The sport of swimming is an individual sport.

You're in your lane, using nearly every muscle in your body to propel yourself forward at a super pace, adhering to the style of swimming for your given race - backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly....

Swimming is also a team sport. Not only so within a foursome of swimmers representing the same school in a relay, but also how the team points add up for the final team tally.

On Monday, in a meet that would ultimately decide the 2023 Section One champions for both the boys' and girls' teams of the two schools, Hempfield faced archrival Manheim Township.

The Knights, holding a slim six-point lead going into the boys' 400-yard freestyle relay, the final event of the meet, were unable to claim first place. However, the "team sport" factor came in as the second- and third-place finishers, gave Hempfield enough points to edge MT 95-91.

"Andrew Gates, Jack Root, Ryan Taylor and Ivan Vitko finished second," Hempfield coach Casey Lear explained. Will Russell, Arden McHugh, Kiran George and Jonathan Tsang took third in the same relay.

"We had a lot of guys that had an excellent meet," Lear said. "Luke Roettger won the 100 butterfly and dropped 1.5 seconds.

"Jack Root and Ryan Taylor got first and second in the 50 free against a good Township swimmer - Ryan Maietta."

"There were some really good times for both teams," Dan Graybill, the MT head coach, said.

Also in the boys' meet Tyson Johnson won the 1-meter diving with 181.05 points. George won the 100 breaststroke.

While the boys' team claimed Section One, the girls' team came up just short in a 99-87 MT victory and a Blue Streaks section title.

Hempfield's Lillian Farmer and Carol Fabian won the 200- and 500-free events, respectively. Farmer also took the 100 backstroke while Hannah Groff scored 187.7 in the diving to win that event.

"We came close but were a few points short in the diving," said Graybill. "We were winning a lot of events, but not many seconds and thirds. We still managed to win the meet."

As for the rivalry between the schools, Lear said, "There is no better competition for us than Manheim Township. They put it all in the pool. The kids from the two teams know each other so well. They're competitive but also respectful of each other."

BOYS' BASKETBALL

The boys' basketball team stayed unbeaten against Lancaster-Lebanon League competition, defeating Penn Manor and McCaskey in its most recent games, and claimed the Section One crown. The Black Knights raised their league record to 8-0 by topping Penn Manor 52-45 at home on Friday, January 27.

The Comets outscored the Knights by eight points in the final period, but Hempfield held on, improving to 16-2 overall.

Miguel Pena canned three treys, went a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line, and finished with a game-high 19 points. Chase Calabretta poured in 13 and Kamyn Lawrence tallied 10.

In their close 74-71 road win on Wednesday, February 1, the Knights survived a second half in which McCaskey outscored them 46-34.

Pena poured in 32 points. Lawrence (19) and Calabretta (14) also added to the offensive.

WRESTLING

Braden Edwards and Seamus Mack claimed first place in their weight classes on Saturday, January 28 as Hempfield competed in the L-L League Wrestling Championships at Manheim Township. The two-day event started on Friday and netted the Black Knights the top honor in team points, landing them atop the team standings for the third time in the last four years.

"It was a pretty tight team race," said head coach Shane Mack.

Seamus Mack pinned his way through the 127-pound weight class. He needed only 20 seconds to deck John Martin of Lancaster Catholic. In only 32 seconds, Jason Brooks of Cedar Crest found himself on his back. The Hempfield junior won an 8-2 decision over Conestoga Valley's Luke Morley before defeating Owen Lehman of Northern Lebanon in a first-period pin for the championship match.

"The kid he faced in the finals is an accomplished wrestler," said Mack. "The team race was on the line. The kid shot in on him and Seamus is a good wrestler defensively. He got the cradle and was able to counter."

Indeed, the team race was on the line. Hempfield edged Northern Lebanon 172 to 166.5. The likes of Lehman finishing second, Conor Leonard taking third at 160 and Aaron Seidel winning 107 helped the Vikings stay on Hempfield's heels.

Edwards was the 145-pound champ. He too opened with a quick pin, defeating Alex Hondru of Central in 47 seconds.

"Braden had an outstanding tournament," Mack said. "He is wrestling very well. His opponent was also a state qualifier. Braden needed the win to seal the team trophy. He kept his composure and ended up wrestling a very good match."

Edwards defeated Aiden Swann of Cocalico with a fall 3:50 into the title bout.

Caleb Mussmon came up short in the 285-pound finale, losing 3-2 to Donegal's Nicholai Brotzman. In the 2022 league finals, Mussmon edged Brotzman 1-0.

"They are probably going to see each other again at some point," Mack said, hinting at a possible District Three or PIAA rematch between the two talented wrestlers.

At 114, Michael Karpathios finished fifth, winning by forfeit in that final consolation match over Gavin Boland of Penn Manor, the wrestler who had pinned Karpathios in the semis.

"Boland got hurt," Mack explained. "Michael has been wrestling well lately. There were a couple of tough kids in that weight class."

Karpathios started by pinning Blake Shenk of Cocalico and registered a first-period pin in the consolations. He majored Elijah Myers of L-S by a 14-4 count until a loss in the consi semis put him in the fifth-place match.

Kam Fickes took fourth at 139 losing a 5-1 decision in the third-place bout with Catholic's Gavin Badger.

"He lost a close match in the semis," Mack said, referring to a 5-2 defeat. "He's very knowledgeable. Sometimes it's hard to come back in the wrestlebacks. You have to have a short memory and move on."

"Zy McCain-Murray had a really close match in the semis," Mack said of his 133-pound wrestler. McCain-Murray finished sixth.

"He sustained an injury and tried to compete the next day," Mack explained. "He had to forfeit down to sixth place."

Sutton Schopf, a junior, finished eighth. All these little things make a difference in a tight team race. Him making it to the podium.

Nicky Bruno lost to Adam Mitchell of Octorara in the second round only to come back with a vengeance in his first consolation match, pinning Lebanon's Edgar Velazquez in 11 seconds. Bruno then came out on the short end of a tough 2-1 decision to Noah Templin of Manheim Central - the eventual seventh-place finisher at 215.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

Carrying a 17-5 lead into the second quarter, the girls' basketball team cruised to a 55-26 win at Penn Manor in Section One action, Friday, January 27.

Sophia Ott poured in 18 points, with a pair of treys. Lauren Moffatt (13 pts) was 4-for-5 at the foul line.

Hempfield improved to 9-10 with a 56-49 defeat of Exeter on Saturday. In the non-league contest, the Knights led by only three points heading into the fourth.

Ott and Moffatt each scored 17 while Nevaeh Ramirez finished with 14 points.

Hempfield improved to 4-5 in the league, posting a dominant 73-37 home win over McCaskey on February 1.

Ott poured in four treys and netted 22 points. Autumn Cook scored 20 while Moffatt added another 15.