Seven seniors from two York-Adams League basketball teams received scholarships totaling $150,000 from the Gretchen Wolf Swartz Scholarship Fund earlier this month.
Five members of the Bermudian Springs boys’ team and two Susquehannock girls’ seniors applied for and received scholarships after the squads were recognized as the Gretchen Wolf Swartz Sportsmanship Team Award winners at the conclusion of the local high school basketball season.
Bermudian Springs’ scholarship winners were Tyson Carpenter, Mason Diaz, Gabe Kline, Austin Reinert and Ethan Young. Susquehannock’s recipients were Briley Jones and Georgie Snyder. The Fund Board divided available scholarship dollars evenly between the two teams.
The awards are presented in memory of Gretchen Wolf Swartz, who was a York County basketball official from 1981-95. After she died of leukemia in 1997, her fellow referees created the memorial team awards and scholarship fund. The Board has awarded scholarships each year since 2001.
York-area officials vote at the conclusion of each regular season to honor a York-Adams League boys’ and girls’ program for sportsmanship after observing the season-long conduct of players, coaches, fans, students, faculty, managers and cheerleaders from junior high to varsity. Both winning schools receive a traveling trophy. Northeastern’s boys and Littlestown’s girls were recognized in 2023, with three Bobcats and two Thunderbolts receiving $27,000 scholarships.
The Susquehannock girls have won nine sportsmanship awards in the 24-year history of the scholarship fund, while the Bermudian boys have been recognized six times. Both totals are the highest in the league, although this is the first such honor for the Eagle boys under sixth-year head coach Jared Nace and the Warrior girls under third-year boss Alex Fancher.
MORE:Central York’s Greg Guidinger named Mr. PA Basketball
MORE:Wilkinson’s winning touchdown highlights local showing in East/West football games
MORE:Spring Grove’s Campbell, Bahn lead local gold medalists at District 3 track meet
Both schools revealed their scholarship recipients at an end-of-year athletics banquet earlier this month. Susquehannock held its ceremony May 9, while Bermudian celebrated May 15.
“It was super exciting,” Nace said of the banquet. “The boys were beyond ecstatic to receive $15,000 each to put toward their education. … It was really neat to be a part of that particular night.”
Bermudian Springs’ scholarship recipients have achieved success in a wide range of sports. The basketball team went 14-8 this winter, while the football team earned a share of the York-Adams Division III title and the baseball squad completed a 17-3 season Monday. Carpenter, Diaz, Kline and Reinert were all members of the baseball team, while Carpenter starred at quarterback and Kline played receiver in football. Diaz was a District 3 qualifier in golf.
None of the five Eagles are headed to college for sports — Carpenter and Kline plan to attend Lock Haven while Reinert will leave home for Penn State, Young for Pittsburgh and Diaz for the Pennsylvania College of Technology. But they’ll all take valuable lessons from the field and the court into the next chapter of their lives.
“I think it’s important for them because of the way they treat other people,” Nace said. “They’re good sports. They treat people with respect. They have improved themselves not just as players and athletes, but as people throughout their time here.
“I’m very proud of them not just for receiving the award, but for the young men they’re becoming.”
Jones and Snyder helped steer Susquehannock’s girls to the District 3 Class 5A playoffs for the second straight season in 2023-24. The Warriors were one of the league’s youngest and smallest teams, but made notable improvements as their 10-13 season progressed. Snyder was Susky’s third-leading scorer (6.4 points per game) and Jones was a regular in the rotation. Off the court, the team hosted a canned good drive and donated over 400 pounds of food to the local food pantry.
Snyder will attend Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia, while Jones plans to enroll at West Chester. Both seniors and their families were blown away when they learned their respective scholarships would be worth $37,500 apiece. It was a night Fancher says he won’t forget.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that they were incredibly deserving of (the recognition) and they’re going to do great things with it,” Fancher said. “They’re two really special individuals, so I’m excited to see where they go knowing that an opportunity like that doesn’t come around often.”
The Gretchen Wolf Swartz Scholarship Fund Board surpassed $1 million in scholarships given last year. The $150,000 this spring vaults the 24-year total to $1.2 million.
