The 2011 sports season was a golden one for the Lancaster-Lebanon League.

The L-L had five teams win state championships and seven individuals step on the top podium at states. Five teams were state runners-up.

The league won 11 District Three team titles and 26 individual championships.

Lancaster Newspapers' sports writers recap the 2011 sports season, sport-by-sport.

Winter

Boys' basketball
On most nights, and against most teams, Lancaster Catholic's effort in the PIAA Class AAA semifinals would have been enough to earn a win.

Neumann-Goretti, however, is not most teams.

The reigning state champions never trailed en route to dealing the Crusaders an 82-75 defeat in their Eastern Final before a capacity crowd at Spring-Ford High.

The loss ended the season for Catholic, which went 29-2 and enjoyed the second most successful campaign in program history. Along the way, the Crusaders earned a measure of revenge in the District Three finals, routing Eastern York 64-49 in a rematch of their 2010 title game.

On other fronts, a Lampeter-Strasburg squad that listed just one senior among its ranks claimed the L-L Section Three crown and then surprised observers with a run through districts that included a quarterfinal upset of three-time defending champ Trinity and a close semifinal loss to then-reigning king Eastern York.

Hempfield's Joey Farthing scored a game-high 22 as the Black Knights beat Section One rival McCaskey, 61-53, to earn their second straight league title.

The victory allowed the Black Knights, in their first year with Danny Walck as head coach, to avenge their recent Section One playoff loss to McCaskey, and to repeat as L-L champs a year after losing five starters to graduation and longtime coach Warren Goodling to retirement.

— Ed Gruver

Girls' basketball
Led by guard Kiersten Green, who averaged an L-L League best 18.2 points per game last winter, Manheim Township went 16-0 to capture its second L-L League Section One title in the last three years, before winning its first league crown since 1997 with a 48-42 victory over Solanco in the L-L final.

The 2011 Lancaster Newspapers Player of the Year and a current freshman on the basketball team at Cleveland State University, Green set the career scoring record at Township with 1,556 points, which surpassed the previous record set by Anita Plakans (1,523 points) in 1986.

But it was Lancaster Catholic (25-5), which also compiled a 16-0 record en route to its first L-L Section Four title since 2007, that made the deepest postseason run. After losing a 71-62 decision to Oley Valley in the District Three Class AAA final, the Crusaders' season ended with a 53-45 loss to Villa Joseph Marie in the second round of the PIAA Class AAA playoffs.

— Jason Fulginiti

Wrestling
Senior Dan Neff and freshman Thomas Haines capped a great season for Solanco with state championships at 140 and 215.

Neff and Penn Manor's Bobby Rehm won District Three Class AAA golds.

Solanco won its second straight L-L Section One championship, repeated as the champion of the L-L League tournament and advanced to the semifinals of the District Three Class AAA Team Championships. The Golden Mules won the District Three/Section Three AAA title and was second in the District Three/South Central AAA individual championships and fifth at the PIAA Class AAA tournament.

— Dave Byrne

Boys' swimming
Warwick's Dain Bomberger capped his career by claiming the PIAA Class AAA 50-yard freestyle title in 20.35 seconds. Bomberger set the state record by clocking 20.18 in the preliminaries, although that mark was eventually taken by David Nolan of Hershey (19.98).

Annville-Cleona's Travis Bohn claimed the state gold in the 100-yard backstroke in 50.99, after taking the District Three title in 52.44.

Lancaster Catholic captured its first-ever team title, winning the District Three Class AA meet. The Crusaders earned district gold medals from Everett Albert in the 200 individual medley (1:57.86), and the 200 medley (1:39.40) and 200 free (3:17.23) relays. Jacob Robinson, Albert, John Corbett and Stuart Cubbison comprised the medley squad, while Robinson, Zack Miklos, Albert and Cubbison made up the free foursome.

Cedar Crest's Andrew Miller (46.27) won the Class AA 100 freestyle title at districts.

At the L-L League Meet, Manheim Township and Cedar Crest tied for the team title with 81 points.

— Pete Kauffman

Girls' swimming
Warwick's Emily Cameron rewrote her state record by winning the PIAA Class AAA 200 individual medley in 1:57.74, lowering the mark of 1:59.00 she set as a freshman. Cameron also won the crown at districts, going 2:02.01.

Lancaster Catholic's Elizabeth Davis tied for the district title in the Class AA 100 butterfly, clocking 58.91. It was her second gold in three seasons in that event.

Manheim Township and Hempfield tied for the L-L League Meet crown, with each team amassing 95 points.

— Pete Kauffman

Bowling
Garden Spot, the Section Two champion, captured the L-L League team title, then won the Pennsylvania Eastern Regional boys' championship and finished second in the state boys' tournament.

The Spartans' Matt Detrick was second in the state individual tournament.

The L-L dominated the District Three individual competition. Penn Manor's Brendon Yarnall defeated Elizabethtown's Austin Farwell in the boys' final, and Warwick's Bryanna Nihoff topped Penn Manor's Liz Burkholder in the girls' final.

Farwell then won the boys' individual title in the Eastern Regional championships.

Warwick's girls' team was third in the region and fifth in the state.

Penn Manor's Coty Johnson won the singles title in the L-L tournament.

— Jim Hersh

Rifle
Manheim Township won the L-L League team title, and the Blue Streaks' Amber Nauman was the individual champion.

Nauman won the title with a 199 and two centers, edging Manheim Central's Brandon Guffey, who had 199 with one center. The Barons' Mitch Saylor finished third, and Central was second in the team race.

Four Township shooters placed in the top 10 in the L-L tournament, with Jonathan Hoh fifth, Jordan Hillegas ninth and Marksman of the Year Chris Bruno 10th.

— Jim Hersh

Spring

Baseball
Manheim Township (18-8) bowed to District One champion Spring-Ford and unbeaten ace Mike Oczypok 6-5 in a PIAA Class AAAA semifinal at Ephrata's War Memorial Field.

Township's extended run capped a memorable spring for Cameron Gallagher. The Kansas City Royals made him the third catcher chosen in the 2011 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft, and the No. 5 pick in the second round and 65th overall.

Cedar Crest slugger Derek Fisher, who led the Falcons to a L-L League title and was named the L-L's Most Valuable Player, was taken with the 204th pick by the Texas Rangers but decided to accept a scholarship to play baseball at the University of Virginia.

In other highlights, Lampeter-Strasburg went 19-0 in the regular season and earned another L-L Section Three title — its third straight and ninth overall.

— Ed Gruver

Boys' volleyball
After winning a fifth straight Section One title (and 10th in the last 12 seasons), a fifth straight L-L League title, and the District Three Class AAA title, Hempfield advanced to the PIAA Class AAA semifinals and fell to Central York in a high-energy match.

The Black Knights had beaten the eventual state champion Bearcats a week before in the district semis, but at states, Central York, behind the big hitting of 6-foot-6 senior outside hitter Paul Kuhn and 6-5 senior middle Kyle Wisner, was just too much to handle.

The Black Knights finished the season as the No. 3 team in the state in Class AAA in the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association poll.

Lancaster Mennonite was the only other local team to make it to states. The Blazers lost to Northeastern in the District Three Class AA title match and then won a first-round state tournament match. They failed, however, to emerge from state pool play.

Other highlights: Manheim Central won a third straight Section Two title but needed to defeat Lancaster Mennonite and Garden Spot to break a three-way tie.

— Kevin Freeman

Boys' lacrosse
Manheim Township won both the L-L League and District Three championships. The Streaks went unbeaten in the L-L League before knocking off Ephrata, the Section Two champs, in the L-L finals.

MT reached the district title game and faced county foe Hempfield for the third straight season. The Streaks and Knights had the game of the year in the district title game, going to overtime before Robby Wertz's goal won it for Township.

Both Hempfield and Township reached the PIAA semifinals before losing to Conestoga, the eventual champions, and St. Joseph Prep.

— Matt Blymier

Girls' lacrosse
Manheim Township became the only team in L-L League history to go undefeated for a second straight year en route to its fourth overall league crown. The Streaks remained unblemished and captured their third straight District Three championship with an 18-6 win over Cocalico, the Section Two champs, and became the only team in district history to accomplish that feat.

Penn Manor went further than any L-L team in the PIAA playoffs before losing to eventual state champs, Garnet Valley, in the semifinals.

— Matt Blymier

Boys' track and field
It was a tremendous season for Hempfield and then-junior Kyle Long. The Black Knights won their fourth straight L-L League Meet title, followed that up a week later by winning the District Three crown, then capped off the season by winning their second PIAA Class AAA championship in three years. Long, meanwhile, captured the state discus title with a record-breaking throw of 202-10. He also won the shot-put crown with a heave of 58-3d-v.

At districts, Long won the discus (190-5), but finished second behind Cocalico's Kyle Felpel (59-3a-x) in the shot put. Donegal's Jamie Colon won the javelin (189-7) for a L-L League sweep in the throwing events.

Manheim Central's Derek Hart (6-8) won the Class AAA high jump, the McCaskey boys' foursome of Tyler Holdren, Quiwane Walker, Tyler Martin and Eric Witmer won the Class AAAA 3,200 relay in 7:47.50, Annville-Cleona's Ben Mason (50.35) won the Class AA 400 and A-C's Jordan Jones (39.18) won the Class AA 300 intermediate hurdles.

— Pete Kauffman

Girls' track and field
Elizabethtown came out of hibernation, with the Bears capping an exciting L-L League meet by securing their first team title in school history.

Individually, E-town's Audrey Bamford moved to the forefront when she won the District Three Class AAA 100-meter high hurdles title in 15.05 seconds. The Penn Manor 3,200 relay team of Emily Novak, Megan Maisano, Katie Maisel and Greta Lindsley clocked 9:24.71 to join Bamford atop the winners' platform.

In Class AA, Lititz Christian's Rachel Jordan (12.94) won the 100 dash and Annville-Cleona's Tricia Light (16.51) claimed the 100 high hurdles.

— Pete Kauffman

Softball
Led by the pitching of senior Alexa Campbell and the defense and hitting of senior shortstop Samantha Ginder, Manheim Central dominated the diamond. The Barons battled Donegal all spring, edging the Indians for the L-L Section Three regular-season championship before Donegal knocked off Central in the L-L championship game.

Manheim turned the tables for the District Three Class AAA title, part of a run that carried the Barons all the way to the PIAA state championship game where they fell to Valley, 3-1.

— Dave Byrne
 

Girls' soccer
Despite losing 12 quality seniors from its 2010 team, Penn Manor won the L-L Section One title for the first time since 2006 before capturing the L-L crown with a 3-2 penalty kick victory over Hempfield in the league final.

It was the first L-L title since 2004 for the Comets (22-5-1), who eventually battled their way into the PIAA spring championship game before losing a 1-0 decision to Cumberland Valley.

— Jason Fulginiti

Boys' tennis
Donegal's Patrick Moran was the golden boy in L-L tennis. He won both L-L Class AA singles title and doubles championship with Eric Ebersole before he and Ebersole took the District Three Class AA doubles gold. The L-L indvidual and doubles golds were the second straight for Moran.

Manheim Township's Jack Barry won the District Three Class AAA singles championship and teamed with David Musser to win the L-L doubles title. Lampeter-Strasburg's Jody Sambrick won his second straight L-L singles championship.

Hempfield beat Manheim Township for the District Three Class AAA team championship while Lancaster Catholic earned silver in the Class AA team tournament.

— Matt Blymier

Fall

Football
Lancaster Catholic's 17-7 win over Tyrone in the PIAA Class AA championship highlighted a very successful season for the L-L League.

The Crusaders, who won the 2009 title, became the first team in league history to win a pair of state golds.

Catholic was one of four L-L teams to play in the District Three championship games. The Crusaders, who won Section Three, knocked off Wyomissing in the District Three Class AA title game while Columbia won the Class A crown for the first time since 1995.

Lampeter-Strasburg, the Section Two champ, lost 28-14 in the finals to eventual state runner-up Bishop McDevitt in Class AAA while Wilson, the Section One champion, lost 24-21 in the Class AAAA championship to eventual state champion Central Dauphin.

It was the first time since 2001 that the L-L was represented in all four district championship games.

— Matt Blymier

Field hockey
Megan Bupp's goal with just 23 seconds left in overtime lifted Hempfield over Warwick 2-1 in the PIAA Class AAA title game. It was the first state title in the history of the Black Knights' program, and was a historic final since it was the first time two L-L League teams played for PIAA gold in any sport. Sarah Brooks also scored for Hempfield, while Emily Harting had Warwick's goal.

The Warriors reigned supreme in the L-L League, capturing their record 11th title with a 2-1 overtime win over Penn Manor. Emma Rissinger scored the winning goal for the Warriors 9:41 into OT. Liz Wenger tied the game with only 3:15 left for Warwick. Shannon Sloss scored for the Comets.

— Pete Kauffman

Girls' cross-country
After pacing the field throughout her freshman season, Greta Lindsley gave the L-L League an encore. The Penn Manor sophomore finished first in all 21 league races this season, defending her league title before winning the District Three Class AAA crown and finishing with an eighth-place run at the PIAA meet.

The Manheim Township girls defended their L-L team title, finishing the league season undefeated and qualifying for the state meet as a team with a fourth-place finish in the District Three Class AAA meet.

— Tim Gross

Boys' cross-country
Lancaster Mennonite senior Jared Schatz won the L-L crown, outdueling Penn Manor junior Harrison Schettler in a late sprint to the finish line.

After finishing second to Annville-Cleona's Shawn Wolfe in the District Three Class AA meet while the Blazers and Little Dutchmen took first and second in team scoring, Schatz rebounded with a 14th-place finish at the PIAA meet, pacing L-L boys at 16:55.

Blue Streaks coach Terry Lee also guided the Township boys' team to an undefeated record and a league title.

— Tim Gross

Girls' tennis
Lancaster Country Day senior Julia Casselbury won her third straight PIAA Class AA singles championship, capping a season that also saw her capture her third straight L-L League and District Three Class AA titles.

Hempfield senior Mackenzie Smith won her second consecutive L-L Class AAA singles title and placed second in the District Three AAA tournament. Elco's Madelyn Shaak and Kristi Fidler won the L-L and District Three AA doubles championships.

Manheim Township repeated as the L-L team champion, then nailed down its second straight District Three AAA team crown. Blue Streaks senior Lauren Stauffer teamed with Abby Belser to win the L-L and District Three Class AAA doubles championships. It was Stauffer's fourth L-L doubles title and third district doubles gold.

— Dave Byrne

Golf
Manheim Township put together the best season in the history of its storied program this fall, capturing the L-L League Section One title for the seventh straight year, its fifth L-L League crown in the last six years and the District Three team title for the fourth time in the last six years.

The Blue Streaks capped it off by winning the PIAA team title, giving Township just its second PIAA team crown (in any sport) in school history.

The only event the Streaks (71-1) didn't win this fall was the PIAA East Regional championship, where they suffered their only loss of the year to North Pocono by a single shot.

Township also made its mark individually, with senior JD Dornes securing the L-L scoring title, freshman Ryan Dornes winning the L-L boys' title, junior Mary Beth Palic claiming the L-L girls' title and junior Craig Hornberger collecting the District Three crown for the second straight year.

— Jason Fulginiti

Boys' soccer
It was a magical season for Lancaster Mennonite. After capturing their fifth straight L-L League Section Four title and second straight District Three Class AA crown this fall, the Blazers (25-3) went on to collect the first PIAA boys' soccer title in the history of their storied program with a 2-1 victory over Tulpehocken in the PIAA Class AA final.

Mennonite joined Warwick (2005) and Hempfield (2010) as the only Lancaster County boys' soccer teams to win state gold.

Meanwhile, coming off that golden 2010 season, it was a tough year for Hempfield (22-4-1), which won its second straight L-L Section One title. After losing to Warwick (1-0) in the L-L final, the Black Knights fell to Central Dauphin (4-2 on penalty kicks) in the District Three Class AAA title game before suffering a season-ending 1-0 loss to Council Rock North in the PIAA Class AAA quarterfinals.

The L-L title was Warwick's first in program history.

— Jason Fulginiti

Girls' volleyball
Hempfield needed just one more Harry Houdini act but could not pull it out of the hat in the season's most important match.

In the PIAA Class AAA title match, the Black Knights won the first game but dropped the next three, bowing to Parkland, 3-1.

Had history held, Hempfield would have pulled out the match.

The Black Knights trailed Penn Manor two games to one in the L-L League title match, only to win, capturing its third straight league title and ninth in the last 10 seasons.

In a first-round match in the state tournament, Hempfield trailed Avon Grove 2-0 before rallying to win the next three games and the match.

Parkland, however, was too strong to allow another Hempfield uprising.

Other highlights: Penn Manor advanced to the district semifinals before bowing to Hempfield in the two teams' fourth match of the season. Manheim Central won a playoff to claim the Section Two title and Lampeter-Strasburg did the same to win the Section Three title.

— Kevin Freeman

Athletes of the Year
Manheim Township's Quint Miller was honored as Lancaster Newspapers Male Athlete of the Year. Miller earned two all-state and three all-league awards in football. In lacrosse, he was all-league three times and also won All-American and Player of the Year honors.

Miller's lacrosse teams won three district championships, two league titles and was a state runner-up. Miller, who led the L-L in scoring twice, continued his lacrosse career at Division I Jacksonville University.

Donegal's Laura Gebhart was named the Lancaster Newspapers Female Athlete of the Year. Gebhart garnered four all-league and all-state honors in field hockey, was named All-American twice and was the L-L Player of the Year. Her teams won a league and district championship.

In softball, she was named all-state and all-league twice while leading her team to an L-L championship. Gebhart, who also lettered in basketball, continued her field hockey career at Division I Penn State. She helped the Nittany Lions to a Big Ten championship and was named all-conference, Big Ten Freshman of the Year and third-team All-America.

— Matt Blymier