TOWAMENCIN- It’s the beginning of a new era for North Penn’s girls field hockey team. Former head coach Carrie Jankowski has stepped aside, passing the torch to Ms. Shannon McCracken—a newcomer to head coaching at North Penn, but a veteran in coaching and the game of field hockey.

Once a field hockey player at East Stroudsburg University, Coach McCracken will soon be inducted into the college’s hall of fame for her extraordinary success on the field. Immediately after graduation, she became the head coach of the program at Pennfield middle school. She was previously the assistant coach under former coach Becky Poole here at North Penn. Coach McCracken stepped down and took on the position of head field hockey coach at Christopher Dock. She currently coaches club programs such as The Vipers and FSC, a team under the direction of the St. Joe’s head coach.

Heading into the season with a difficult task at hand, McCracken has nothing but optimism.

“Last year they had a lot of success in the district playoffs and the state playoffs, they graduated an amazing senior class.” Says McCracken, “There is a lot of varsity inexperience on the team…but the girls have been working very hard since the beginning of the summer and preseason workouts.”

With a young squad to work with, McCracken is looking forward to helping them grow together and carry on North Penn’s tradition of excellence.

The players agree that McCracken changes to the program are beneficial.

 “Coach McCracken is a great coach,” raves sophomore starter Casey O’Donnell. “She is trying out new strategies and we know she will get us very far.”

Although the Maidens are dealing with the loss of Michelle Holweger to a concussion, many players have stepped up big time. Seniors Alexa Gable and Laura Squicciarini, juniors Katrina Marger and Shannon Talbot, and sophomores Frankie Tossona and Casey O’Donnell all are big contributors.

“We won’t let the beginning of our season depict the end, we just keep improving and we’re going up and up and the end of the season is when we will be at our best,” said Katrina Marger, a junior.

 Although the Maidens have had a rough 0-4 start to their season, the players and their coach remain optimistic and expect nothing but improvement as they move forward.