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the athlete in you.
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Mercersburg athletics D E F I N E C O M P E T I T I V E VA L U E S . Step onto our campus and you will literally walk in the footsteps of former Olympic athletes. Our athletics program started in the 1880s with snowball fights and the occasional wrestling match and progressed over the decades into a powerhouse that has produced 54 Olympians, 31 of them from our swimming program alone and eight in track. Today, Mercersburg’s athletes and coaches utilize resources that address performance nutrition, dynamic flexibility, sports psychology, and a strength program that focuses on developing athleticism in every student. Our athletes routinely garner All-League and Academic AllLeague honors in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL), as well as regional and national recognition. More than 90 percent of our ninth-grade students participate in athletics, while typically 20–25 percent of each graduating class goes on to compete on the collegiate level all over the U.S., including Cornell, Yale, Duke, Boise State, Colorado, Penn State, Bucknell, and Dartmouth.
Are you a novice to many sports? Not a problem. Not only will you have lots of company, we greatly encourage newcomers to “test the waters” in any sport that appeals to them. Our athletics curriculum makes it easy to do so. Who knows? Maybe you’re a natural for a sport you haven’t tried yet, which means winning that gold medal isn’t just a dream after all. At Mercersburg, you’ll find our knowledgeable coaches patient and encouraging, for both newcomers and those competing at advanced levels. And you’ll see the latest teaching techniques to improve strength and agility as our staff works hard to ensure proper training during breaks and off-season, always looking for opportunities to improve your abilities. Once you live Mercersburg’s athletic motto, “Hard work, fair play, clean life,”—these values stick with you forever.
O U R O U T S TA N D I N G
athletic facilities include: • 10 playing fields, including a new synthetic-turf field, two baseball diamonds, and a softball diamond • 5K cross country course, which hosts the annual Pennsylvania Independent Schools state meet • 14 tournament-quality courts in the state-of-the-art Smoyer Tennis Center/Frantz Tennis Pavilion • 10-court, top-of-the-line Davenport Squash Center with viewing areas • 400-meter all-weather outdoor Jimmy Curran Track: one of the best in the league, with wide turns and newly renovated rubber • 9-lane x 25-yard James Manley Flanagan Pool (a 50-meter aquatic center is on the drawing boards) • Leonard Plantz Basketball Courts (3) • Ski at Whitetail Ski Resort, with its 935-foot vertical drop from 1,800 feet • Golf at the Whitetail 18-hole championship course • Fully equipped McDowell Fitness Center with suspended indoor track and a wide variety of aerobic and strength-training equipment • Nolde Gymnasium (renovation complete in fall 2010) houses the Cyrus Luther Fulton Trophy Lobby and team rooms
Mid-Atlantic Prep League COMPETITION WILL TEST Y O U R S TA M I N A . The Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) includes participating prep schools in the New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania area—schools that are known for their academic rigor and the high quality of their sports teams.
MAPL SCHOOLS ARE: BUCCANEERS Blair Academy
Blairstown, New Jersey
BLUES Hill School
Pottstown, Pennsylvania
RAIDERS Hun School
Princeton, New Jersey
BIG RED Lawrenceville School
Lawrenceville, New Jersey
BLUE STORM Mercersburg Academy
Mercersburg, Pennsylvania
FALCONS Peddie School
Hightstown, New Jersey
Athletic Quick Facts • 54 Olympians— swimming, track and field, gymnastics, and sailing— including 12 gold medalists. • 34 conference and league championships since 1994 in baseball, football, swimming, cross country, wrestling, basketball, track, golf, and tennis. • 24 members of the Class of 2010 are now competing in 10 different collegiate sports. • 20–25 percent of graduates go on to compete athletically in college. • 6 Pennsylvania Independent Schools state championships.
0ther 0pportunities Aside from playing on a team, you can be a manager or a student trainer. Numerous sports-related clubs exist, like the Bike Club or Ultimate Frisbee. And special events, such as Irving-Marshall Week and Spirit Week, get the whole school involved in various competitions. There are also pep rallies, fan buses to away games, sportswriting and photography opportunities for the school newspaper, yearbook, and website.
• Since 2004–05, our alumni have competed in these college conferences: Ivy, Patriot, ACC, Big East, Big 10, WAC, Atlantic 10, Mountain West, Colonial, and New England Small College (NESCAC). • Coaching staff includes an Olympian, former college athletes with All-American and All-League honors, former professional athletes in basketball and running, and two coaches with more than 300 career victories each.
26 varsity teams – W AY M O R E T H A N M O S T C O L L E G E S . All our interscholastic teams compete in the challenging Mid-Atlantic Prep League, which regularly produces NCAA Division I talent and has become a pipeline for college programs. Our baseball team has won two state titles and three conference titles since 2005.
Boys’ Teams Baseball Basketball Cross Country Diving Football Golf Lacrosse Skiing Soccer Squash Swimming Tennis Track & Field (winter) Track & Field (spring) Wrestling Girls’ Teams Basketball Cross Country Diving Field Hockey Golf Lacrosse Skiing Soccer Softball Squash Swimming Tennis Track & Field (winter) Track & Field (spring) Volleyball
With 30 sports offerings and 26 varsity teams, you will have ample opportunity for Mercersburg’s coaches to shape you into a well-rounded athlete. The coaches strategically intersperse demanding workouts with rest days and cross-training. They combine physical drills with visualization, performance goal-setting, and all-around mental preparation. And when you become an upperclassman, you’ll gain leadership skills mentoring younger members of the team, as you all learn to compete fiercely, respect each other, and love the game.
A young person’s experience in athletics can be as influential as any other aspect of their education at Mercersburg. For decades, athletics at Mercersburg has been a prime venue for developing leadership skills, enhancing collaborative ability, and building the character necessary to gain success with honor and to persevere through adversity. The driving principle behind our athletics program is the fulfillment— for every student—that comes from contributing to the team’s success. Rick Hendrickson Director of Athletics
717-328-6173 www.mercersburg.edu
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Mercersburg Academy abides by both the spirit and the letter of the law in all its employment and admission policies. The school does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin.
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300 E. Seminary Street, Mercersburg, PA 17236