The Pennsylvania Department of Health and PIAA would like to congratulate the following schools for their accomplishments at the 2008 PIAA Fall Championship events:

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School Administrators...click on the program advertisements above to access program pages for use in your regular season publications.

2008 PIAA Football Championships
(week of December 14, 2008)

Steelton Highspire High School A Champion	Wilmington Area High School AA Champion
Thomas Jefferson High School AAA Champion	Liberty High School AAAA Champion

Notes:

Some old and some new seemed to be the theme of the 2008 Football Championships in Hershey. Two schools, Seelton Highspire (D. 3) and Thomas Jefferson (D. 7) looked to repeat as champions in their respective classes, while the six other teams looked to secure their school's first ever PIAA Football Championship.

Friday, December 12 - Steelton-Highspire was successful in defending the A Championship, defeating Clairton (D. 7) by a score of 35-16. The game was tied at 8-8 at the half before the Rollers pulled away to their second consecutive final. In AAA, Thomas Jefferson also repeated capturing their second championship in a row, and third in five years (2004, 2007 & 2008) by a score of 34-7. The Jaguars did so against a first ever participant from the Philadelphia Catholic League (PCL), Archbishop Wood (D. 12).

Saturday, December 13 - Not to be outdone by Archbishop Wood, another PCL program, West Catholic, (D. 12) made their first appearance in a final in AA. Opposite the Burrs were Wilmington Area (D. 10), making their first appearance in a final since 1988, PIAA's first year of statewide football playoffs. The game was fantastic matching up contrasting styles and was only fitting to end the game in overtime. Wilmington prevailed by stopping a two point conversion in the second overtime to capture the AA title 35-34 2OT. Not to be outdone by the AA contest, Liberty (D. 11) and Bethel Park (D. 7), played in a AAAA classic. Before 5000 fans at Hersheypark Stadium, the two battled to a stalement in regulation. It was not until the first overtime, that Liberty seized control of the game, securing the victory with an interception in the end zone after having already scored the go ahead touch down. The final tally - 28-21 OT.

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2008 PIAA Soccer Championships
(week of November 17, 2008)

Montoursville High School AA Girls' Champion	Conestoga High School AAA Girls' Champion

Seton LaSalle HS A Boys' Champion	Susquehannock HS AA Boys' Champion	Downingtown West HS AAA Boys' Champion

Notes:

In girls' soccer action this past Saturday, Montoursville (D. 4) captured the school's first girls' soccer crown by defeating South Park (D. 7) by a score of 3-1 in the AA Final. South Park was the defending AA Girls' Co-Champion. In AAA, Conestoga (D. 1) defended their crown from a year ago by defeating Peters Twp. (D. 7) 2-1. On the boys' side, Seton LaSalle (D. 7) scored with five seconds remaining to upend Camp Hill (D. 3) 1-0 and claim their second Class A crown in 3 seasons. Susquehannock (D. 3) made their first trip to a AA soccer final a memorable one by defeating Pottsgrove (D. 1) 1-0. The game was played through memorable weather as well with a suspension of play for ten minutes in the first half due to driving rain. The AAA Championships saw a rematch of 2007 final with Peters Twp. and Downingtown West qualifying to the 2008 edition. This year, Downingtown West avenged last year's result by defeating Peters Twp. 2-1; an identical score to last year's Peters Twp. win in overtime.

2008 PIAA Field Hockey Championships
(week of November 17, 2008)

Wyoming Seminary High School AA Field Hockey Champion	Penn Manor High School AAA Field Hockey Champion

Notes:

Wyoming Seminary (D. 2) continued their string of late championship round success by defeating Merion Mercy (D. 1) for their second AA title in three years by a score of 3-2. Seminary has played in the final game four times in the 2000's, claiming three titles (2001, 2006 & 2008). Penn Manor (D. 3) competed in their second consecutive final, this time claiming the AAA crown by downing fellow District 3 competitor Hershey 5-0. The five goals mark the highest goal tally in a PIAA Field Hockey Championship by a single team. In the 2007 final, the Comets were defeated by Emmaus (D. 11) 2-1.

2008 PIAA Girls' Volleyball Championships
(week of November 9, 2008)

Holy Name High School AA Girls' Champion	Merion Mercy High School AA Girls' Champion
Allentown Central Catholic High School AAA Girls' Champion

Notes: All three championship programs are no stranger to the finals. Allentown Central Catholic has played in each of the last three AAA fnals, winning gold in both 2007 & 2008; Merion Mercy also has won back to back titles in 2007 & 2008. Their last appearance in a final dates back to 2001 where they struck gold against Delone Catholic; Holy Name captured their first girls' volleyball championship in 2008 in just their second attempt in a final. They last played in a championship in 2004 versus Hopewell to earn silver.

2008 PIAA Cross Country Championships
(week of November 2, 2008)

Central Cambria High School AA Girls' Champion	Emmaus High School AAA Girls' Champion
Elk Lake High School AA Boys' Champion	North Penn High School AAA Boys' Champion

Notes:

Three out of the four champions were repeat champions in their respective classes. Central Cambria, Emmaus, and North Penn all were winners from 2007. Only Elk Lake in AA Boys' was able to overcome the defending champion North East HS.

Photos by Don Rich, Megan Clugh and Gayle Rich of the November 1 PIAA State Championships @ Hershey's Parkview Course

Visit PennTrackXC on the web at www.penntrackxc.com.

2008 PIAA Girls' Team Tennis Championships
(week of October 26, 2008)

Harriton High School AA Girls' Team Tennis Champion	North Allegheny High School AAA Girls' Team Tennis Champion

Notes:

District I Champion Harriton defeated District III Champion Holy Name 5-0 to capture their fifth title in as many years (2004-2008).

District VII Runner-Up North Allegheny defeated District VII Champion Shady Side Academy 3-2 to claim its first ever PIAA AAA Girls' Team Tennis Championship.

2008 PIAA Girls' and Boys' Team Golf Championships
(week of October 19, 2008)

Shady Side Academy High School Girls' Golf Team Champion	Cathedral Preparatory High School Boys' Golf Team Champion

Notes:

Shady Side Academy became the first District VII school to claim a team golf championship. The four-player team combined to shoot 710 over 36 holes and claim the championship by 14 strokes over runner-up Mount St. Joseph (D. 1).

Cathedral Prep claimed their first championship after two straight runner-up finishes. The Ramblers entered the second day of the Tournament two-strokes down to Peters Township (D. 7), but rallied to win by 3 strokes to capture their first team golf title.

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