News

Girls Tennis 2020 Team Champion Manheim Township showed why they were the top team in the LL League on Day 1 of the League Flight Tournament.  All of the Blue Streaks’ entries are still alive heading to Day 2 save one, and she was eliminated in the quarterfinals by a teammate in 3 sets.  

Girls Tennis Flight Tournament Brackets after Day 1

Day 2 will be Saturday, October 10th at Conestoga Valley.  Matches start at 8:45 a.m.  Singles semifinals will be up first followed by 2 rounds of doubles.  The tournament concludes on Monday, October 12th.

The LL League Girls Tennis Flight Tournaments kick off on Thursday, 10/8 at Conestoga Valley.  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic only Flight 1 AAA and Flight 1 AA (double and singles for each) will compete this year.

Defending AAA Singles Champion Catharine Rabatin of Penn Manor is the AAA Singles top seed.  2019 Runner-Up Avery Palandjian of Manheim Township sits opposite her as the #2 seed.  Palandjian and teammate Scotty Reynolds are the defending AAA Doubles Champions, and they, too, return as top.

The AA brackets will crown new champions this year.  Anna Millen of Lancaster Catholic is top seed for singles; Gleiberman and Auman of Lancaster Country Day are the top spot in AA Doubles.

Preliminary Flight Tournament Brackets

Section 2 Champion Lampeter-Strasburg defeated Section 3 Champion Lancaster Country day to advance to the girls Tennis Team Finals on Monday.

Lampeter Strasburg (A) d. Lancaster Country Day (H):  3-0

Singles:
K. Winters (LS) d. O. Sullivan (LCDS)6-0, 6-0
R. Gerhardt (LS) leading M. Auman (LCDS) 6-4, DNF
K. Gerhardt (LS) d. A. Lojewski (LCDS)6-4, 7-5

Doubles:
L. Harris/J. Lau (LS) leading D. Edwards/M. Jacobs 6-3, DNF
C. Cardsell/K. Platt (LS) d. G. Meadows/K. Wakefield 6-0, 6-0

L-S will play Manheim Township at Manheim Township on Monday, 10/5 at 4 pm.

Manheim Township, Lampeter-Strasburg, and Lancaster Country Day have won their respective sections in Girls Tennis.  Lampeter-Strasburg will play at Lancaster Country Day on Friday, 10/2 at 4 pm.  The winner travels to Manheim Township on Monday, October 5th for the team finals.

In an effort to correct misinformation that is circulating regarding the LL League Cross Country season, here is the plan for regular season LL League competition:

• Jr. High boys – 12 runners
• Jr. High girls – 12 runners
• High School boys -12 runners
• High School girls – 12 runners
• *48 Total Runners

• High School Day
  • “JV” HS boys – 12 Runners
  • “JV” HS girls – 12 Runners
  • Varsity HS boys -12 Runners
  • Varsity HS girls – 12 Runners 
  • * 48 Total Runners
• A Junior High Day
  • “JV” JH boys – 12 Runners
  • “JV” JH girls – 12 Runners
  • Varsity JH boys -12 Runners
  • Varsity JH girls – 12 Runners 
  • * 48 Total Runners

The PIAA announced today that the 2020 fall sports season will happen.  A brief timeline of changes to the fall season:

• August 5th:  The Lancaster Lebanon Secondary Schools Athletic Association votes to postpone the start of fall practices to September 4th.
• August 7th:  The PIAA Board of Directors votes to pause the start of fall practices 2 weeks.
• August 21st:   The PIAA Board of Directors votes to allow the start of fall practices.

District 3 has already published the revised playoff format on a sport by sport basis.  

Here is the rundown of fall playoffs for the LL League in chronological order:

• Golf:  Monday, 9/21 at Meadia Heights.  9:00 a.m. start.
• Girls Tennis:  Team championship 1st round Friday, 10/2; Finals Monday, 10/5.
  • The three section champions will qualify for the team championship.  The team with the highest District 3 Power Ranking will be placed directly in the finals, the other 2 teams will play the 1st round match.  The better ranked of those 2 teams will host the 1st round.
• Girls Tennis:  Flight Tournament Thursday, October 8th, Saturday, October 10th and Monday, October 12th.  The exact format of the Flight Tournament is to be determined.
• Boys Cross Country:  Tuesday, October 20th at Ephrata Middle School, 4 p.m. start. (Rain date 10/22)
• Girls Cross Country:  Wednesday, October 21st at Ephrata Middle School, 4 p.m. start.  (Rain date 10/22)
• Girls and Boys Soccer:  Semifinals Monday, October 26th; finals Wednesday, October 28th.
  • Section Champions will qualify for the semifinals.
• Field Hockey:  Semifinals Tuesday, October 27th; finals Thursday, October 29th.
  • Section Champions will qualify for the semifinals.  The Section 1 Champion will play the Section 4 Champion in one semifinal; Section 2 Champion vs Section 3 Champion in the other.
• Girls Volleyball:  1st round Wednesday, 10/28; finals Thursday, 10/29 at Cocalico.  
  • The three section champions will qualify for the team championship.  The team with the highest District 3 Power Ranking will be placed directly in the finals, the other 2 teams will play the 1st round match at a neutral site.

In a meeting of the Lancaster Lebanon Secondary Schools Association today, the league voted 19-6 to delay the start of the fall 2020 athletic season.

The first day of practice for high school sports (varsity and JV) will be September 4th.  The lone exception is Golf, which will start on August 17th.  Football will be permitted to begin heat acclimation August 31st. 

Junior high sports will begin practice September 8th.

Presenting sponsor of the Lancaster Lebanon League, Orthopedic Associates of Lancaster, is once again offering free PIAA physical exams for athletes in grades 7-12 that are participating in a PIAA sport.  

Physicals at the Lancaster Office on North Pointe Boulevard will be July 11th from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and July 20th from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.  The Lebanon Office on Cornwall Road will offer exams on July 15th and July 23rd, from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on both dates.  

Appointments are required at both sites and can be made by calling 717-735-6649.  Required forms can be found on the OAL website.

See the flyer for full details.

The A. Landis Brackbill Scholar Athlete Award is sponsored by the Brackbill Family and is presented to athletes that are “exceptional student athletes within the greater community.”  Athletes must compete in at least two varsity sports their senior year and also have a GPA of at least 3.5.  Each school may nominate two athletes and the Brackbill Award Committee selects the most outstanding male and female athletes in the Lancaster-Lebanon League to receive this award.

The Lancaster-Lebanon League is very pleased to recognize Julianna Garber of Lampeter-Strasburg and Benjamin Mann of Manheim Township as the 2020 award recipients.

“Julz” has 3.97 GPA that places her 24/242 students at LS. She will attend the University of Delaware on an academic scholarship. She served as captain of both the field hockey team and the softball team. She has been named All-State in both field hockey and softball. In field hockey, her squad won a Lancaster Lebanon League title for the first time in school history and competed in the PIAA tournament. Her softball team won a state title during her sophomore year and finished as PIAA runner-up her junior year. Julz has an extensive list of accolades in community service and leadership. She will be continue her softball career for the Blue Hens.

Ben has a 4.0 GPA that places him in the top 10 in his class. He plans to attend Yale University. He was captain of the football, basketball, and lacrosse teams. As a sophomore he started on the state champion lacrosse team. In football he was recognized as a Mini Maxwell Award winner and a PA Football All-Academic Gold Star Award winner. Ben will play football in college.

The nominees from each school are:

*Indicates award finalists.  Finalists also receive scholarship awards.  

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.

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 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.

Scholarship money for the finalists was provided by Orthopedic Associates of Lancaster, presenting Sponsor of the Lancaster Lebanon League.