2018 State Champions!
In the spring of 2018, Township's Boys Lacrosse team realized a vision that was set forth in 1999...to bring a State Championship banner home to Neffsville.
The 2018 edition of the Blue Streaks finished the season with a final record of 26 Wins to 1 Loss. These 50 students came together to be crowned the L-L Section 1 Champions, L-L Tournament Champions, and District 3 Champions, en route to the school's firet ever PIAA CLass AAA State Championship, a 6-4 victory over perennial title contender La Salle College High School
Along the way, 16 students were recognized at the L-L League Awards Banquet for their performances on and off the field, and at the national level our progarm was honored to have three Seniors recognized as US Lacrosse All-Americans and three more as Academic All-Americans.
While the championship banner will always commemmorate 2018 specifically, the accomplsihments of that individual seasn would never have been possible without the foundation established by many people that came before us... From the early days of Dr. Tifft and Dr. Bartges working with Superintendent Nelson and Athletic Director McKonly to start both the Boys and Girls Lacrosse Programs, Coach Lefever's decade of success as the program's first-ever Head Coach, and Coach Wimer's continuation of that tradition. All the while, the MT Youth Lacrosse Program has continued to grow and flourish with dedicated parents and alumni building and inspiring future generations of Blue Streak success.
The past is storied and the future is bright!
History of Manheim Township Lacrosse
History of Manheim Township Lacrosse
The Manheim Township lacrosse program has come a long way since its inception in the late 1990’s when Dr. Bartges, a parent in the district, was urged by his son to start a lacrosse program.
With approval from the school district and help from local lacrosse people, Dr. Bartges was able to start the first lacrosse program in Manheim Township in the spring of 1999.
A few months later, in December of 1999, Rich Lefever, a teacher and high school football coach in the district, agreed to be the men’s head coach. About fifty boys signed up for the high school team and the first official high school lacrosse team was formed.
Within a few years, Township lacrosse had grown into a K-12 program with over XXX boys in the program. The experience and dedication of the early adopters has helped create a strong youth program that has allowed the high school team to continue its success year after year.
Coach Lefever was instrumental in taking what was started in the spring of 1999 and turning it into a successful high school team. He spent endless hours recruiting kids to play a sport they had never played, had numerous meetings with school personnel to get lacrosse recognized as a school sport and also helped get lacrosse recognized as a PIAA sport. In addition, Coach Lefever was inducted into the US Lacrosse Central PA Chapter Hall of Fame for his contribution to lacrosse in Central PA.
In the spring of 2000, Manheim Township’s first high school season resulted in a 0-10 record. They had one or two close games with league rivals, scoring only 30 goals all season. Through hard work and dedicationby the coaching staff and players, it took only a few short years to have a winning season. By 2003, theteam scored 299 goals and ended the season with a 15-5 record and a sectional title.
The team would continue to record winning seasons with mul ple District Championships, several PA State Semi-finalist appearances and two PA State Finalist appearances.
The lacrosse team has been very fortunate to have had dedicated, hardworking coaches throughout the years. In addition to Coach Lefever (1999-2010), Kyle Wimer (2011-2015) and Dan Lyons (2016-present) have provided and continue to provide leadership to the assistant coaches and players necessary to produce a winning team year after year.
In 2018, Dan Lyons led his talented, dedicated team to win Manheim Township’s first lacrosse State Championship!
The lacrosse program has produced multiple All-Americans, District Players of the Year, LL Class Act Recipients, LL League and PennLive District All Stars, District Player of the Year awards, District 1st Team Honors well as several Academic All- Americans. In addition, over 50 players have gone on to play for D1, D2 and D3 Colleges.
GO STREAKS!
