Ally Snyder '28
Apr 18, 2025
Spring PGAs at Mercersburg Academy officially started on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. The first weeks of the sports season have been difficult for many teams; however, through exemplary effort and perseverance, they are working to overcome the obstacles.
The girls' lacrosse team has faced multiple challenges. Several players, such as Alishya Thurmond, suffered from injuries, and many of the replacement players are new to the sport. “We’ve had to adjust a lot,” Thurmond said. “But people are learning fast.” She added, “Even though I’ve been off the field, I’ve seen everyone step up and play hard.”
Team captain Chloe Allis ‘25 said, “As a team, our goal is always to play better than we played yesterday.” The extra effort the team puts in is starting to shine through, with the girls having their first win of the season against Pennington on March 29. The girls lacrosse team lost a few of the following games but continued to push through and fight. As team manager, Anouk Wandeler put it: “I think the last game we played, against Trinity Christian School, was the game that stuck with me the most… and I think that was one of the games that really showed our resilience.”
The track team has faced a different kind of challenge this season with multiple meets postponed. “This past weekend’s meet at Hill got canceled because of the rain,” said Imangali Zhakan ’26. “We’ve just been lacking a couple meets to really improve ourselves.”
Still, the team has kept their energy and morale high. “For team goals, number one is having fun, and number two is placing high at MAPLs,” said Adrian Rios ’25. “Despite the early challenges, we’ve been performing well. We’re planning to keep the streak going and stay positive moving forward.” “We’re trying to make the most of every practice,” added Zhakan. “Even without the meets, we’re still locked in.”
Similar to the setbacks track and field and girls lacrosse have faced, the softball team has had to deal with weather and low numbers. The softball roster is small, with only ten players, the majority being freshmen, yet the group dynamic remains strong. “We all just joke around, and, yeah, I think we all just get along really well,” said Emily Guzic ‘28.
Having players of different ages and skill levels necessitates identifying various goals. Guzic stated, “For me, it’s to keep a good mindset because, of course, we all have bad games.” The softball players experienced this first hand, losing to Spring Mills 15 - 1, only to come back the following Saturday with two wins against the Hill School, 13 - 6 and 10 - 8. Despite the losses, their heads are high and the team is focused on improving in the remainder of the season.