Matheney, Purcell and Schmelzer will go down in Lancaster history as the best

LANCASTER - What does it mean to be great in a sport?

At the high school level, it goes without saying you are always going to have outstanding athletes each year in each sport. However, when you start talking about great athletes, athletes that leave a legacy or accomplish things that are rarely seen, that is whole different story.

There is no doubt Lancaster High School has had its share of great female athletes, but it has never had three girls – Alexis Matheney, Hope Purcell and Olivia Schmelzer – in one class that has accomplished as much as those three have. The legacy they are leaving, both on the field and off, is truly amazing.

All three earned Division I scholarships. Matheney will play softball at the University at Buffalo, Purcell will run track at Indiana University, and Schmelzer will swim at the University of Cincinnati.

“To have one of those girls in one class would have been fantastic, but to have all three of them to not only accomplish what they did, but each one of those kids left a lasting impression on the program they were apart of by their leadership and their work ethic,” Lancaster Athletic Director Pam Bosser said. “You ask any of their teammates who was the best teammate on your team and they are all going to say those girls were.

“They were very grounded. Sometimes you have kids that are highly successful, and they are kind of on pedestal and they are standoffish, but these three weren’t that way at all. They were fantastic kids for every program they touched.”

I’ve covered high school sports for 25 years, and believe me, I have seen my share of outstanding athletes, but I’ve never seen three girls from one class accomplish as much as these three girls did. The most refreshing thing for me was the fact all three were such a joy to cover because they were so humble.

They were not only the best players on their respective teams, but they were the first ones to try and help their teammates. Even though they enjoyed tremendous success, they never made it about themselves.

There is no doubt they each had God-given athletic ability, but so do a lot of other kids. So, what set this fantastic trio apart? What made them great? They were focused, driven and they were willing to sacrifice their time to put the work in.

They had a clear understanding of their goals and understood the process it took to reach those goals. While a lot of people talk a good game, those three girls put their heads down and went to work every single day and never wavered. They didn’t do it some of the time, they did it all the time. To be great like they were, you must be consistent every day with the way you work, and they were.

They didn’t become great by accident. You don’t accomplish winning individual state titles and player of the year honors by accident. It happens because you put the work in, day in and day out.

Matheney excelled in volleyball, basketball and softball. She received All-Ohio Capital Conference-Ohio Division first team in volleyball and second team in basketball, but softball is where she excelled the most this season.

Matheney was first team Division I All-Ohio, first team All-Central District and the Player of the Year in the OCC. She finished this season with a .521 batting average, including 50 hits. She also hit 16 home runs and had 50 RBIs and scored 46 runs.

Purcell accomplished a feat that will be talked about for a long time and is arguably won the greatest individual accomplishments in school history.

She single-handily guided the Golden Gales to Division I state runner-up finish in the state track and field championships. She finished the state meet with 31 points after a pair of first-place finishes, a third and a fourth.

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She won individual state titles in the high jump (5-foot-9), long jump (19-05), finished third in the 100 hurdles (13.97) and fourth in the 300 hurdles (44.11), and in doing so, broke school records in all four events. She also placed second in the high jump as a freshman and junior.

Schmelzer won the Division I 100 freestyle state championships with a career-best time of 49.51 and added a third-place finish in the 50 freestyle (23.14) this past season.

Schmelzer reached the podium as a freshman when she finished sixth in the 50 freestyle. As a sophomore in 2016, she finished as a state runner-up in both the 50 and 100 freestyle. Last year, she was third in the 100 and fourth in the 50.

For me personally, it has been a pleasure and a privilege to cover them the last four years. Regardless of their amazing accomplishments, they never became complacent, which led to their continued success.

All three were great role models for younger girls, and just their overall dedication to be the best is what stands out, as well as their humility.

What does it mean to be great? I think what they accomplished has been well documented and speaks for itself. Regardless of what Matheney, Purcell and Schmelzer accomplish at the next level, they will forever go down in Lancaster High School history as great, that’s what it means.

twilson@lancastereaglegazette.com

740-681-4358

Twitter: @twil2323