By Julianne Miller
Circulation Editor

Llamas are most commonly found on farms or in pens at petting zoos, but a good amount of llamas can also be found at Neshaminy
High School. However, these aren’t just any llamas. These are two legged, fast running, Frisbee-catching human beings- called the Llamas.

The school’s Frisbee team is called the Neshaminy Llamas. Why have they strayed from the familiar Neshaminy mascot? What is the story behind the team name, “Llamas”?

Numerous rumors and student’s own renditions of the back story of the name often float around in Llama-oriented conversation, but the most common one has some truth in it. “There was a kid, many years ago, who was named Llama and when they were at a competition, he told the judges the team name was Llamas and somehow that just stuck,” senior, Todge Rzepka said, “I like it. It sets us apart from the school.”

Although most of that has been deemed truthful, there was no infamous Frisbee player named Llama. “Basically, way back in 1998, Matt Hienemann, who was a part of the Frisbee team, was in Dave Bender’s class and kept yelling “Llama”, for no reason. The team had signed up for tournaments and was unprepared, lacking a team name. Matt, being Matt, yelled out “Llama” again and so from then on their name was The Llamas,” club advisor and science teacher Hank Oppenheimer said.

Being fond of the team name and the isolation from the Neshaminy mascot controversy, the Frisbee players can’t complain. “With the whole mascot name argument, we like being the Llamas. It’s a relief,” senior, Alex Riley said, “We’re focused more on having fun rather than the sport.”

Although the club sport’s season just ended for the winter, there is always enough Neshaminy Llama spirit to make up for their time off.