It's been three months now, but in all likelihood most if not every one of the girls on this past fall's Owen J. Roberts soccer team are still searching for the answers - an explanation, some sort of rationalization, why teammate Kelsey Kramer died in an automobile accident.

Soon after hearing about the incident later that night and into the wee hours of the following morning, and trying to comprehend the tragic news of her death less than 24 hours later, the Wildcats could've called it a season right then and there. The 16-year-old junior wasn't as much one of their stars on the field as she was their superstar off it.

"Whenever someone on this team was down (Kramer) was able to cheer them up," said OJR head coach Joe Margusity.

Ironically, the day the Wildcats needed someone to cheer them up the most, their genuine friend and teammate with the infectious smile and spirit always so capable of doing just that, was not among them.

"The girls cried for three days," Margusity said.

Then they rallied around one another, leaned on one another, dedicated the remainder of their season to Kramer and, despite heavy hearts, played their way through the Pioneer Athletic Conference and District 1 playoffs to reach the PIAA-Class AAA state semifinals where their incredible run ended following an overtime setback to Pennridge on an unseasonably warm evening in mid-November at Harriton High School.

It wasn't just a loss that ended an extraordinary season, but a loss that dug deep into the Wildcats' collective soul and tugged at the heart of their team that had overcome such long, long odds and the kind of adversity very, very few high school teams in any sport ever experience.

The Owen J. Roberts girls' resilience and strength, the determination many felt Kramer provided them spiritually, has been selected as The Mercury's Sports Story of the Year.

"To see where we came from, how we were ripped apart, I think (people) underestimated us, underestimated how adversity bonded us together," OJR keeper Cassie Popp said after the exhausting, season-ending 2-1 loss to Pennridge.

"Going out for that first game (after Kramer's death) was hard for the girls," Margusity added. "But playing that game brought some sort of solidarity with it. It brought all of us together."

It kept them together, kept them believing in one another. And more than a few attributed their passion to play, and play as best they could every minute of every game, to Kramer.

Popp felt it, felt that passion, during teammate Rachael Carpenter's team chat prior to the Pennridge showdown.

"Before the game, "'Carp' was saying how we're all here tonight, our coaches and our friends," she said. "It was kind of strange, too, because it just felt as though Kelsey was right there with us, right there in the middle of our circle.

"You always want to win, especially for your seniors. We wanted so badly to win this for Kelsey, too. (Her memory) always seemed to give us that extra punch, that extra spark. This (loss) hurts right now, hurts a lot. The tears will come later."

They did.

The remaining Top 10 Sports Stories of the Year were:

GOLDEN BOY

Ithaca College's Seth Ecker, a graduate of Pottstown High School, became the area's first NCAA wrestling champion, and only the second national champion in any bracket, after pinning down the gold medal at 133 pounds during the Division III Championships at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Ecker decisioned RIT's Mike McInally, 6-2, for the title and finished his season at 30-3. Later, Ecker and teammate Jeremy Stierly, an Owen J. Roberts graduate and national runner-up, were both named to the NCAA Academic All-America team.

HAT TRICK

Owen J. Roberts' Ryan Brumfield, Upper Perkiomen's Ron Gillespie and Pope John Paul II's Tom Lang won gold medals during the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University. Brumfield, who may long be regarded as one of the top all-around athletes in OJR as well as Mercury-area history, cleared 6 feet 10 inches to win the Class AAA high jump. Gillespie, who later in the summer gave a verbal commitment to play football at Temple University, ran away from everyone to win the Class AAA 200 meters. And Lang capped his outstanding career by defending his state title, this time in Class AAA, in the javelin.

ONE MORE TIME

Despite losing more than half of its starters from the previous football season, Pottsgrove regrouped after an early-season setback to eventual champion Spring-Ford, got noticeably better week after week after week and captured its second District 1-Class AAA championship in three years, defeating longtime rival Phoenixville, 42-13 at Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School, for the title. The Falcons, under head coach Rick Pennypacker, were led offensively by all-state junior Madison O'Connor and quarterback Tory Hudgins and defensively by Steve Ambs, Robbie Curtin and Danny Michaels. Their season ended in the PIAA quarterfinals to eventual Class AAA state champion Archbishop Wood.

QUEENS OF THE COURT

Boyertown and Spring-Ford staged one of the most memorable girls basketball championship games in Pioneer Athletic Conference history, with the Bears coming away with yet another come-from-behind, triple-overtime 56-51 victory that even left a huge crowd at Perkiomen Valley High School exhausted. But it was just the beginning of a historic postseason run for Boyertown. Behind a starting lineup featuring guards Kelly Furman and Jess Schlesman, center Kaitlyn Eisenhard, and forwards Brooke Mullen and Krista Schauder, the Bears would play their way into the PIAA-Class AAAA Final Four and finish with 28 wins, equaling the school record.

PINNING IT DOWN

Owen J. Roberts, which hadn't won a wrestling title since 1975, or an actual outright title since dominating the Ches-Mont League back in 1966, swept the Pioneer Athletic Conference championship for the first time with a perfect 9-0 mark. Head coach Steve DeRafelo and the Wildcats then went one better, pinning down the Section Four team title for only the second time – and first since 1973, and the District 1-AAA South team title for the very first time.

WORLDY

Nicole Barnhart, a Boyertown High School and Stanford University graduate – and backup goalie on USA's last two world championship teams, played a key role in helping the USA qualify for the Women's World Cup. She served as a backup to Hope Solo, who returned from a shoulder injury, for the championships then signed on as a keeper for the Philadelphia Independence in the WPS.

BACK ON TOP

Spring-Ford ended a 13-year drought by winning the Pioneer Athletic Conference football championship, and winning the title outright for the first time since 1995. Head coach Chad Brubaker had to replace 10 of 11 starters on defense. But a number of unsung Rams stepped up on that side of the ball and, combined with outstanding play from quarterback Hank Coyne, sophomore running back Jarred Jones and wideout Andrew Scanlan, the team went unbeaten in league play and qualified for the District 1-AAAA playoffs for the first time in the program's history.

KING AND HIS COURT

Pope John Paul II may have just opened its doors for the first time, but the Golden Panthers' boys basketball team sure had a way of closing the door on its opponents. Head coach Jack Flanagan called the shots from the bench and Mercury Player of the Year Paul Mills provided the leadership from end line to end line for PJP, which defeated neighboring rival Spring-Ford in an exciting Pioneer Athletic Conference Final Four championship game.

RAM TOUGH

The Spring-Ford baseball team's dynamic blend of quality pitching, reliable defense and potent offense may have been one of the best in the 25-year history of the Pioneer Athletic Conference. Led by ace right-hander Mike Oczypok, catcher as well as leader-extraordinaire James Hoff and the hot bat of Ryan Conway, the Rams swept both the PAC-10 and District 1-AAAA championships. Head coach Bruce Brobst's team would play all the way to the state final before falling to Conestoga, 6-3 in 10 innings, at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park on the campus of Penn State University.

HONORABLE MENTION

Boyertown graduate Ali McEvoy and Hill School graduate Colleen Gulick help the University of Maryland to the NCAA women's field hockey championship.
Upper Perkiomen's Tom Hontz goes over the coveted 300 career win mark and a week later becomes the area's winningest wrestling coach with his 304th victory.
The Pottsgrove boys cross country wins the Pioneer Athletic Conference team title, the very first in the history of the Falcons program.
The Spring-Ford boys track and field team wins the Pioneer Athletic Conference team title, the very first in the history of the Rams' program.
The Owen J. Roberts girls field hockey team captures its third straight Pioneer Athletic Conference championship, matching the league record set by Phoenixville (1990-92).
The Boyertown girls lacrosse team won its eighth straight Pioneer Athletic Conference title to equal its own league record set from 1992-99.