The Penn Manor swimmers opened the 2022 season with a tough draw, Warwick. Last Tuesday the Warriors used their depth to post a pair of home wins. They defeated Manor's girls' team 115-34 and the boys' 92-37.

"We knew Warwick would be strong and have great depth in numbers," said head coach Eric Urban. "I thought we swam well coming off a solid holiday break with tough practices. We were also down a couple of swimmers due to illness.

"Colton Garber swam very well in all of his events and had season best times in his 100 free and relay splits," Urban continued. "He was our admiral of the meet."

That relay split was an anchor in the winning 200 free with Jayden Sanchez, Caelan Spitko-Lind, and Colin Sweet contributing to Manor's only win of the meet.

Garber also finished second in the 200 free, as did Sanchez in the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke and contributed to a second in the medley relay with a butterfly split. Spencer Barry added a third in the 100 back.

Highlighting the girls' win was Avery Groff's first place effort in the 500 free. She was also third in the 100 back and Catherine Repkoe added a third in the 200 free. Grace Bresch finished second in the 50 free.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

Coming off a disappointing two-point loss to Columbia and after a 10-day layoff, the Lady Comets were back in action Monday, January 3 and took out their frustrations on Cocalico (2-5 overall). Manor used a full court press and a 1-3-1 zone defense to stifle the Eagles and earned a dominating 59-26 victory in Millersville.

"I was happy that we were able to be focused and get the job done," said head coach Megan Collins. "Our starters did a great job in securing a big lead early on, which allowed us to play a nine-person rotation."

Morgan Miller, who bucketed a team-high 20 points, netted seven in an 11-4 first quarter lead. Manor forced five turnovers in the first three minutes of the second quarter and pulled away for a 30-11 lead at the break. Kamia Gordley and Lily Sugra combined for 15 of Manor's 19 points.

The domination continued through the second half as the hosts dropped another 19 points, pushing out to a 49-22 lead and finished with a 10-4 fourth quarter.

Sugra finished with 15 points, Goodley and Emily Riggs scored eight points each and Sydney Shepos and Riley Peart added 6 and 2 respectively to round out the scoring.

"Two of our three losses are to teams that are still undefeated," noted Collins. "We got down early in those games but fought hard to get back in it. I commend their heart and effort. Our goal moving forward is to not have to come from behind. We want to hold on to leads in close games at the end when we have them," she continued. "I think if we play hard and give it all we have each and every day, we will be proud of the results."

The Comets moved to 3-1 in Section One with a convincing 51-31 win over Manheim Township last Wednesday. After a tight 9-7 first quarter lead, the Comets pulled away with a 15-5 second quarter and outscored the visitors 27-19 after the break. Sugra pumped in a game-high 19 with seven coming in the second quarter and Miller hit double figures as well, knocking down four triples to finish with 16. Goodley (9) and Shepos (7) also chipped in as the Comets defeated the Streaks for the first time in over four years.

WRESTLING

Lack of varsity wrestlers will make dual action difficult for the Comets this year. Their 51-16 loss to Hempfield, Tuesday, Jan. 4 is one example.

"As of now, we're forfeiting at least four weight classes which puts us in the hole 24-0 before stepping on the mat," said head coach Brandon Vernalli. "On the upside, our junior high numbers are awesome. We have almost twice as many as we had last year and when that group reaches the high school, we will be very competitive across the league."

Scoring for the Comets against Hempfield was sophomore Travis Clawson (113) and senior Mikey Hoskins (132) both with falls and Teagen Rogers, a junior, who picked up a 10-2 major decision at 189.

"Unfortunately, we gave up 30 points tonight with forfeits," said Vernalli. "Travis looked good once again at 113 and we bumped Teagen up to 189 and he got the win. Ty Grassel, wrestling at 160, lost a tough one, 7-5, against Grant Hoover."

The Comets were coming off an appearance at the CV Holiday Classic Dec. 29-30. Clawson finished second, Rogers was fifth and Riley Evans, a returning starter, was sixth.

"Riley was on the junior high team last year," noted Vernalli. "I do have high expectations for a few of our wrestlers this year, Travis being one of them. He took home gold a few weeks ago at our PM Tournament. He is showing a lot of good things so far this year."

BOWLING

The Comet bowlers improved to 18-10 with a 5-2 in over Manheim Township last Tuesday at Dutch Lanes. Cedar Crest leads the section at 19-9 and Hempfield also falls in at 18-10.

Josh Stock led the way for the Comets. He edged Township's Logan Wenger for total pin count by one pin, 641-640. Wenger had high game of the day, a 240, holding off Stock and his 236.

Zach Carroll (205), Lacy Slaymaker (207), Stock (236), Charlie Hall (221) and Derek Warfel (215) all went over the 200 mark in game one. The Comets out rolled the Streaks in total pins 2987 to 2848.

The Comets were coming off a 4-3, 2021 loss to Hempfield on Dec. 20.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

The Comets fell to 0-6 in Section One play with last Wednesday's 50-39 road loss in Neffsville. Manor got off to a good start in this one, taking the first quarter 10-7. But the hosts clawed back and held advantages in each of the next three quarters, including an 18-11 third quarter frame.

Randy Short and Kamrin Carroll led the Comets in the first frame with five points each. Carroll finished with a team-high 13 while Noe Perez came off the bench with 11, including seven in the second quarter.

Nate Schmidtke (4), Dhamir Wesley (2), Dominick Guzman (2), and DeShawn Stanley (2) also reached the scoring column.