November 22 marked a fateful day for one of Elkhorn North’s more overlooked extracurriculars when the Esports team won the state championship in Rocket League. The team consists of three seniors; Cole Hanigan, Andrew Neitfelt, and Sheldon Manion. Coming off of a dominant, undefeated season, the trio came to Midland University with very high hopes of a state championship. They achieved just that as the team swept both Central High School and Lincoln Southeast in a best three out of five series. All three players were crucial to the team’s dominant victory but team captain Sheldon Manion stood out the most.
Manion joined the Esports team this year alongside Hanigan and Neitfeldt after playing Rocket League together for many years.
“Sheldon is the first person that got me into Rocket League,” Hanigan said. “He’s a really fun and relatable guy so that when we play together, the time really flies by.”
While matches are very fast-paced and tend to be high stress, Manion and the rest of the team remained calm throughout the entire tournament.
“During matches they get quiet, locked in, and super focused and don’t even need to really communicate,” Esports coach Dan Dischler said. “They also had a lot of input lag problems during the matches so they didn’t even score as much as they usually do.”
As captain, Manion didn’t just perform the best, but helped lead his team the whole way and supported them when needed.
“He played really well and he didn’t try to do it all himself,” Neifeldt said. “He played as a good teammate rather than for himself and that is why we had success.”
Of course the best trophy is one worth celebrating, and while Esports might not have drawn the biggest crowd that night, the few there were very proud to see the performance the team put on.
“It was mental,” senior Hudson Winn said, reacting to ENHS’s championship victory over Lincoln Southeast.
Despite only being on the team for a year, Manion has made a lasting impact on the ENHS Esports roster and helped bring home yet another trophy for Elkhorn North.
