It is called the Nike Sparq Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test. That’s a mouthful. And it’s a real grind.
It involves running. A lot of running. Think 40-meter dash after 40-meter dash after 40-meter dash. One on top of the other, the next at a quicker sprint than the last. With a scant 10 seconds of recovery time in between.
The test measures an athlete’s ability to repeatedly perform intervals of high-intensity running bursts with short recovery periods.
Penn State’s field hockey coaches expect their players to complete the grueling drill before reporting to campus and setting sail on preseason workouts every summer.
Recent Manheim Township grad Brooke Weaver was baking in the summer heat one day earlier this month.
The multi-sport athlete had just gone through the rigors of a grueling off-season field hockey workout — on a simmering turf surface, no less — helping out a group of kids who will become the next great wave of local field hockey standouts.
“It was like 100 degrees outside,” Weaver said. “It was so hot.”
Weaver immediately shifted from practice mode into Nike Sparq Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test mode, mustering up the energy on a blazing hot day to do all of those 40-meter dashes.
“That’s Brooke,” Township field hockey coach Jess Shellenberger said. “Not surprising. Kudos to her and to her work ethic. There’s a kid who gets it. And she’s got it.
“It’s awesome to be around a kid like that. Refreshing. Brooke is one of those blue-collar, blue-chip kids, and we’ve been incredibly fortunate to have her.”
Weaver shined in field hockey and basketball for Township in her sensational senior year. For her efforts, Weaver is one of five girls tabbed as a finalist for the Lancaster-Lebanon League 2024-25 LNP | LancasterOnline Athlete of the Year award.
Nittany Nation calling
It’s been a tremendous couple of years for Township’s field hockey team.
Shellenberger, the former Warwick standout player and Donegal coach who is set for her fourth season calling the shots in Neffsville, lit a fire under the program.
In the last three seasons, Township has won a pair of L-L League titles, a District 3 Class 3A banner, and went to the PIAA finale in 2023, a gut-punch 1-0 setback against estimable Emmaus.
“Brooke was right there as one of the best players in all of those big games,” Shellenberger said. “We’ve benefited as a program from her work ethic. And from her being tough on the ball and off the ball. I’m not surprised in any way, shape or form that she’s going on to play in Division I.”
For Penn State, a proud program in the Big Ten that is coached by Penn Manor grad Lisa Bervinchak Love. Weaver is already listed on the Nittany Lions’ official roster — she’ll wear No. 21 — and she’s set to report today to hatch her college career.
Weaver capped her prep field hockey career with an unforgettable senior season. Handling the all-important center-midfield duties with aplomb for the Streaks, she potted a team-best 24 goals and dished off a team-high 11 assists while earning all-league and Section 1 all-star honors. And Weaver picked up a coveted NFHCA All-American nod.
With Weaver doing damage, Township won 22 games, beat Warwick 1-0 for league gold, reached the District 3 Class 3A title game for the second year in a row — falling to Mid-Penn powerhouse Lower Dauphin 1-0 in OT — and went to the PIAA quarterfinals, where the Streaks bowed out 2-0 against venerable Villa Maria Academy, a field hockey factory.
“Dream school,” Weaver said. “Penn State was always at the top of my list. I used to go to camp there, so this is very surreal but very cool. I knew I wanted to play field hockey in college, but I never thought I’d go to a big school like Penn State. It’s really happening.”
Sure is.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
“Brooke is just a tremendous athlete,” Township girls basketball coach Devonne Pinkard said. “Probably pound-for-pound the best athlete I’ve ever coached.
“She probably could have played lacrosse. She probably could have played soccer. Even better kid. Even better student. And she always treated her teammates with respect. She always treated her craft with respect. Just a tremendous leader.”
And a tireless worker. Hence the Yo-Yo Test recently on a scorching hot day. Shellenberger said she noticed Weaver’s work ethic and drive as soon as she took over.
“We call it tackle and back,” Shellenberger said. “And she does it better than anyone I’ve ever coached at the high school level. She’s exceptional with that. She has a desire to win the ball back. Sometimes players will feel sorry for themselves and give up in that moment. But Brooke, she has no quit in her.
“There are times when I felt like I had to get her off the field because I thought she was going to just fall over. But she never stops. Brooke played probably every minute in every game last season. And in vital roles with a lot of responsibility, especially defensively and attacking corners. Those are huge pieces for us.”
Weaver was a huge piece for the Streaks.
Big-game player
Township made a spirited postseason run this past basketball season, and Weaver, a shooter and wing slasher, was the catalyst.
Two moments stuck out.
First, in a late-season nonleague victory over District 1 heavyweight Unionville, Weaver scored all 15 of Township’s fourth-quarter points — and 23 in all — as the Streaks picked up a 43-42 win to help them snag a District 3 playoff bid.
Second, Weaver matched her season-high with 23 points in Township’s riveting 45-41 double-OT triumph over Northern Lebanon in the L-L League semifinals.
The Streaks came up short against Lebanon in the league championship game, so Weaver didn’t quite pull off the double-double in L-L finals. But she averaged a team-best 13.0 points a game and drilled 35 3-pointers in her hoops swan song for Township.
Weaver finished her basketball career with 827 points, and she was a Section 1 first-team all-star selection this past winter, helping the Streaks win 19 games, finish eighth in the district tournament and go to the PIAA playoffs, where Township bowed out in the first round against eventual state runner-up Upper St. Clair.
“It was a different kind of mentality there in the postseason,” Weaver said. “If you lose, you’re done, and I wasn’t ever going to play basketball again. So every time I stepped on the court, I wanted to give it my all.”
Weaver scored 94 points and knocked down 11 treys in the postseason, helping carry Township into the state tournament. She did a ton of heavy lifting during that stretch.
“Brooke has this awesome ability where when a game gets tight, and the team needs her, she doesn’t get nervous,” Pinkard said. “She doesn’t fold in crunch-time. She gets better, and she finds ways to put the team on her back. She wants to win that badly, because she’s so competitive.”
On the basketball court. On the field hockey pitch. Heck, even in the backyard or in the driveway at home.
Home cooking
Weaver cut her teeth going up against older brother JT and younger sister Julia in any number of sports around the house. Plus, dad Jason and mom Andrea — who were both athletes at Conestoga Valley during their high school days — always encourage their kids to be involved.
JT played basketball and baseball for Township, and he played baseball for Shippensburg University this past spring. He’s currently playing in the New England Collegiate Baseball League in Rhode Island.
Julia, a rising junior, is a key cog for Township’s field hockey and basketball teams. She scored the game-winning goal in last year’s L-L League field hockey final, and she’s the Streaks’ defensive stopper in hoops.
It’s safe to say she’s stepping into her sister’s big shoes quite nicely.
“I think we made everything a competition,” Brooke said. “Everything was like a little game. We played backyard Wiffle ball all the time. We played basketball in our driveway. We even did punt, pass and kick in the backyard. We were always playing sports.”
Those battles had Weaver prepped and ready for her days at Township, where she made the varsity in field hockey and basketball as a ninth-grader.
“She grew up in a competitive house,” Pinkard said, “and having an older brother had something to do with her success, because they were always competing against each other. That helped with Brooke just finding ways to win.
“Sometimes, when we’ve gone through every option, and I’ve drawn up everything I can, she’ll just make up for everything and make a play.”
Weaver hit countless big shots in her senior season. She even marched to the foul line 133 times, and she was one of just six L-L League players to make 80 or more free throws.
Leadership legacy
Weaver oozed leadership in her senior year. That’s a trait she picked up from her best friends, former Township athletes and twin sisters Brenna and Calli Campagna.
“I always listened to them,” Weaver said. “Being a senior this year, I was the older person for the first time, and I really embraced that. I loved hyping everyone up. And I wanted to be someone my teammates could rely on.”
Brenna Campagna is playing field hockey at Wake Forest University; Calli Campagna played lacrosse this spring for the University of Cincinnati. They showed Weaver the ropes. This past school year, Weaver was the rope-wielder.
“Brooke will go,” Shellenberger said, “and everyone will go with her. They followed her 100%”
While field hockey is Weaver’s first love — and will take her to the DI level — she patiently waited for her turn in basketball. When she was a sophomore and a junior, players like 1,000-point scorer Ava Byrne and Sarah Kraus were getting big buckets for the Streaks.
“Brooke knows what she can do,” Pinkard said. “She controls what she can control. Her effort. Her heart. Her passion. Her competitive spirit. She just plays. She gets steals. She rebounds. She’ll take a charge. And she has a habit of just making winning plays.”
“Brooke is the ultimate team leader and the ultimate competitor,” Pinkard added. “She’ll lay it all out there on the line in every single game and every single practice.”
Day after day. Season after season. No matter the sport. Even a sprint drill on an excruciatingly hot summer day.
“From the first whistle until the very end, Brooke will always give you everything she’s got,” Shellenberger said. “And it doesn’t matter which sport. You can’t count her out. Ever. She won’t back down from any opportunity to compete. She’s a physical, no-quit, never-say-die, incredible competitor.”
That’s the legacy Weaver will leave at Township. A gamer. A baller. A leader. A winner. A doer of little things, which added up to bigger things for her and her teammates.
Check the banners on the wall in the gym. They don’t lie.
Next stop, Weaver’s dream destination: Happy Valley, where she’ll study speech pathology and show off her field hockey skills for the Nittany Lions.
“I put in a lot of hard work, and I did a lot of things behind the scenes,” Weaver said. “And it has paid off. I worked hard for this, and I’m really proud of myself for that.”
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