Comets’ senior forward puts a bow on winning L-L League crown

For someone who didn’t pick up a stick until the eighth grade, Jill Witmer certainly is forging quite the career for Penn Manor’s field hockey team.

Her checklist of accomplishments is stunning:

The senior high-scoring forward helped Penn Manor win the PIAA Triple-A state crown last fall (a rip-roaring 5-0 win over District 3 foe Hershey) … All-League Player … All-State Player … Lancaster Newspapers Player of the Year … All-American Player … Olympic Development selection … Athletic Award of Honor recipient from the Keystone State Games … helped Penn Manor win this year’s L-L League title – the Comets’ first league crown since 1986 – by scoring a pair of goals, the 100th and 101st goals of her career, by the way, in a 3-1 win over last year’s champ, Donegal.

Quite the list. And quite the season for Penn Manor, which improved to 20-0-1 after topping Donegal on Thursday night at Manheim Central.

(By the way, the tie was against state power Emmaus in a non-league game; Penn Manor has a goose egg in the loss column heading into the District 3 playoffs.)

And did I mention that Witmer earned a scholarship to play field hockey for the University of Maryland, which is the reigning NCAA champion?

And remember: She didn’t take up the game until the eighth grade.

And here’s another kicker: Witmer didn’t even enjoy field hockey right away, and she nearly walked away from it before she got started.

Now she’s one of the top players in the country – and has aspirations to play in the Olympics in the future.

“She’s an incredible young woman,” Penn Manor coach Matt Soto said. “She’s been blessed with some great skills – unusually great skills.”

I caught up with Ms. Witmer on Thursday night after Penn Manor picked off Donegal 3-1 in the L-L League championship match at Manheim Central. She scored two goals in the game – the second, off a penalty corner from the top of the circle, gave the Comets the lead for good.

We chatted about Penn Manor’s big win, about her (rocky) start in field hockey, about winning the state title last fall and trying to do it again this season, about her time in the Comets’ program and her future endeavors at Maryland – and beyond.

You can listen to the interview by clicking on the ‘play’ button above.

You can also download the Podcast and listen to it on your favorite mp3 device by clicking here.