Susquehannock sweeps Gretchen Wolf Swartz sportsmanship scholarships

Only one other time in the history of the Gretchen Wolf Swartz Sportsmanship Awards has one school won it for both boys and girls.

That school was Susquehannock in 2003. This year, Susquehannock has done it again.

The boys' and girls' basketball programs at the school were announced this week as this year's scholarship winners. What that means is a boy and girl from each program, whether it's a player, cheerleader or anyone associated with the teams, will earn a one-time $5,000 scholarship. That's an increase from last year's $3,500 scholarships.

Basketball officials from the YAIAA vote for the school they think best exhibits sportsmanship throughout the season. Gordon Kauffman, the president of the York County Chapter of PIAA Basketball Officials, then receives the results of that vote. Kauffman estimated about 100 officials voted this year, giving about a 50-50 split of votes from boys' and girls' referees.

“They’ve been just talked about all year about their sportsmanship," Kauffman said, "and I wasn’t surprised when I found out the result of the vote.”

The scholarships will be awarded in May after eligible seniors from Susquehannock submit essays and are interviewed by the Gretchen Wolf Swartz Scholarship Fund’s board.

Awards have been given out since 2001, when the Warriors' Audrey Bare was one of those recipients. She was the first of what will be Susquehannock's ninth and 10th winners.