Bensing takes the reins at Cedar Crest
The Cedar Crest boys soccer program found itself with a dilemma when Dustin Bixler abruptly resigned as head coach for family reasons a few weeks back and with precious little time remaining before the start of fall practice.
Fortunately for the Falcons, they didn't have to look very far to find the solution to their problem.
Earlier this week, Cedar Crest selected Falcon soccer alum and 2008 grad Travis Bensing as its new head coach, pending approval from the Cornwall-Lebanon school board at its monthly meeting Monday night.
Bensing spent the last two seasons as an assistant JV coach for the Falcons, and inherits a program that brought an end to a lengthy postseason dry spell last year by qualifying for the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs for the first time since 2005.
"I'm really excited for the opportunity," Bensing said in a phone interview Wednesday, "and I'm excited to help these kids grow and continue the trend that they've been on in being successful the past few years."
Bensing, who works in the technology department at Cedar Crest helping teachers with their professional development, inherits the job under somewhat difficult circumstances given the timetable. But he is nonetheless confident the transition will be a smooth one, with the help of returning JV head coach Ben Hostetter and junior high head coach Isaac Hostetter and the fact that he has plenty of familiarity with this year's squad.
"We have our staff organized and we're getting our game plan together," Bensing, a Millersville University grad, said. "We just have to work out some behind-the scenes things to get organized for the season.
"It's a little stressful, but I think we're organized and I'll be able to get through it."
Bensing's chief task as new head coach will be trying to keep the Falcons in the postseason mix while replacing a skilled class of 2015 that included first team Lancaster-Lebanon Section One all-stars John Krall (goalie), Colton Wasson (forward) and defender Sam Ernst.
But with a strong crop of returners that include Alex Stewart, Mark Wolf, Charlie Wenzler, Mike Weaver, Aaron Morris, Colton Dellinger and Chad Ryland, Bensing certainly isn't inheriting a cupboard bare of talent.
"We lost a lot of seniors last year, but we're bringing a strong core of juniors and seniors back," he said. "So there's no reason we can't make a push to make the playoffs again. We definitely want to keep that going."