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Seven Husky athletes honored

Sentinel file photo
Mifflin County’s Ken Kahley (10) was one of four Mifflin County field hockey players named to Mid-Penn Commonwealth all-star team.

LEWISTOWN — Things may not have gone so smoothly in terms of team sports at Mifflin County this year, but that doesn’t mean that there wasn’t some individual success.

Seven athletes from the boys and girls soccer and field hockey teams were recognized by the Mid-Penn Conference for their contributions on the field.

Field hockey had the most of the three sports, getting a pair of first-team all-stars and another duo on the second team.

Junior Keni Kahley and senior Baylee Lepley were named to the Commonwealth Division first team.

It was evident that Kahley didn’t have to have the numbers to make her special. Instead, she was the leader for the team both on and off the field. There never went a chunk of time where one didn’t hear her attempting to enlighten the team — especially when it was huddled before a game or at halftime or during a timeout.

“She’s usually consistent and sets the tempo for the entire team,” coach Courtney Kanagy said. “How she’s feeling, that’s how the team is feeling. … Ultimately, she’s a hard worker and carries the weight of the team. It was tough on her at times, being a junior and having so much responsibility for leadership. She got more criticism from us on a bad day than anybody else because the attitude followed her wherever she went.”

The role of leader will only come easier next season as Kahley enters her senior year.

Joining Kahley on the conference’s first team is the team’s leading scorer, Baylee Lepley.

Kanagy said Lepley is a smart player who is always one step ahead of the competition.

“I think she was at the right place at the right time so often,” she said. “She was the leading scorer, but she was able to cut in and cut across the field and get deflections for the score. She’s really fast and creates great crosses down in the circle.”

Another pair of seniors — Korlin Yetter and Maggie Solomon — were named to the division’s second team.

Yetter didn’t score as many goals Kanagy would have liked, but she made up for that in the passing game. She was often setting up scoring plays up and getting the ball to the right person.

“She has a lot of talent — especially stick skills,” Kanagy said. “She is really good at making and receiving passes and taking shots. … She helped make plays possible and it’s nice to have someone like her in the center of the field to make good passes and receive good passes.”

Solomon is the lone defensive Husky to make the team and whenever the team needed the stop or needed the brought out of from its own circle, they counted on her.

“She’s scrappy. You wouldn’t know it from talking to her because she’s super mellow. Even on the field, she plays relaxed,” Kanagy said. “She’s not afraid to pick it up and bring it out herself. A lot of times, she would receive the ball and take it back out. More often than not, she would switch the field and that’s huge in the game of field hockey.”

Girls soccer players Olivia Cook and Katelyn Knable were named to the Keystone Division’s second team. The benefit for Mifflin County is the conference hasn’t seen the last of the two as they are set to return next fall.

Both defenders brought different skills to the team with Cook being the quicker while Knable is more about execution.

“Olivia brings a ton of speed to the middle for the defense. She can recover from her mistakes and other people’s mistakes,” coach Barrett Knepp said. “Katelyn did a lot of runs up the field where she started a lot of attacks from the back. She always had her head up and helped move the offense forward. That was huge for us.”

Senior Jack Xanthopoulos was a Keystone Division first team selection in boys soccer. The center-mid accounted for six goals and four assists.

He got more than half of that in a single game at Harrisburg where he recorded four goals and two assists.

“I’ll miss his tenacity at the midfield,” coach Bob Lepley said. “He had a battery that never stopped. He just kept going and going. He played a full 80 minutes regardless of the score or outcome of the game. Jack brought us a sense of heart and leadership throughout the season. I would say Jack put the team before himself which helped everyone around him.”

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