Some may know Megan Dorneker as a math teacher here at York but in her free time others recognize her as a national champion in handball.

For those unfamiliar with the unique sport, singles handball is played on a three-walled court, and, in a fashion similar to racquetball, a small rubber ball is served by one player and played against the center wall.

Originally, Ms. Dorneker, formerly known as Megan Mehilos, had no interest in playing handball and only enjoyed watching her brothers play.

“My dad always tried to get me to play, and I’d say no it’s for boys,” Dorneker said.

It wasn’t until another girl in the same league as her brothers asked her to play that she decided to join. In the beginning, Dorneker struggled with the sport.

“It was one year before I won my first game, not even my first match, but my first game,” Dorneker said.

Even with a rough start, she was determined to keep practicing and not give up on the sport.

“My senior year of high school is when I started playing a lot. I ended up not playing any other sports and just focusing on handball cause I knew I was going to play in college,” Dorneker said.

And that she did. Dorneker attended Lake Forest College and while pursuing a degree in Math and Education, she was part of the handball program, one of the best in the nation with their teams winning forty-six total national championships according to goforesters.com. During each of her four seasons at Lake Forest College, Dorneker acquired the women’s team title and was voted most valuable player four times.

Currently, Dorneker holds eight outdoor national championships and one indoor national championship. For the future, she intends to keep playing and improving her handball skills and wishes to travel to Ireland to compete against top players there, where handball is the number two sport.

On September 14^th, Dorneker was inducted into Lake Forest College’s Athletic Hall of Fame for her achievements.