Colonials Fly Past St. Elizabeth

By Christopher Brown

On Tuesday January 10 the William Penn Colonials beat top ten  ranked St. Elizabeth at home  59 to 48. William Penn was led by  junior Gerard Wall with 14 points and  senior Jermal Crumel with 12 points.

The game started with intensity and the Colonials had  the momentum on their side, senior point guard Jermal Crumel said,” I believe Gerrard Walls buzzer beater at the end of the first quarter turned the game around because we started seeing the ball go in which gave the whole team confidence.”

Part of the Colonials success was holding  a top ranked team to 8 points in the first half.  That showed their  defensive performance, a real team effort. The head coach , Steve Christensen said, ” I, thought we were real good job defensively. There are some things we can work on like clean up the 4th quarter and offensively do some things better. I am happy with the effort and happy with the team  coming along.”

This win against a ranked opponent boosted the confidence of the team  Crumel said,’ I believe we learned we can compete with anybody in the state & possibly bring home a championship”

The past two years William Penn has had records of 16-4 and 17-3. Both years they had a lot of varsity experience. This season is different with 4 of the starters this year .” Last year we had guys with some significant varsity experience, this year we only have a few guys with any experience and only one starter from last year. Everybody is adapting to their new roles are figuring out how they fit.”
The rest of the season will be a battle for the Colonials due to the difficult schedule they will face 5 of the current top 10 teams to end the season. But if the Colonials play like they did tonight they should have no worries. The next game is Thursday 1/12 5:15 at William Penn

Colonials Soccer Improves

By Cairo Chambers and Kevin Martinez

On May 9, 2016, William Penn’s girls soccer team played against Middletown High School. Unfortunately the Middletown game was a disappointing loss for Penn’s girls soccer team. Due to the disappointed 0-8 loss against Middletown, their record dropped to 5-9 in the 2016 soccer season.

Penn’s girls soccer team kicked 4 shots on the Middletown goalkeeper named Anna Eastburn and had 2 corner kicks in the game.

Penn’s girls goalkeepers Schuler Stark and Princess Achobang saved twenty one shots together during the disappointing game. The Middletown goalkeeper Anna Eastburn saves 2 shots in the whole game.

Coach Jason Land said, “We will need to stay healthy. We had a lot of injuries this season that the team had to overcome. Defensively we will need to get better as well as movement off the ball. We have some talent coming back that will have to work hard and improve in the off season.”

The team finished the season 6-9 and with a 6-0 victory in the last game of the season May 11 against Christiana High School.  

Colonials as Professional Athletes

By Tyler Clemens and Chase Chandler

William Penn High school has not necessarily been known for pumping out professional athletes, but it has produced a few. Brett Oberholtzer is a William Penn alumni and is now on the active roster of the Philadelphia Phillies. He was involved in an offseason trade with the Houston Astros as he was traded to the Phillies along with Vincent Velasquez , Mike Appel , and Thomas Eshelman.

William Penn also has been the starting place for former major league player Cliff Brumbaugh. Brumbaugh played in 21 games in 2001 for both the Texas Rangers and the Colorado Rockies. In his 21 games, Brumbaugh hit .217 with one home run and four RBI’s. In the following months, Brumbaugh was sent back down to the minor leagues and eventually he signed with the Chicago White Sox but was never called back up. Brumbaugh would go onto play in the Korean baseball league and Mexican league.

 

William Penn alumni Jim Sherman graduated from here with the class of ’78. He is also the head coach of the University of Delaware baseball team and played on the professional level for two years. He was invited to spring training camp two years in a row for the Houston Astros playing as high as the AAA level in their organization. He also was a dominate player in college where he won all-conference honors all four years. He hit 46 home runs in his four seasons at UD and that is very impressive for that level and the amount of games they play. He still ranks second all time in RBI’s at Delaware. After leaving his career as a player of the Houston Astros, he took the reigns of the Wilmington University wildcats baseball team and took them to six district 19 championships, and the NAIA World series. Now he is the head coach of the University of Delaware Blue Hens and currently is the all time win leader with a 245-205 record as a head coach.

William Penn has produced a few pro athletes andmany successful people. These three athletes are just an example of the caliber of students, athletes, and professionals that come out of William Penn High School. 

 

Lady Colonials Attempt to Improve

By Cairo Chambers and Kevin Martinez

On April 18, 2016, William Penn’s girls soccer team went up against their rival Newark High School. William Penn sophomore Brenda Reyes scored the only goal in the 1-5 loss against Newark High School. The loss made Penn’s record drop to 3-4.

Photo by Kevin Martinez Sophomore Brenda Reyes tries to steal the ball from Newark player. Although the team scored multiple shots against the Yellowjackets, they finished with a loss. 

The William Penn girls soccer team kicked over five shots onthe Newark goalkeeper Alexis Smoot and had four corner kicks in the game.

Sophomore Vanessa Caudillo said, “A lot of players on the team are injured, so maybe that’s  the reason why they are having a tough time going up against other teams.”  

Caudillo also said, “To win more games, they have to move the ball around the field faster, communicate, and create more chances throughout the rest of the season.”

On April 20, the team went up against another tough opponent, Appoquinimink High School, at William Penn. The game ended 0-6.
The team is currently 5-5 and plays its next game away April 28 against Tower Hill High School.

Spring Sports Preview

By Chase Chandler and Tyler Clemens

Baseball   Head coach- Marvin Dooley    

lacrosse   Head coach- Jason Klepaki

Track and Field  Head coach- Jim Hopkins

Tennis Boys – Tennis Girls  Head coach(b)- Peter Servon  Head coach(g) Sean morrison

Soccer  Head coach- Jason Land

Golf  Head coach- Casey Ryan

Softball  Head coach- missy Pullan

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March 15th was the sportsmanship assembly for students participating in a sport this spring. Baseball, softball, lacrosse , track and field, boys and girls tennis, boys and girls soccer, and golf are all spring sports. The athletic director for William Penn Sebrina Perialas expressed the importance of team, family, and representing the school well. The teams all gathered and were on the same page as they  are all ready to take on this season. The season ends at the end of May. 

 

Colonials Take Down The Competition

 

By Kevin Martinez and Cairo Chambers

Photo by Cairo Chambers William Penn junior Luis Rodriguez wrestled against Jordan Washam in the 160 lb. weight class for third place February 20. 

On February 20, William Penn 132 weight class junior Ryan Juarez-Robertson, 160 weight class junior Luis Rodriguez, 182 weight class senior Dequan Twyman, and 285 weight class senior Brandon Dooley won their matches at the Blue Hen Conference tournament, helping William Penn win the entire tournament on Saturday.

For this 2015-16 wrestling season, William Penn has a 10-3 record. 

Despite, the loss in the last wrestling match against Sussex Central High School, they overcame that by taking first place in the Blue Hen Conference wrestling tournament.

Rodriguez said, “It wasn’t the easiest tournament, but it was probably one of the most memorable. As a team, I think we wrestled great. We ended up taking first place as a team overall.
The top 6 place finishers in the Blue Hen conference and top 4 place in the Independent conference advanced to compete 22-23 teams on February 26-27 in the DIAA Individual state wrestling tournament at Cape Henlopen High School.

Colonial Basketball Defeats the Hawks

By Satara King and Rogelio Landa

Colonials took the win against St. Georges Tech High School, their 10th home game  With this win, the boys improved to an overall record of 11 and 1.

“The keys to the games were the we play really good team defense and showing good offence with fundamental play,” Coach Christensen said.

Three seniors, Malik Hines, Danny Walsh, and Calleem Hucks, worked as a unit to make sure that they had their 11th win. This will be one of the team’s best seasons because of their teamwork and extra effort to make it to state.

“The 1st quarter was bad with a score of 5-8, second- 12-14, third- 18-20, fourth-28-26 and then we went to overtime,“ junior Jermal Crumel said.

William Penn students said they were excited of this game. “St. George’s has a ton of tall players. It was like David versus Golliath. The game was like neck-and-neck the whole time and was exciting because we beat the third team in the state,” said junior Tamia Davis.

Senior Danny Walsh added, ”It was a big improvement from the start and we really grew from the beginning.”

Since that game the Colonials have beat AI Dupont and Concord. They will play their next game February 6 against Medford Tech.

WP Swim Team Dives For Success

By Tyler Clemens and Chase Chandler

A little past midway through the season and the varsity swim team has a 2-7 record and is still trying to find their groove. They are not able to achieve a .500 record, but they can still finish their season strong meets left in the season. The swim team is not necessarily the most publicized team at William Penn, but they have just as much spirit and contribution to our school’s pride as some of the other bigger publicized sports such as football, baseball, wrestling, and basketball.

The swim team is very optimistic on how the rest of their season is going to go.

Sophomore swim member Julia Scheu is one of the most optimistic on how the rest of the season is going to go. Scheu said, “Even though we are 2-7 it doesn’t change my attitude on how I think the season will go.”

She also went on to say, “I know we can win the next 5 meets, but we need to work as a team to do so.”
In the end, the swim team has the chance to finish their season on a high note by winning their last five meets of the season. The team’s next meet is February 3rd  against McKean High School at the Boys and Girls Club Route 40.

Penn Wrestling Pins Down Another Win

By Cairo Chambers and Kevin Martinez

On January 18, 2016, William Penn 160 weight class Junior Luis Rodriguez pinned Braden Porter in 2 minutes and 51 seconds, helping William Penn to defeat St. Georges Tech High School 32-29 at William Penn High School. William Penn wrestlers pinned three of  St. Georges Tech wrestlers for an amazing win.

With a win, William Penn advanced with a 4-1 record for this 2015-16 wrestling season.

Despite, the close loss in the last wrestling match against Charter High School, they overcame that with a victory over St. Georges Tech High School.

Rodriguez said, “Overall, I know we deserve every little bit of it because, watching my teammates practice everyday just makes me a little more confident that we’ll be successful. As hard as we’ve been working throughout the season, I know that this is exactly where we’re supposed to be, while slowly getting better as time progresses.”
The team’s next meet is against St. Mark’s High School at William Penn High on February 06, 2016.