tuesday and Wednesday were no different this week. On Tuesday the Mounts defeated Conestoga Valley 4-3, then followed that last night by turning back Elizabethtown 4-3.

Lily Sears and Megan Royer improved their doubles record to 9-1, as they won both matches in straight sets.

Sears only lost 3 games in singles play over the last two matches, as she moved to 9-1 on the season individually as well. Sears dropped Liz Beck (CV; 6-1, 6-1) and Justine Garber (E-town; 6-0, 6-1). Megan Royer improved to 8-2 on the season winning both of her matches in straight sets.

Amy Sherman (7-3) also scored singles victories on both nights.

The Mounts next host Penn Manor Friday afternoon.
ImageThe Ephrata cross country team enjoyed an excellent day Tuesday in a four-team meet held at Northern Lebanon.

In girls action, the Lady Mounts earned a clean sweep over the competition, defeating Hempfield (23-35), Lancaster Catholic (15-55) and the host Vikings (15-55) to improve to 10-1 on the season.

As for the Ephrata boys, the Mount defeated both Lancaster Catholic (25-30) and Northern Lebanon (19-37) while losing only to Hempfield (20-41).

Individually, Alicia Harbold captured firt place in the girl's race with a time of 20:15 and was one of five EHS runners to finish in the top 10. The others included: Byrnn Lyons (4th, 21:14); Amber Davies (5th, 21:15); Kelly Holst (6th, 21:23); Jaime Singer (7th, 21:28); and Sam Fink (9th, 21:50). Dana Haas (22:00) and Leah Sipe (22:38) finished 11th and 13th respectively.

On the boys' side, Givi Palagashvili was the top runner among the locals, placing third in the race with a time of 14:47. Brad Sweigart (6th, 18:03) was next for the Mounts, followed by Niraj Amin, who also cracked the top 10 with a time of 18:43. Jim Reddig placed 18th for the Mounts.
ImageThe Ephrata Mounts soccer team blasted the Manheim Central Barons 4-0 to take sole possession of first place in Section 2. Dan Hagey may have set a new Mountaineer record by scoring a goal 11 seconds into a match. Making the goal even more impressive was the fact that the Barons started the game with possession of the ball. Hagey added another score at 18:05, and less than a minute later Paul McHenry found the back of the net to put the Mounts up 3-0 before the break.

Dan Hagey made it a hat trick with his third goal 75 minutes into the contest to end the scoring.

Josh Peifer pitched another shutout for the Mounts, recording 3 saves off of six shots, and added an assist for good measure. Paul McHenry (2) and Tom Renko (1) also had assists for the Mounts.

The Barons fall to 3-1-0 in section play, while the Mounts moved to 3-0-1.
ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Girls Tennis team swept the McCaskey Red Tornado Friday afternoon 7-0. Lauren Donmoyer, Lily Sears, Megan Royer and Amy Sherman all won their singles matches in straight sets. Lindsay Miller dropped the first set, but rebounded to take the next two. From there the Mounts swept the doubles to complete the sweep.
ImageIt's just the nature of the rivalry.

It's just the nature of the Backyard Brawl.

When Cocalico and Ephrata meet the game is always close. Even when the Eagles rush for a school-record 434 yards, which is exactly what they did Friday night.

Cocalico got the game-winning touchdown with 1:58 to play from fullback Devin Orme, and Cocalico beat Ephrata 34-31 in Section Two play.

"I was very excited with the effort that the (offensive) line gave," said Cocalico coach Dave Gingrich. "They made some great holes and the backs ran extremely hard and we did a good job executing the offense."


Mike Burkholder -  </div>
		
				
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ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Field Hockey Team dominated the competition this past weekend at the Susquehanna TWP tournament. Both the JV and Varsity teams brought home the tournament trophies.

The Varsity Mounts opened up against host Susquehanna TWP and made quick work of them, scoring 4 unassisted goals. Kilee Rosenberry continued her scoring streak as she found the cage two times leading the Mounts to a 4-0 win. Callie Sweigart and Jenna Garber also scored for the Mounts.

In the second game the Mounts delivered another shutout this time 2-0 over Daniel Boone. Sweigart and Rosenberry scored again for the Mounts, while Marcy Dull added an assist.

The Mounts JV squad wasn't quite as dominate, but still managed two wins. They defeated Susquehanna TWP 6-2, and defeated Daniel Boone in OT 3-2. Tori Pagano (3 goals on the day) scored the game winning goal on a nice feed by Caitlin Strausser (1G, 2A). Emily Beamesderfer also had 2 goals and 1 assist on the day for the Lady Mounts.

ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Soccer Team, despite out-shooting the Spartans from Garden Spot 28-6, ended up in 1-1 tie Tuesday night. Gardenspot's D. Reynolds scored a goal late (79:36) in the second half to tie the game, and after two overtime periods the score remained.

Ephrata scored their lone goal as CJ Wilson fed Paul McHenry. The goal was McHenry's fifth on the season which currently leads the Mounts.

ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Tennis Team saw their four match winning streak come to an end as they travelled into Neffsville to face the Manheim Township Blue Streaks.

The Blue Streaks, a perennial tennis powerhouse, proved too much for the Mounts once again, as they defeated Ephrata 5-2. The current Ephrata Mounts Athletes of the week however, were not to be denied on this night as Lily Sears and Megan Royer defeated Brittany Whiteside and Serena Wang 8-6 to improve their doubles record to 6-0.

Sears was also the lone winner in singles, dropping Lauren Burkowitz 6-2, 6-4. All other Mounts lost in straight sets.
ImageSenior running back Ryan Crowther (17 carries for 55 yards) had a pair of short touchdown runs, and senior Eric Petters drilled the game-winning field goal in the fourth quarter Friday night as Ephrata edged host Lebanon 15-13 in the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 openers for both teams.

Ephrata improved to 1-0 in the section and 1-1 overall. Lebanon, which knocked off cross-town rival Cedar Crest in its opener, slipped to 0-1 in the section and 1-1 overall.

Crowther's 1-yard TD dive sliced Lebanon's lead to 7-6 at the break. And his 3-yard TD run gave Ephrata a 12-7 lead with 3:46 left in the third quarter. Ephrata's lead wouldn't last long as a big kickoff return found the Cedars deep in Mountaineer territory.

And with 1:53 left in the third, Lebanon pushed ahead to take a 13-12 lead when junior Jared Marderness slammed in from the 2.

But Petters won it for Ephrata with a 33-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. With 2:01 left to play all the Mounts defense had to do was shutdown Lebanon's offense one more time.

The Cedars did however march down the field, getting as close as the Mountaineer 5 yard line, but a holding call on the Cedars elimated the go-ahead touchdown, and their last play resulted in a sack.

Click here for the complete box score.

The Mounts now look to make it two in a row as they host the Cocalico Eagles next week.
ImageThe Ephrata Mounts girls and boys cross country team recently competed in the Gettysburg Invitational. The girls team faired quite well finishing 9th out of 26 teams. The only team in the Lancaster-Lebanon League that faired better were the Blue Streaks of Manheim Township who finished 7th.

Ephrata placed six girls in the top 100, including Alicia Harbold (35th; 20:00.10), Jaime Singer (56th; 20:31.94), Brynn Lyons (59th; 20:35.60), Amber Davies (70th; 20:45.78), Samantha Fink (74th; 21:01.90) and Dana Haas (100th; 21:36.39).

Finishing just outside of the top 100 was Kate Anderson (118th; 21:54.00) and Taylor Fletcher (153rd; 22:34.93)

The Boys also competed, but didn't fair quite as well as the girls. The boys finished in 27th out of 38 teams.

Leading the way for the Mounts was Junior Brad Sweigart (42nd; 17:47.01). Also placing for the Mounts was Niraj Amin (63rd; 18:04.18), Givi Palagashvili (130th; 18:52.66), James Reddig (216th; 19:57.83), Ryan Trella (237th; 20:16.08) and David King (261st; 20:51.28).
Lily and Megan are doubles partners with a 4-0 record thus far this year.  Individually, they play in the #2 and #3 spots respectively and each has a 3-1 record so far.  This week they both won their individual matches against Warwick and both recorded shutouts in their matches against L-S.  Both are seniors on the team and have returned to the same positions in which they played last year. For their efforts they have been named co-Athlete of the Week for the week of 9/1/05 through 9/7/05.

ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Girls Tennis team made it four straight wins after their opening season loss by defeating Cedar Crest 6-1.

Lauren Donmoyer took three sets to dispose of Macey Keath 3-6, 6-2, 10-3. While Lily Sears (6-4, 6-0), Megan Royer (6-1, 6-2) and Amy Sherman (6-2, 6-3) all won in straight sets as they each improved their individual records to 4-1.

In flight 5, Lindsay Miller (2-3) also won in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.

With the match already won, the Mounts went into the doubles portion of the evening. Ephrata's top doubles team of Donmoyer and Sherman fell for the second time this season in three sets 6-4, 7-6, 7-5. Ephrata's number two team of Sears and Royer however, remained undefeated as they finished Kelly Boyer and Jacy Dyer 6-4, 6-3 to improve to 5-0.

The Tennis Team will be in action again Monday September 12th at Manheim Township, that match is slated to start at 4:00.
ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Girls Cross Country team put on a stunning display Tuesday night as the Mounts placed five runners in the top 10, and seven in the top 20.

Amber Davies led the Mounts with a strong 2nd place finish with a time of 21:26. Ephrata then filled slots 6 through 9 as Jamie Singer (22:15), Alicia Harbold (22:35), Brynn Lyons (22:51) and Samantha Fink (23:05) all ran strong.

Dana Haas (23:46) finished 16th and Kelly Holst (23:53) finished 17th. The girls team easily defeated Solanco and Donegal both by a score of 19-40. And handled Warwick 24-33. The meet the first of the year for the Lady Mounts lifts their record to 3-0.

The boys team didn't fair as well as they defeated Donegal 27-30, but dropped matches to Solanco (45-19) and Donegal (55-15). Givi Palagashvill led the Mounts with a fifth place showing and a time of 18:25, while Brad Sweigart (8th; 18:35) and Niraj Amin (15th; 19:45) also placed for the Mounts.
ImageI'm not sure if it was bad Solanco coaching, or the fact that Ephrata Mounts Soccer Team had a superior team... but I do know one thing and that is that Ephrata blasted Solanco 7-0 on Tuesday night. If you think like I think, you'd know Ephrata had a superior team, and if you were at the game last night you'd be an eye-witness to the fact that Ephrata had the ball in Solanco territory approximately 80% of the time.

Paul McHenry scored 2 goals and assisted on another, but was slightly out-shone by senior Derek Sipe who had 2 goals and 2 assists. Dan Hagey scored a goal and assisted on 2 others, while David Wiegner and Dan Szabo also found the back of the net.

The Mounts had a rather slim 2-0 lead at halftime, but several near-goals. The score could have easily been worse for the Mules than it was. But then the Mounts came out firing in the second half scoring 5 goals including 2 within 20 seconds of each other by Dan Szabo and Derek Sipe.

Fernando Buitrago and Thomas Renko also had assists. Sophomore Josh Peiffer had an untested night in goal recording 1 save on 3 shots as the Mounts kept the ball out of the box for most of the night.
ImageThe Manheim Township Blue Streaks waited nine long months to take the field, and once they did, they did exactly as head coach Michael Melnyk wanted and played "one game at a time" as they blasted Ephrata 56-7 Friday night at Ephrata's War Memorial Stadium.

"We have said all spring long, 'one at a time.' " said Melnyk. "One play, one down, one quarter, one game, and it seems as though they are listening."

ImageThe Ephrata Mounts Girls Tennis team, rebounded from an opening season loss to defeat Lampeter-Strasburg 6-1 on Thursday. The Lady Mounts swept the doubles competition and took four of the five singles matches from the Pioneers. The Lady Mounts went 55-22 in the singles matches. Lily Sears and Megan Royer both won in straight sets 6-0, 6-0. The complete box score follows this story.

Alan, a senior, shot an excellent round of 77 on Monday to lead the Mounts golf team to a 2-2 finish in the first Section II match of the 2005 season.  He followed this with an even better round of 74, as Ephrata defeated Lancaster Country Day on Thursday.  Both of Alan’s rounds were shot at Hawk Valley, one of the toughest courses in the L-L League. For his efforts, Alan has been named Athlete of the Week for the week of 8/25/05 through 8/31/05.
ImageOne of Ephrata's own recently competed in the 39th annual AAU Junior Olympics in New Orleans.

Junior Hannah Hess of Ephrata was selected from an original pool of more than 5,000 elite players for the week-long competition Aug. 3-7 at Tulane University.

The USA Field Hockey Association's Futures Program identified Hannah at the National Futures Championships at Virginia Beach July 11-16, where 646 of the elite hockey players of the nation competed at the USA National Field Hockey Training Center, culminating five months of elite-level training and tactical instruction.

Earlier at Lehigh University, she was picked for their regional Pennsylvania teams of 111 players from over 460 hockey athletes in the state in order to go to Nationals at Virginia Beach.

The Junior Olympics tourney consisted of eight teams with players mixed from all over the country.

Hess's team finished seventh, but improved steadily during the tournament. She played mostly midfield, and had played on a national level last year. Hess was coached by Mike Eisenhour of the Delaware/Maryland Futures Program.

Collegiate coaches had the opportunity to evaluate all the nation's top field hockey athletes at the qualifiers, and the Virginia Beach and New Orleans national events.

The 39th Junior Olympics involved more than 20,000 athletes in 20 sports, with registration held in the Louisiana Superdome, and the Opening Ceremonies for over 15,000 in the New Orleans Arena.

Hannah Hess at AAU

Daneen Zug of Manheim Central, left, and Hannah Hess of Ephrata competed 
in the AAU Junior Olympics earlier this month in New Orleans.

ImageThe Ephrata Mounts golf team opened the season with a solid showing at Hawk Valley. Alan Kliewer led the Mounts with a 5 over par 77, which was 3rd best overall on the day. Randy Little (Solanco) led all golfers with a 71, while Elizabethtown's Aaran VanDeuriser turned in a 76.

Steven Tretter was 2nd for the Mounts (7th overall) with an 84. The Mounts defeated Lebanon 442-595 and Garden Spot 442-482, while losing to Elizabethtown 442-432 and Solanco 442-430.

Rounding out the top 5 for Ephrata was Eric Beamesderfer (92), Logan Maurer (94), and Kyle Morgan (95).

The Mounts will be in action again Thursday (8/25) as they take on Lancaster Country Day at the Crossgates golf course. Tee time is currently scheduled for 2:00.

We've made some more changes to the site. If you look on the left under the "Main" Heading, you'll notice two more items. One is "Links", here you will find the links to other Ephrata Mounts sites that I know about. If there is a significant demand for these links to appear on the Home page (as a link of their own), I can make that happen. Also if there is something you'd like me to link to let me know... can't seem to find a LaCrosse link but I'm sure there is one somewhere.

The other new addition is "Directions", I've added all of the away contests for 2005-2006. If you see a glaring mistake, please let me know. Also if there is a school missing that you'd like added, let me know. I haven't tested this on a lot of different platforms, so if people could test this and report back to me, that'd be great.

Still working on dragging content from the old site to the new site. But we're getting there!

Band, cheerleaders will be part of revamped event

Using Manheim Central as the gold standard, anyone who spends any time roaming the sidelines of a high school football game knows how important it is to have the community behind its football team.

With the though of trying to make that connection right form the get-go, the Ephrata Football Booster Club is looking to put some new twists on its annual kick-off event.
Some believe there has to be at least one foursome from each graduating class of Ephrata Senior High School which would be up for this challenge.

It's time once again for the annual Ephrata High School All-Class golf tourney, which has been set this year for Saturday, Sept. 10 at Fairview Golf Course in Lebanon County.

Go ahead take a look around, hopefully you'll enjoy what's happened to this site. I'm working on bringing most of the content over... but it's going to take some time.

This pieces of the puzzle are slowly coming together though. The Boys Basketball and Boys Football sites will have to be entered via the links on the left. The Athlete of the Week section will be the first thing that I bring over... again this is going to take some time.

ImageEphrata faced off against CV last Thursday on the road and went home with a 3-0 loss to the Buckskins.

In the 25-15, 25-17, 26-24 defeat, the Mounts were paced by Jon Weaver, who had 10 kills and three blocks. Darryl Thomas added a pair of aces in the losing effort.
ImageEphrata's Shane Burridge easily defeated Lampeter-Strasburg's Peter Whitlock in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, to punch his ticket to the Flight 3 league finals.
His luck would not carry over in doubles however, as Ephrata's top doubles team of Matt Harms and Burridge were defeated in Flight One, losing to Alex Risser and Bob Watson of Cedar Crest by a 6-4, 6-2 decision.
The Mounts tennis team closed the season strong winning their last two contests.
Last Thursday at home vs. Garden Spot, the Mounts swept both doubles matches to pull out a 5-2 decision over the Spartans.
In that one, Harms and Burridge teamed for a 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 10-6 win in the first doubles while Brad Sweigart and Cameron Auker added a convincing 6-2, 6-0 victory in the second match.
In singles play, Harms, Sweigart and Burridge all were winners as well.
The Mounts also earned a 4-3 non-league decision on the road at Pequea Valley last Wednesday.
In that one, Ephrata got singles wins from Sweigart, Burridge and Auker to pave the way to the team win.
ImageEphrata is in decent shape to secure its first playoff spot under second-year Coach Chris Dutton, the Lady Mounts did drop out of their first-place tie with CV this past week following a 2-0 loss at Manheim Central Friday afternoon.
Janelle Hess scored a goal in each half to give the Barons the big win in a game MC outshot the Lady Mounts, 17-8.
The Lady Mounts did rebound Monday with a solid 3-1 victory at hove over L-S.
In that one, Ephrata led 2-1 late before Kate Hertzler scored a big insurance goal. Melissa Newton and Arielle Gordon scored the other two goals for the Lady Mounts while goalie Becca Cetkowski turned away six shots.
ImageThe Ephrata Mounts track & field teams traveled to Manheim to do battle with the Barons this past Monday afternoon.
With some key athletes returning form injury, the Mounts won both the meets as the boys came home with a convincing 106-44 victory while the Lady Mounts were not far behind, coming home with a 93-56 decision.

Directions!