Vote for best high school mascot in America, Round 1: Lancaster Golden Gales vs. Northampton Konkrete Kids
The bracket is set for SBLive Sports' 2024 NCAA Tournament-style contest to determine the best high school mascot in America, and Round 1 is underway.
Vote below for the No. 6-seeded Lancaster Golden Gales (Ohio) or the No. 11-seeded Northampton Konkrete Kids (Pennsylvania) to advance to the second round, where the winner will face either the Alma Airedales (Arkansas) or Wai'anae Seariders (Hawaii).
The Golden Gales earned a 6 seed by winning last fall's Ohio contest with 302 votes, while the Konkrete Kids won Pennsylvania with 10 votes to earn an 11 seed.
Follow along: National Mascot Tournament 2024 Bracket
Voting for this matchup will conclude Wednesday, March 20, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time.
6. Lancaster Golden Gales (Ohio)
These are the only Gales of any color in U.S. high school sports, and the reason that name came to be is golden. Until the 1930s they were the Golden Tornadoes, but that name was too long for the local newspaper's press, so a sports writer came up with Golden Gales as a more fitting alternative. The school's physical mascot is Gusto.
11. Northampton Konkrete Kids (Pennsylvania)
In 1922, Northampton was the center of the world’s cement industry, and the high school sports teams were referred to as the Konkrete Kids. In honor of the area’s high population of German immigrants, the spelling of concrete was changed to konkrete, the spelling as it appears in the German language.
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-- Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive.com | @sblivesports