Boy, it’s been awful quiet the past few days.

I’m not just saying that because the high school sports season is over. Well I am, but I think summer is a calm season all things considered. Everyone and everything seems to slow down a little bit from June until early August. The weather is nice, people can fit in a vacation or two and everyone gets to enjoy the sun as the days get longer.

But there’s a drawback there for me, at least personally. My schedule is set in stone for about 10 months out of the year. Now, with the final set of spring sports over and done, I’m mostly spending my time preparing for next year.

For this weekly column − the last one until football season comes around − I wanted to look back at the past year and reflect on some highlights, or at least what I can rattle off the top of my head.

Here’s this week’s Wednesday Morning Coming Down.

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Big year for Bermudian Springs

Bermudian Springs isn’t the only school in the area that’s had teams reach the state tournament, sure, but I think among the major three boys sports, the Eagles made the 2024-25 postseason standout, especially in football and baseball. Both teams made state tournament runs − ironically both bowing out in the 3A quarterfinals − while also running away with the Division III titles in their respective sports.

Their football team and baseball team both went undefeated in divisional play before their postseason runs. Maybe that’s due to the bulky senior classes that lined both squads.

Outside of football and baseball, the Eagles can’t be counted out for individual performances as well. Lily Carlson’s gold medal in pole vault at the state track and field meet last month comes to mind, as does Hayden Yacoviello-Andrus’ incredible 39-match win streak through the wrestling regular season.

Don’t forget the solo sports

Individual sports don’t get enough love in my opinion. Sure, they’re not as big as the team sports that dominate the school year, but some of the best athletic performance, as well as the greatest well of potential, lies in some of the YAIAA’s individual athletes.

We saw it last month with Carlson, New Oxford’s Brayden Billman and Dallastown’s Jalen Cook all winning gold at state track. Turn the clock back to fall and the third-place finish from York Suburban’s Vivienne Powers at the state golf tournament is another example of hard work paying dividends.

It’s a point that’s been hacked to death, but it still bears repeating that girls wrestling is one of the fastest growing sports in the nation right now. The effects are already being felt in the YAIAA. Seven of the nine girls that qualified for the state tournament this year found a spot on the podium, and six of them were underclassmen. Extend even a little bit beyond the league and Northern York’s Makayla Smith reached the gold medal match as a freshman.

What I’m getting at is that individual sports often get overlooked by the wider array of larger team sports, but there’s plenty to look forward to in them. There’s a beauty in the smaller scale. A team aspect to each sport still applies, of course, but there’s no denying that watching someone’s hard work pay off can be just as entertaining as a team effort.

A moment of gratitude

I hate to make this about me, since my vision when starting this column was highlighting tidbits from the YAIAA I didn’t already cover in my normal weekly rounds through the league. But I feel like I should at least extend some gratitude.

I started at The Daily Record last July, only a week before football media day if memory serves me right. I’m not native to the York area, or Pennsylvania for that matter, but I’ve only ever felt welcomed since I’ve been here and everyone has been kind since I started here and gotten to know the teams and people around the area.

That’s what makes the job fun, after all. I’m in the business of talking to and about people. Sports, too, but those gears don’t turn if the people aren’t there. You can’t talk about league titles or district championships or a plethora of different achievements if there’s no one on the court to begin with. Everybody’s got a story and I get some satisfaction every day out of being able to share some of that with everyone else.

So, thanks York. Cheers to a great year.