Included in today's edition is The Sentinel's annual look back at the year we've just completed, and sports in no exception. In fact, it would be fair to say that this has been a huge year for athletes and their teams in the Juniata Valley.
Little things may go unnoted here, but for the most part, this year's edition of the Year in Review offers a comprehensive look back at the previous 12 months on the sports calendar (actually, it will seem like just 11 - the early winter season just hasn't produced one of those spectacular moments that demands inclusion on the list).
One difference from the past couple years - actually a throwback to the way things were done for this publication in the past - is the format. Each of the past few years have been marked by the sports staff members selecting what they felt were the top 10 stories of the year, and focusing on those events.
There are more than 60 entries on this year's list, a substantial number and one that makes it hard to winnow down. So, we've returned to the "calendar" format used by my colleague Jane Cannon Mort in the news department, and previously used for the year in sports review, giving you a broader selection of memorable sports moments from the year.
Of course, that doesn't mean there aren't bigger stories than others (there are), or that some achievements are not bigger than others (most definitely).
But what I choose as No. 1 and what, say, any of the half-dozen other sports staffers these pages have seen throughout the past 12 months would call the biggest, are not necessarily the same. Gone but not forgotten sports reporter Joey Gulino would undoubtedly choose a basketball milestone - but maybe not the same one I might pick - while we can be sure our man in Babe Ruth, Ray Wilde, would choose baseball first.
Those who know the sports - high school, not the AHL - for which I have the greatest passion would surmise correctly that wrestling, track and field, and field hockey are the likely candidates on my list. And they'd be right.
That said, here are my two best-remembered moments of the prior 12 months - both included in the book, of course.
It was Saturday, March 8, the third day of the PIAA wrestling championships, the final day of the season. As always, the PIAA's schedule was behind, but the Class AAA finals got under way with a pair of great matches. At 119 pounds, Lewistown's Matt Snyder, in his final appearance for the Panthers, faced Easton's Kegan Handlovic.
I had watched Snyder wrestle for three seasons at that point, and was impressed with his quiet, workmanlike effort on the mat. He had already surprised more than a few people with his performance in the 2006 event, in which he made it to the medal stand for bronze, a feat reprised in 2007 - better showings that several of his more touted teammates, in fact.
There are wrestlers who flatten everything in their path, those who play a domination game of catch and release takedowns, and those who just wrap up an opponent and find a way to win.
Snyder was one of the latter. But on this day, someone found a way to escape the grasp, to avoid the almost miraculous takedowns that Snyder had become known for. Snyder, who needed an extra period in the semis just to get to this match, had no answer. Handlovic won, 9-4.
What made it memorable was not that Snyder lost, but the way he lost - with absolute class. When the horn sounded, he sat up on his haunches, looked around, and realized he was not the best wrestler that day. He walked calmly to the center of the mat, shook hands, briefly embraced Handlovic - then went on to the next stage of his life.
Sometimes, you can't be the best. Other times, you can. Enter Laura Loht.
When I first met Laura at a home track meet last spring, she was a focused athlete when she needed to be, but also had that sense of a giddy, giggly high school girl - not a surprise from a 10th grader.
She already was the best on her team, in some sense of the word, but was hardly the star - the focus remained on a few sprinters and their exploits in the relays, perhaps a couple of throwers, and a good vaulter she called teammates.
But, boy, could that girl toss a spear. And she found the best time of the year to have her best hurl - during the state meet at Shippensburg. When she was declared the winner, she ran across the field to her friends, family and coaches in celebration - one well deserved.
A few minutes later, when we spoke, she didn't turn suddenly into a sports figure - her conversation maintained the youthful innocence found only in a young girl's heart. Let's hope she still has that three or four medals from now, because, when it comes down to it, that will take her further than any hunk of iron the PIAA hangs around her neck.
I've often said that it's not so much the sports as the people who play them that make this an interesting career choice. These two youngsters prove what great people sports can produce.
Are there others who were memorable? Sure. That's why we have the list. These just happen to be two that really stand out in my mind.
And make me look forward to who I'm going to meet this year.
Jeff Fishbein is sports editor of The Sentinel. Contact him at jfishbein@lewistownsentinel.com.
