Across the board, Wilson was strongest, most consistent Berks girls program of 2022-23
There’s no overall championship awarded for the top Berks girls high school sports program but if there was a Berks Cup – something modeled after the NACDA Directors’ Cup in college sports — Wilson would’ve taken it for the 2022-23 school year, edging out Wyomissing and Twin Valley.
The Bulldogs won four league championships – in field hockey, swimming, volleyball and track and field. Only Wyomissing, which was tops in basketball and soccer, won more than one league championship.
Across the board there was a large drop-off by Berks team in district and state tournaments compared to a year ago.
Six girls teams, from four schools – Schuylkill Valley, Twin Valley, Wilson and Wyomissing — won District 3 championships. That’s down from 13 district champs a year ago. Only one team, Twin Valley’s lacrosse team, reached a state final; last year there were four.
| Berks champs | |
| Basketball | Wyomissing |
| Bowling | Gov. Mifflin |
| Cross country | Exeter |
| Field hockey | Wilson |
| Lacrosse | Twin Valley |
| Soccer | Wyomissing |
| Softball | Berks Catholic |
| Swimming & diving | Wilson |
| Tennis | Reading High |
| Track and field | Wilson |
| Volleyball | Wilson |
MikeDragoSports.com applied a Directors’ Cup-style breakdown to rank the success of Berks girls programs for the now-completed 2022-23 school year.
Teams were awarded points for division championships, qualifying and advancing in the Berks playoffs and reaching or winning a league championship game (five and 10 points, respectively).
For district competition the points were doubled: 10 for reaching a district final, 20 for winning a championship. Also, two points were awarded for each victory in district competition up to the finals (but not including play-back or consolation rounds).
For the PIAA Tournament the points were increased again: four for qualifying, four for winning a game (up to the championship). Fifteen points were awarded for reaching a state final, 30 for winning one.
Not every sport fits into a cookie-cutter style playoff system. In swimming, for example, there is no league tournament, just a regular season champ. In bowling there are no district or state team tournaments.
For track and field and cross country additional points were awarded for a Top 5 or Top 10 finish at the district and state meets.
| District champs | |
| Basketball | Wyomissing (4A) |
| Lacrosse | Twin Valley (2A) |
| Soccer | Wyomissing (2A) |
| Swimming & diving | Wilson (3A) |
| Sch. Valley (2A) | |
| Volleyball | Twin Valley (3A) |
Water polo was not included because only five Berks schools compete. Individual winners, in sports such as tennis, swimming and diving, wrestling, and track and field, were not factored in; only team events were used.
Finally, the schools were split into size classifications: The 10 largest Berks schools fall into the Big School category, the eight smallest into the Small School.
Wilson came out on top overall in large part because of its success across the board. Bulldogs teams scored points in nine of the 11 teams sports (only Gov. Mifflin, which scored in 10-of-11 sports, did better).
In addition to the Bulldogs’ four county titles, they finished second in two other sports and won five division championships. They fared well in District 3 competition, with a championship in swimming and runner-up finishes in field hockey, lacrosse, and volleyball.
Erika Culp and Cat Arentz were common denominators in Wilson’s success; each was an All-Berks pick in field hockey and as part of the Bulldogs’ All-Berks 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams in track. Culp was the Player of the Year in field hockey.
Wyomissing, the top-scoring Small School team, was second overall among Berks’ 18 schools.
The Spartans won county and district titles in both basketball and soccer and succeeded with many of the same athletes: Annie McCaffrey, Audrey Hurleman, Alexis Hardy, Lillianna Marshall, Abby Noey, Abby Zechman and Kacey Maggs played on each championship team.
Wyomissing sent seven teams to the district playoffs and won district games in four of them. It also had the most division champs, with seven: Basketball, cross country, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, tennis and track and field.
Wilson was next with five division champs; Berks Catholic had four and Twin Valley three.
Twin Valley garnered the majority of its points in lacrosse and volleyball. The Raiders won county and district titles and reached the PIAA championship game in lacrosse; it won a district title in volleyball.
The Raiders had the Player of the Year in each sport: Paige Borkowski in lacrosse, Emma Lessick in volleyball.
Twin Valley finished first last year, ahead of Wilson and Wyomissing. Berks Catholic, eighth a year ago, made the largest leap, finishing fourth overall and third among Big Schools.
The Small School race wasn’t close; Wyomissing finished with more points (113) than the other seven schools combined.
Reading High, Berks’ largest school, scored points in just two sports, basketball and tennis; it won the county title in the latter.
Antietam, the Berks League’s smallest school, did not reach the playoffs or have a winning record in any sport. For the second straight year it was the only team not to register any points.
| Big School | Small School | |||
| Wilson | 154 | Wyomissing | 115 | |
| Twin Valley | 113 | Oley Valley | 21 | |
| Berks Catholic | 62 | Schuylkill Valley | 21 | |
| Exeter | 52 | Brandywine Heights | 20 | |
| Gov. Mifflin | 52 | Hamburg | 10 | |
| Conrad Weiser | 31 | Kutztown | 10 | |
| Reading High | 25 | Tulpehocken | 10 | |
| Fleetwood | 18 | Antietam | 0 | |
| Muhlenberg | 9 | |||
| Daniel Boone | 8 |
