Penn High School is one of two schools in the state of Indiana with four teams competing in Indiana High School Athletic Association semistate events this weekend (Oct. 23-25), as well as being represented in the IHSAA tennis individual state finals.

Pictured in front, from the left, Trent Gidman (boys soccer), Jensen Stroinski (girls soccer), Danielle Frank (girls cross country), Julia Nafe (girls cross country), and Matt Evans (boys cross country).

Pictured in back, from the left, Penn High School principal Steve Hope, Thomas Gifford (boys tennis), Tim Porsche (boys tennis), Penn High School athletic director Aaron Leniski.

Penn’s boys and girls soccer teams each won regional championships last weekend, and the boys and girls cross country teams also qualified for berths at the semistate level.  Doubles players Thomas Gifford and Tim Porsche will wear Kingsmen colors in the IHSAA individual tennis state finals this weekend.  Center Grove also has four teams in semistate action this weekend, and has a tennis state finalist.

Penn’s girls golf team was also a state finalist earlier this season, placing 11^th. The Penn volleyball team begins sectional play at home on Saturday, Oct. 24 and Penn’s football team on Friday, October 23, also at home. 

“The Penn community is proud to be represented by dedicated student-athletes who have our athletic teams competing at the highest levels in the state,” Penn High School Principal Steve Hope said. “The outstanding work of the coaches, and the tremendous support of the parents, families and fans of Penn's student-athletes is greatly appreciated. 

“This weekend is just one example of Penn High School's commitment to academic and athletic excellence,” Hope said. “On behalf of Penn High School, I wish the best to all of our student-athletes as they represent our school.”

Penn athletic director Aaron Leniski expressed pride in the accomplishment by the Kingsmen Fall Sports teams.  “I am very proud and excited for these teams,” Leniski said. “This is a major accomplishment for each of these programs and a reflection of the hard work, dedication, and commitment put in by these student-athletes and our coaching staff since the completion of the 2014 season.   

“Penn High School is dedicated to striving for excellence in everything that we do, and our athletic programs seek to represent the P-H-M community to the highest degree,” Leniski continued. “I look forward to a great weekend witnessing outstanding teamwork and dynamic sportsmanship while facing fierce competition.  Go Kingsmen!”

BOYS TENNIS:  Thomas Gifford and Tim Porsche (17-3) play against Goshen’s Luke Rush and Logan Troyer (19-1) in the first round of the state finals on Friday at 2 p.m. on the Park Tudor courts in Indianapolis.

Gifford and Porsche won last week’s LaPorte Regional championship by defeating Andrean’s Evan Galindo and Jarron Tatum, 6-0, 6-0, and Westview’s Zach Schrock and Jeryl Weaver, 6-2, 6-1.

Gifford and Porsche were unbeaten in Northern Indiana Conference regular-season action (7-0), and won the NIC Tournament championship.

Eric Bowers is the Penn tennis coach.

State finals action is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 23, and 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24.

Penn has one state championship in boys tennis individual doubles. Thomas J. Snelson and Gautham Vaidyanathan won the state title in 2006.

A ticket for the tennis state finals is $5 per person.

GIRLS SOCCER:  Penn plays Leo in the South Bend St. Joseph Semistate at noon on Saturday, Oct, 24. If the Kingsmen win, they play the Fishers-Munster winner at 7 p.m. Saturday night for a berth to the state championship game at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, at Carroll Stadium in Indianapolis.

Penn defeated arch-rival St. Joe, 1-0, last Saturday to win the Goshen Regional. It was the eighth regional championship in program history, and first since 2013.

Coach Jeff Hart’s Kingsmen are 19-0-2 and have racked up 15 shutouts. Penn has outscored its competition 21-0 in state-tournament play.

Five Penn players have already committed to play college soccer.

Sophomore Kristina Lynch has committed to defending national champion Florida State, sophomore goalie Mackenzie Wood has committed to Northwestern, senior Kamra Solomon has committed to Furman, senior Jensen Stroinski has committed to IPFW, and senior MacKenzie Mason has committed to Wittenberg. In addition senior Sydney Bright will play for Holy Cross College and senior Hannah Ehrhardt will play for St. Francis College.

Penn has two semistate championships in girls soccer – 1996 and 2007. The Kingsmen are seeking their first state title in girls soccer.

Tickets for the semistate are $7 for one session, or $10 for both sessions

BOYS SOCCER: Penn takes on Fort Wayne Canterbury at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24, in the Warsaw Semistate. If the Kingsmen win, they play the winner of the Lake Central-Harrison match at 7 p.m. on Saturday. At stake is a berth to the Class 2-A state championship game at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, at Carroll Stadium in Indianapolis.

Penn claimed the South Bend Regional championship with a thrilling 2-1 sudden-death victory against Elkhart Memorial. It was the fifth regional championship in program history, and first since 2009.

Penn has one state championship in boys soccer (1999), and one semistate championship (1999).

Coach Josh Nakayama’s Kingsmen are on a 12-game winning streak. Penn suffered losses in its first three games of the season, and has roared back from the 0-3 start to take a 15-4 record into the semistate.

Mac Smith leads the Kingsmen with 9 goals and eight assists.

Cost for a ticket to the semistate is $7 for one session, and $10 for two sessions.

Penn’s all-Northern Indiana Conference selections were:

1st Team: Colorado Kruggel (senior) defender.

2nd Team: Noah Craig (senior) midfielder; Trent Gidman (senior) goalkeeper; Anderw Fulmer (junior) defender.

Honorable Mention: Mac Smith (senior) midfielder; Riley Smith (junior) midfielder.

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY: Penn’s Lauren Frank won the individual regional championship, and the Kingsmen qualified as a team for the semistate with a second-place finish in the Elkhart Regional.

Coach Michael Clements’ Penn girls cross country team competes in the semistate at the Plexx athletic complex in Fort Wayne on Saturday. The semistate race is slated to start at 1:45 p.m.

Penn is seeking its first championships in girls cross country at the semistate and state levels.

Admission to the semistate is free.

Each of Penn’s seven runners earned all-NIC honors this season:

Lauren Frank – first team; Conference MVP, Individual NIC & Regional Champion.

Ellie Jankowski – first team all-NIC.

Emma Jankowski – first team all-NIC.

Sybil Kurian – second team all-NIC.

Lorena Daugherty – second team all-NIC.

Stella DiMarzio – second team all-NIC.

Danielle Frank – honorable mention all-NIC.

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY: Penn stunned Northridge by one point to win the Elkhart Regional championship and qualify for the semistate. Penn finished with 61 points, and Northridge came in second with 62 points.

It was the 15^th regional championship in program history, and Penn’s second boys cross country regional title in a row.

Semistate action at Fort Wayne’s Plexx athletic complex is set for 1 p.m on Saturday, Oct. 24.

Penn is seeking its first semistate championship in boys cross country on Saturday. The Kingsmen are also pursuing their first state championship in boys cross country.

Sophomore Colton Shail led Penn’s regional championship effort by placing third in the race. Shail was named the Northern Indiana Conference MVP after placing first in the conference meet.

Admission to the semistate is free.

Coach Tom Miller’s Kingsmen placed all seven runners on the all-NIC team:

Colton Shail – first team all-NIC and Conference MVP, Individual NIC Champion.

Matt Evans – second team all-NIC.

Chad Piatt – second team all-NIC.

Curtis Cornell – second team all-NIC.

Daniel Hardman – second team.

Nick Scheel – honorable mention.

Cameron Nagle – honorable mention.

Penn High School students placed first in two events in the Penn High School Invitational Debate Tournament held on Saturday, Oct. 17.

Hannah Smith placed first in the Novice Lincoln Douglas Debate, and Nicholas Casetti and Renee Yaseen placed first in the Novice Policy Debate.

“We are really pleased with the work of our novice competitors in all areas,” Penn debate head coach David Dutton said. “Particularly Renee Yaseen and Nicholas Casetti in Policy Debate and Hannah Smith in Lincoln Douglas Debate.”

Dutton said that Penn was competitive in all areas of the prestigious tournament, which attracted teams from across Indiana, including Carmel, West Lafayette and Evansville North.

Penn High School principal Steve Hope said that he appreciated the efforts of those involved in the Penn Invitational Debate Tournament.

“I’m very pleased with the outstanding performance by our Penn High School students in the Penn Invitational Debate Tournament, and the efforts of head coach David Dutton and assistant coach Dawn Troyer,” Hope said. “Penn is proud to host an event of this magnitude that allows students from Penn, and students from schools around the state of Indiana to showcase their skills.”

Complete results may be found here: https://www.speechwire.com/r-results.php?tournid=4095&groupingid=0&round=F

PENN RESULTS

Novice Lincoln Douglas Debate

1. Hannah Smith

Novice Policy Debate

1.  Nicholas Casetti and Renee Yaseen

Novice Public Forum Debate

5. Daoud Haque and Sufyan Zackariya

6. Bowen Ashenfelter and Priya Chaudhary

7. Brooklynn Johnston and Chloe Benham

Novice Student Congress

4. Riley Clauss

5. Dylan Quiggle

Varsity Policy Debate

6. Jacob Gefri and Julia Kwak

7. William Riley and Zoe Gatzimos

Varsity Public Forum Debate

5. Benjamin Whittington and Colin Lucero-Dixon

Varsity Student Congress

7. Curtis Whitt 

Penn High School Student Hunger Drive participants Michael Aboukhaled and Jeff Musema stand in front of a wall of cardboard boxes filled to the brim with canned food donations. The wall is two rows deep and six feet high and while they are happy with their progress, they’d like to see the wall reach record heights in the upcoming month.

Though the specific goal of the Hunger Drive is indeterminate as of yet, it’s clear that these students are excited and optimistic about making a difference. Aboukhaled, the leader of one of roughly 14 groups, said that “last year, the four classes brought in [about] 22,000 pounds [of donated food] and this year, so far, I think we brought in six or seven thousand… and the deadline is November 11th.”

His group is one of many to participate in “canned trick-or-treating”. This a project that involves the distribution of flyers to residences in the Penn district, encouraging families to leave out canned goods for donation. Aboukhaled and Musema’s group returned to the same residences one week later to pick up the graciously donated non-perishable goods.

This is not all that their group has done in an effort to raise donations. According to Musema, student golfers looking for a way to get a free round of golf and do some good at the same time should participate in the event taking place at Knollwood Country Club on Monday, October 19th all day long. “If you bring 15 cans, you get 18 holes of golf; so if you just bring the flyer and the cans with you, you can go play some golf.”

The initiative shown by this group is just one example of a Penn organization making an effort to connect the community and make generous donations to the less fortunate at the same time. With the help and continued support of the Penn community, the next time these two stand in front of their collection of donated food, it will have grown from covering a wall to occupying an entire room.

by Cole Pollyea

Penn will clinch the Northern Indiana Conference North Division title outright with a victory over Mishawaka on Friday, Oct. 16. The game will be played at 7:00 p.m. at Mishawaka.

If Mishawaka beats the Kingsmen, and Adams beats St. Joseph on Friday, there would be a three-way tie for the NIC North among Penn, Mishawaka and Adams.

If Mishawaka beats Penn and St. Joseph beats Adams, Penn would be co-champions with Mishawaka.

The Kingsmen have won the NIC title or shared it the last four seasons and have 33 NIC titles overall entering this season. Penn leads the all-time series against Mishawaka 44-14-1. The Kingsmen have won the last four meetings against Mishawaka. Penn beat Mishawaka 21-12 last season. Mishawaka’s last victory against Penn was a 14-7 overtime decision in 2010.

Click here to read this week’s game program.

October 10^th was a great day for Penn athletics! The boys and the girls soccer teams clinched sectional championships that day, while at cross country sectionals, girls finished in first place and boys in second. Both soccer teams and both XC squads now advance to regionals. 

In varsity soccer, the boys defeated South Bend Adams, 3-0, to take their fifth consecutive sectional title. Led by Coach Josh Nakayama, they will face St. Joe at the South Bend Riley Regional Semifinal, Thursday October 15, at 7 p.m.  A win on Thursday puts them in the championship match, Saturday the 17^th at 7 p.m.

Later that day in a match played at Penn, the girls soccer team repeated the feat, with a 4-0 win, also over South Bend Adams. Currently undefeated, and coached by Jeff Hart, the girls will next face Culver Academy at the Goshen Regional Wednesday, October 14, at 5 p.m.  A win on Wednesday will lead to the regional championship match, Saturday at Goshen at 2 p.m.

Keep up with the Kingsmen as they progress through tournament play!  

Get frequent updates via the Twitter Timeline at https://penn.phmschools.org/ or sign up for direct feeds from @The_Pennant

Penn High students participated and placed in the recent Canstruction competition hosted at University Park Mall. The challenge: Constructing large 3-dimensional displays of stacked food cans in entertaining or surprising forms. The purpose: Raising awareness about local hunger, while gathering and donating thousands of cans of food to alleviate hunger.

Canstruction is the international program behind the local “junior” event. Success depends on student creativity and ingenuity along with community support.  Penn took a multi-disciplinary approach, combining the forces of Architecture students, an Introduction to Engineering coed class as well as an all-female engineering class.  With leadership from teachers Jim Langfeldt and Josiah Parker, the students undertook a massive food drive, then trucked the 7,000 cans they collected to the mall, followed by many hours of precise stacking in the Center Court on Friday, October 9.

After the students finished and stepped back, shoppers could recognize the subjects of their two colorful displays: one was Rosie the Riveter, the iconic WWII figure, and the other a much more contemporary character, Pac-Man of the game fame!  Rosie received the “Voters’ Choice” award and “Best Meal” award, while Pac-Man won in the “Creativity” category.

At the conclusion of the event all the canned goods were donated to Hope Ministries, serving our St. Joseph County neighbors in need.  The students benefited too from the hands-on collaborative learning experience, not to mention the fun of working together and the satisfaction of seeing their vision take shape. 

Penn High School student-athlete Trey Burns will continue his academic and basketball careers at Bethel College. Burns, a 6-foot-3 wing with a silky smooth shot and outstanding leaping skills, signed a letter of intent Monday, October 12, at Penn High School.

“I’ve always known about Bethel, growing up around it,” Burns said. “When coach Lightfoot gave me a call to take a visit and meet the players, I felt like I was part of the team, already. It was like a big family, and I liked that.

“This is a great feeling. It’s always been a goal of mine to play college basketball. Bethel is a great program.” Coach Mike Lightfoot’s Bethel Pilots were 27-7 last season and seeded No. 10 in the NAIA national tournament.

Burns said that the Penn High School program under the direction of coach Al Rhodes has prepared him for the collegiate level. “Coach Rhodes has really helped a lot with teaching me fundamentals,” Burns said. “He’s helped me get a better attitude, and he’s developed me into a harder worker.”

Burns helped Penn rack up a 21-6 record, including a 7-1 mark in the Northern Indiana Conference. Last season, Burns average 9.2 points and 4.3 rebounds a game. He scored a career-high 19 points last season in a 97-50 rout of Andrean. While Trey suffered a shoulder injury in the off-season, he is expected to be fully recovered for Penn’s 2015-16 season.

In a statement released by Bethel, coach Lightfoot said:

"We are excited to have Trey as a Bethel Pilot. Trey has a great upside to his basketball career. His shoulder injury has been just a temporary setback and he has a great future ahead of him. Trey brings athleticism and size at the guard position. He is an outstanding student and is a great fit for our program. Trey comes from an outstanding family that I have known for years. We have also been blessed with a long line of Penn graduates over the years that have played for us. They are fundamentally sound and have a great understanding on what it takes to win."

To purchase tickets for Spring 2016 Upcoming Performances, click here.

• Kaleidoscope Concert, Nov. 18, 2015, 7:30 p.m., CPA
• Kaleidoscope Concert, Nov. 19, 2015, 7:30 p.m., CPA
• Winter Band Concert, Jan. 28, 2016, 7:30 p.m., CPA
• Jazz a la Mode, Feb. 5, 2016, 7:00 pm Cafe'
• Rythym Everywhere, March 17, 2016,  7:00 p.m., CPA
• ISSMA Middle School Event, March 18, 2016, 4 p.m., Various Rooms
• ISSMA Middle School Event, March 19, 2016, 7 a.m., Various Rooms
• Spring Band Concert, April 20, 2016, 7 p.m., CPA
• Percussion Class Recital, May, 9, 2016, 6 p.m.  Studio Theater
• Spring Jazz at the Park, May 12, 2016, 6:00 pm.  Due the forecast of rain, the performance will be in the Penn High School Studio Theater.  THE IS A FREE EVENT.  Click here for more event information.
• Instrumental Senior Awards Banquet, May 24, 2016,  6:30 p.m.  Penn Cafeteria

Early College Academy Presentation and PTO meeting will be held on Thursday, October 8.  Mr. Hope and Mrs. Zachary will give an Early College Academy Presentation from 6pm – 7pm followed by a PTO meeting from 7pm – 8:30pm.  Both meetings will take place in the Staff Dining Room.