A roundup of all things State High fall sports in 2025
Golf
The boys and girls golf teams kicked off the fall sports season with the Happy Valley Invitational on Aug. 8 and haven’t taken a breath throughout a fiery first month of the year. The girls team’s season has been highlighted by the play of junior Kate Wheeler and a team win at its Hershey match. The boys are 22-3 in Mid Penn play, in addition to a 14-shot victory at the Boiling Springs Invitational. Most recently, the team completed a four-peat of the prestigious Wheeling Invitational.
Junior Luke McGraw has been the star and is sitting in first place in the Mid Penn Conference individual standings. However, one of the Little Lions’ most improved players has been sophomore Alex Hoskins, who sits in 14th place in the Mid Penn with a scoring average of 76.8. Before the season, Hoskins said he was looking to improve his driving accuracy, and he has certainly done so, posting a season-low 74 at the tight and challenging Hershey Country Club. The conference slate wraps up on Thursday, Sept. 18, when the team travels to Cumberland Valley in hopes of defending its commonwealth division title.
Girls Tennis
The girls tennis team began its season with a 5-0 win over Cedar Cliff on August 18th and hasn’t slowed down en route to an 8-1 start to the season, including six shutout victories. The Little Lions took their only loss of the year when they fell to Cumberland Valley 3-2 on Sept. 3. The team is back at home on Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 4:00 when they take on Carlisle.
Football
Friday night lights returned to Memorial Field on Aug. 22 with a 41-14 win over Gateway. The football team carried that momentum into a 3-1 start to the season with the only loss coming 48-45 at the hands of second-ranked Harrisburg in double overtime. Senior running back D’Antae Sheffey recently went down with an injury, but started the year with 194 and 197 rushing yards in the first two games. Sheffey is joined in the backfield by sophomore quarterback Connor Kulka, who has shown off elite poise since his first varsity snap. Head Coach Matt Lintal is extremely proud of the way his sophomore quarterback has stepped up this year. After Kulka expertly led the Little Lions down the field in a two-minute drill against Harrisburg, Lintal said, “He had bullets flying at him everywhere. For him to guide us down the field, it was super impressive, just his calm, his ability to use his feet, being smart enough running down the sideline to get out of bounds. A lot of kids would be tempted to cut back inside and get more yards, but he knew that the clock was the most important thing, and to have that as a 10th grader is really special.”
Both Sheffey and Kulka are aided by an offensive line that returned four of five starters from last season’s state quarterfinalist. After beating Cumberland Valley 24-14 on the back of that great offensive line, the team is back in action next Friday night at 7:00 when Chambersburg comes to town.
Field Hockey
The field hockey team opened its 2025 campaign with a 2-0 win over North Allegheny on Aug. 23, but has since dropped three one-goal games, including two in overtime, en route to a 2-5 start. Freshman Brynn Pezalski leads the team in scoring with eight goals, including two in the Little Lions’ 7-0 win over Chambersburg. Sophomore Reagan Dare recorded her first career hat trick in that game and has five goals on the season. After the game, Head Coach Sharon Herlocher wrote, “We prioritized readiness and shooting on goal in practice this week. This young team is growing every day, and I’m super pleased that we put 27 shots on goal.”
The team looks to bounce back from last week’s blowout loss to Lower Dauphin when it takes on Mechanicsburg at 6:30 on Monday at the North Turf.
Girls Volleyball
The girls volleyball team is undefeated through its first five conference games and has captured the attention of the State High community, packing the North Gym to playoff levels nearly every game. Home sweeps of rivals Altoona and Cumberland Valley created a sense of excitement in Head Coach Audrey McDonough’s first season. Three straight conference road games await the Little Lions in the next few weeks before they return home on Sept. 30 for a highly anticipated rematch with Central Dauphin.
Boys Soccer
The boys soccer team is flying high after its huge upset victory over the defending state champions of Cumberland Valley on Sept. 9. The 2-1 win was sealed by Daniel Sahakian’s game-winning goal in overtime and came in the midst of a three-game winning streak. That streak brought the team’s season record to 4-2-2. Head Coach Danny Orton has been very proud of his team’s effort throughout long, competitive games. After the season-opening draw against Carlisle, Orton said, “We were really good, and their coach even was really complimentary of the way we played. We’ve worked on it in training, we just looked really good on the ball.”
Orton’s squad returns to the North Turf on Tuesday, Sept. 16, when they take on Mechanicsburg at 6:30.
Girls Soccer
On Sept. 2, the girls soccer team picked up its first win of the season, a 3-0 blowout of Jersey Shore. That night has been the highlight of the season so far, but there have been other positive signs for first-year head coach Kent Dwyer. The team battled to overtime with Williamsport before losing 3-2, and lost just 2-0 to Altoona, which it will have to overcome in the district playoffs. Senior Leila Crandall and junior Leah Sampsell have been leaders so far this season and will be instrumental in turning the record around this year. The team is in the midst of a six-game road trip, but will return home on Sept. 24 to take on Central Dauphin.
Cross Country
The final teams to begin their seasons, the boys and girls cross country teams, have been two of the most prolific. As it begins its state championship defense, the boys team is facing the dilemma of replacing four of its top seven runners. While they may eventually have some issues repeating as state champs, the Little Lions haven’t missed a beat yet in 2025. The team opened the season with two dominant victories at the Big Valley Invitational and Spiked Shoe Invitational. In the Big Valley Invitational, the boys had three of the top four finishers, and in the Spike Shoe Invitational, junior Theo Oppermann finished just under five seconds behind defending individual state champion Carter Smith.
The girls are coming off a fourth-place finish at last year’s PIAA State Championships, and lost just one senior from that states squad. Similar to the boys team, these Little Lions also opened the 2025 campaign with dominant victories at the Big Valley and Spiked Shoe Invitationals. The Spiked Shoe Invitational was held at the Penn State Golf Courses, and State High’s top five finishers, Devon Jackson, Evie Younkin, Carolyn Frank, Sylvie Hutchinson and Lacey Sheaffer, all broke 20 minutes and finished in the top 23.
Both teams are back in action on Sept. 16 when they meet Mifflin County at Circleville Park.
