Palmyra athletic director Brian Weidler, front right, stands with some of the athletes that helped the Cougars claim their second straight Daily News Cup title by having the highest regular-season winning percentage among Lebanon County schools in 2011-12. (LEBANON DAILY NEWS - EARL BRIGHTBILL)
Comparatively speaking, Palmyra's athletic program didn't have as good of a season this year as it did in 2010-11.

But don't try to convince athletic director Brian Weidler of that, especially with him holding his second straight Daily News Cup trophy in his hands.

"We just completed the best athletic year in school history," he said. "In terms of overall health and winning, I know it's a fact that it's our best athletic season in our school's history."

The Cougars compiled a .550 regular-season winning percentage in 2011-12 to capture the second annual Daily News Cup trophy. Last year, Palmyra won the inaugural Cup with a .579 mark.

Along the way, the Cougars won Mid-Penn Conference division championships in boys' soccer, girls' cross country, girls' basketball, girls' swimming and boys' tennis. Palmyra also won a District Three title in field hockey in the fall, one of six teams (boys' soccer, football, girls' and boys' basketball, baseball are the others) to reach the district playoffs during the school year.

Being billed as the county's most successful athletic program for the second straight year is something Weidler is proud of.

"In many ways, it just reaffirms that what we're doing here is working," he said. "The cooperative nature of our coaches and our philosophy of sharing athletes is a large part of our success."

Some of those athletes are seniors and have played their last games at Palmyra, leaving a void to fill.

"It's time to say

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goodbye to a very talented senior class," Weidler said. "The challenge to the underclassmen is to rise to the same level of excellence."

When looking back on the school year, it wasn't hard for Weidler to pick a defining moment in the school's season. It came in the fall on a November Friday night in Manheim where the Cougar football team knocked off Manheim Central 34-31 in triple overtime in Palmyra's first district playoff game in program history.

"There's no question that was the highlight of the year," Weidler admitted. "Being the new kids on the block, it had the look of David versus Goliath."

While the football team fell a few wins short of a district title, the school's field hockey team went all the way for the gold medal with a memorable postseason run. Palmyra's boys' soccer team also played for a district title in the fall but lost by a goal to Lancaster Mennonite.

It added up to a .621 winning percentage in the fall for the Cougars and plenty of memories.

"Just the kind of fall season we had, it was neat to be part of that," Weidler said.

Palmyra's fall winning percentage was second to Elco's spring mark of .665, which helped the Raiders finish second in the Daily News Cup standings with a .509 mark during the year. Cedar Crest placed third at .491, followed by Annville-Cleona (.473), Northern Lebanon (.361), Lebanon Catholic (.195) and Lebanon (.160).

Notes: The schools' order of finish this season is identical to that of 2010-11. ... In the two-year history of the Daily News Cup, Palmyra has never trailed in the standings.