In a ceremony held today honors Senior Scholar-Athletes from around the Lancaster-Lebanon League were honored for their accomplishments academically AND athletically. Each school in the league is permitted to nominate two scholar athletes. Congratulations to this years nominees.
Nominees
| Nominee 1 | Nominee 2 | |
| Annville-Cleona | Noryan Mitchell | Alex Long* |
| Cedar Crest | Sarah Durning | Grace Tadajweski |
| Cocalico | Samantha Keck | Tyler Angstadt* |
| Columbia | Emily Gambler* | Aidan Miller |
| Conestoga Valley | Rhiannon Henry | Carson Hoover |
| Donegal | Emma Myers | Landen Baughman |
| ELCO | Samantha Nelson | Chandler Erhart |
| Ephrata | Madison Kimmel | Weston Nolt |
| Elizabethtown | Taryn Hummer | Zackary Lippold |
| Garden Spot | Melanie Esh | Gabriel Smeltz |
| Hempfield | Aidan Hodge* | Joseph Fahrney |
| Lancaster Catholic | Jansen Hoffard | William Scott* |
| Lancaster Country Day | Milana Breuninger* | Freddie Bloom* |
| Lebanon | Eve Fenstermaker | Antonio Scaramuzzino |
| Lancaster Mennonite | Sarah Lefever | Matthew Friesen |
| Lampeter-Strasburg | Maggie Swarr* | Rowan Kimmel* |
| Manheim Central | Abigail Reed* | Madison Knier* |
| Manheim Township | Elle Commerce | Tyler Mullholland |
| McCaskey | Luci De Syon | Matthew Remash |
| Northern Lebanon | Erin Shuey | James Voight* |
| Octorara | Mackenzie Muldoon | Jackson Leaman |
| Penn Manor | Anne Bibus | Isabell Kligge |
| Pequea Valley | Brooke Graham | Cameron Beiler |
| Solanco | Emma Baxter | Josiah Forren |
| Warwick | Ella Lucas | Ivan Tejada |
A committee evaluates the nominees academic and athletic credentials in narrowing the field to six finalists each of male and female nominees. Finalists in the table above are noted with an asterisk. From those finalists, a male and female award winner is named.
2023 Winners
This year’s winners were Aidan Hodge of Hempfield and Madison Knier of Manheim Central.
Madison Knier is a 14-time letter winner for the Barons, having participated in Volleyball, Basketball, and Track & Field, as well as Cheerleading as the school’s mascot for two years. In Volleyball, she was a two-time First Team All-State selection during her Junior and Senior Seasons. She was a four-time league all-star, three-time district all-star, and named to the L-L League All-Academic team her senior year. Additionally, Madison holds the school record for most kills in a single season.
In Basketball, she was a three-time All-State Selection: Third team during her sophomore season and first team during her Junior and Senior seasons. She was a three-time L-L League Section MVP and four-time First Team L-L League All-Star. Madison also holds the school’s all-time scoring record with 2,054 career points, ranking her 8th all time in L-L League Girls Basketball history. She was also a Miss PA Basketball nominee for all four years of high school, as well as a PA Gatorade Player of the Year nominee in 2022.
In Track & Field, Madison is a four-time L-L League Champion amongst multiple events. She has also earned numerous District 3 medals, having placed second in Javelin and High Jump during her sophomore and junior seasons. Madison is also the Girls’ Track & Field school record holder for both Long Jump and High Jump.
As the school’s mascot, Madison has participated in numerous school-wide and community events during her two years as the Baron. She has attended events such as Race for Education, Reading Under the Lights, Manheim Central Pride Night, and numerous pep rallies and sporting events.
Madison plans to continue her academic and athletic careers at the University of Pennsylvania, where she will major in Psychology, while competing on the Track & Field team.
Aidan Hodge is arguably Hempfield’s most decorated distance runner. By winning this year’s league meet in the 800 and 1600, he is now a 7-time LL champion on the track. His 1600 time set a new league meet record, previously held by McCaskey standout and Syracuse runner, Nathan Henderson. He heads into this year’s Districts and States looking to add to his hardware collection. Between cross-country and track, Aidan is already a 7-time State Medalist. He won the league and district cross country title as a junior and was named all-state as a senior. He led his cross country team to 3 league titles and a pair of District titles, missing a third by a single point. In the classroom, he is a distinguished honors’ student who has consistently taken high level courses and maintained a 4.78 weighted GPA. He has had straight A’s his entire junior and senior year. He will be attending Ole Miss on a partial scholarship for cross country and track.
A. Landis Brackbill
A. Landis Brackbill was the first Executive Director of the Lancaster-Lebanon League.
Brackbill was born and raised in Gap. He attended Salisbury High School and graduated from the F&M Academy. Brackbill had a love for baseball and was a very talented left-handed pitcher.
After High School, he was recruited by Jack Coombs, baseball coach at Duke University. While at Duke, Brackbill injured his left arm ending his competitive pitching. Although he had an arm injury, he still was able to pitch some batting practice for the Philadelphia Athletics under manager Connie Mack. Over the years Brackbill had a close relationship with Mr. Mack.
He continued at Duke earning a degree to become a mathematics teacher and started his teaching career at Salisbury High School. Brackbill continued his education at the University of Pennsylvania obtaining a Master’s Degree with certification as a secondary principal. He became Principal at Terre Hill High School and later moved to Millersville as principal of Manor High School, which is now Penn Manor.
Thank you to the Brackbill family for sponsoring the awards in honor of their father.
SCHOLAR ATHLETES
The Brackbill Award qualifications include the words “exceptional student athletes within the greater community”. To be eligible the recipients must have a minimum of a 3.5 GPA and be participating in two or more varsity sports during their senior year. The Manheim Touchdown Club began awarding scholarships to each of the Brackbill recipients in 2006.
Because the Brackbill Award Committee already had in place a process to select the most outstanding female and male student athletes in the Lancaster Lebanon League, the decision was made to provide scholarship awards to the Brackbill winners instead of establishing a separate award. The Brackbill Committee is autonomous and has no relationship to the Manheim Touchdown Club.
