Fun times in Manchester...Enjoy it

I think I share the thoughts of my fellow sports reporters when I ask where the time has gone. The final regular season football game is tonight with Manchester facing Hillsdale, the Cascades Conference volleyball tournament is next Thursday (Oct. 29), the Division 3 regional cross country meet is two days after that and the college football season is at the midway point. It seems like just the other day, Don and I were driving around the county getting photos and interviews done for the fall season preview under sunny skies and 80 degree temps.

Since then, the Manchester High School sports teams have put on quite a show. The Dutchmen clinched their first outright Cascades title in a while last week and are going for an undefeated regular season tonight. The volleyball team has 20 wins and are going to be one of the top seeds in the Cascades tournament, a big turnaround from last season's injury-plagued campaign. Liz Timoszyk continues to be her outstanding self in leading the girls cross country team, and recently earned the prestigous Evenson Award at the Hudson Booster Invitational. On the boys side, the freshmen class are building a foundation that can lead to future success. And earlier this month, the Manchester equestrian team completed another thrilling season, three-peating as district champions and placing third in a competitive regional meet.

Success hasn't been limited to the varsity level. The Manchester junior varsity volleyball team ended its season Tuesday with a two-game sweep of East Jackson, giving the Flying Dutch their third straight undefeated record in Cascades play. To put it in perspective, the Dutch haven't lost in league play since the 2006 season, about three months before I took my job in Manchester. The freshmen volleyball team completed their season last week, having only dropped one match all season.

The bottom line is this...the student-athletes in Manchester have provided the community with a tremendous fall season. Regardless of how far the teams go in the playoffs, the fans should enjoy what these young men and women have done this fall. Not many schools can say they've won two conference titles during a season (fall, winter and spring), let alone have two teams make deep runs in the state playoffs. Manchester has that opportunity with the football and volleyball teams. And let's not forget, Manchester will likely have a couple of state qualifiers in cross country.

While the focus now shifts toward the playoffs and even bigger goals, Manchester can take pride in their accomplishments to date. It's been a remarkable season so far fans...enjoy it.