Sports

Mark a Month Away From Olympic Trials

Written by Jake Hallman, Staff Writer Wednesday, 23 September 2009 12:23

Alex Mark talks with Carol Greiss during an appearance at a fundraiser held at the Strawberry House Restaraunt in Upper Hanover Township last Wednesday night.

The long-anticipated wait is almost over for Alex Mark.

The former Pennsburg resident turned full-time speed skater is a month away from getting a chance to make the 2010 Olympic team. In the pursuit of his dream Mark, who attended Upper Perkiomen High School as a freshman, has worked at the Olympic facility in Salt Lake City on and off the ice, trained with current and former Olympians and has logged countless miles on and off the ice on bikes, treadmills, skates and in sneakers.

And the end, at least in terms of the 2010 Games in Vancouver, Canada, that is, is nearly in sight.

From Oct. 21-26, Mark will compete in Milwaukee, Wisc. at the U.S. Olympic Qualification Competition at the Petit National Ice Center. While there, Mark will compete in the 500 and 1,000 meters against many familiar faces he’s met and skated against throughout his already lengthy career, which started at the age of 8 at the former Embassy Skating Rink in Pennsburg.

“It’s more nerve wracking as the days tick away and the trials get closer,” Mark said this past week on a recent trip to the house of his parents – his first week off from training in nearly five months.

“The nerves kick in and realistic views come in, you play situations over in your head and you visualize things. I’m still nervous but it’s going to be tough like I said it would. But I still want to be in the mix and stick with it.”

Perk Valley Rallies in Second Half to Stun Tribe

Written by Jake Hallman, Staff Writer Wednesday, 23 September 2009 12:08

Upper Perk senior fullback, Dan Rotenbeger rushes with the ball on last Friday night in the home opener against Perkiomen Valley.

No one, especially Upper Perkiomen head coach Keith Leamer, saw this coming.

With two quality non-league wins under their collective belts, and the Pioneer Athletic Conference opener in the confines of your own stadium, hopes were high for the Indians.

Throw in the fact the Tribe was heavily favored against a Perkiomen Valley squad still trying to find its identity (as well as its second win) and things would seem to be in the Indians’ favor.

Turns out, it didn’t work that way.

The Vikings, as they have shown in the past, brought their A-game to Red Hill as they scored two unanswered touchdowns in the second half to rally to a 21-14 victory.

Upper Perk (0-1, 2-1) which held a 14-7 lead at the half, didn’t win the field position game in the final two quarters. Both of the Vikings’ (1-0, 2-1) touchdowns came on short fields as Upper Perk gave the visitors starting positions of their own 35- and 33-yard lines that set up the decisive scores.

“Right now, we’re at a crossroads,” Leamer said. “We can either stick our tails between our legs and lose or we can go to work and get better. I didn’t think I’d have this problem with this team, but we were just going through the motions after we worked so hard to get to this point.”

Down 7-0 with five minutes left in the first quarter, Upper Perk answered back on its next offensive series. Senior fullback Chase Fleming (88 all-purpose yards) set up the score as he hauled in a screen pass from Casey Perlstein (10-25, 208 yards, TD, 3 INTs) and rumbled 51 yards to the PV 13.