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With hundreds of names on the 2024-25 Boston Globe All-Scholastic awards list, we highlight the following young men and women from that list. Our sincere apologies to any of the athletes who aren’t mentioned in this article.
Girls Track and Field
Natick’s Emmanuella Edozien won the 55m hurdles in a state meet record of 8.05. PHOTO: BAY STATE RUNNING
Emmanuella Edozien, a junior sprinter from Natick High School, won the 55-meter hurdles in a state record time of 7.96 seconds.
Senior Breanna Braham of Dennis Yarmouth High School was the winner of the 55-meter dash (7.18 seconds) and the 300-meter run (39.54 seconds) at the All-States meet. The multi-school record holder will attend the University of Louisville this coming fall.
Nyrah Joseph, a senior at Billerica High School, who will attend the University of Massachusetts Lowell this fall, will do so as the MSTCA Indoor Pentathlon Champion. Her 3,559-point effort is an all-time school record.
Eagles standout Nina Kyei-Aboagye won both the 100- and the 200-meter dash this year, setting records in both. PHOTO: BAY STATE RUNNING
Nina Kyei-Aboagye, a junior from Sharon High School, will head into her senior year as the Division 2 state champion in the 55-yard dash (7.09 seconds), the 300-meter run (39.7 seconds). She also ran the anchor leg for the 4×200-meter championship squad.
Junior Lauren Quarm ran for the Methuen High School Rams. She won the 55-meter dash in 7.06 seconds at the state track meet and has run a personal best of 6.95 seconds at the distance — the third fastest time in state history.
Nialonis Smith, a third-year student from New Bedford High School, claimed the best weight throw with a meet record of 46 feet, 9 inches, which also set a new record at the Meet of Champions.
Girls Basketball
Hijjah Allen-Paisley, a senior at Cathedral High School in Boston, led her Lady Panthers team to four state titles during her time at the school. As a senior, she averaged 18.1 points, four assists, and 2.5 steals as she eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau.
All-Star forward Alyssa Hopps will attend Babson College in the fall. PHOTO: QUINCY HIGH SCHOOL
Quincy High School senior Alyssa Hopps tied the all-time school scoring record with 1,348 points. She will play her college basketball at Babson College.
Amalyah McCoy, a senior at Gann Academy, was named the Independent Girls Conference Most Valuable Player after averaging 14.7 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.5 blocked shots per game. She was an All-League selection for each of her four years at Gann Academy and will attend Emory University this fall.
A special mention must be made of Clinton Lassiter, head coach of Cathedral High School, who was named an All-Scholastic Coach of the Year after leading his Lady Panthers to their seventh state title in 10 years.
Emilie Ferdinand led a very talented Brookline team to the state championships. PHOTO: SMASH VOLLEYBALL
In volleyball, two All-Stars, Emilie Ferdinand and William Harvey, received All-State honors. Ferdinand, a junior at Brookline High School, was named to the MAVCA All-State team after leading her team to a 21-4 record.
Harvey, a coach at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School, did an outstanding job coaching his young team to the round of 16 in the state playoffs following their 12-9 mark during the season. Harvey gained distinction when he led Madison Park to its first City League championship in 22 years, back in 2023. He has continued to build a solid program at Madison Park.
Massachusetts and the New England area produced their share of outstanding football, basketball, and track and field talent among young men.
Boys Football
Needham High School’s Aidan Williams is a Gatorade Player of the Year in football. PHOTO: NEEDHAM HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
Aidan Williams, a Needham High School senior running back, rushed for 1,738 yards and 26 touchdowns on offense to go along with 78 tackles, six sacks, and three interceptions as a linebacker on defense to lead his Rockets team to the Division 1 Super Bowl. He’s headed to Lehigh University.
Mekhi Dood, a recent Catholic Memorial grad who recovered from a torn ACL injury, rushed for 1,362 yards and 22 touchdowns, helping push his Knights team to their third Division 2 Super Bowl in four years. He will play collegiately at Boston College.
AJ Azuakolam was a senior captain for the undefeated BB&N Knights. PHOTO: BB&N ATHLETICS
AJ Azuakolam played at Buckingham, Browne & Nichols. He hails from Dorchester and was the key performer for an undefeated BB&N squad, with 51 tackles, nine pass breakups, five interceptions and two touchdown receptions. Azuakolam is a UMass Amherst commit.
Xavier Landrum, a senior at TechBoston Academy, was named the Boston City League’s Most Valuable Player following a banner year, with 1,526 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns on offense, 47 tackles, six sacks, five forced fumbles and four defensive touchdowns. Landrum has yet to decide on a college.
Boys Basketball
Jalen Harrell is a Class of 2025 graduate from Cats Academy. He received the Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year Award with 20.8 points, eight rebounds, and 7.2 assists. He scored 2,532 points during his high school career. Harrell plans to attend Providence College in the fall.
Jassad Fenton of Burke HS is the school’s all-time assist leader and a 3-time champ. PHOTO: J FENTON
Jasaad Fenton, a senior at the Dr. Albert D. Holland High School of Technology, won City League MVP this year after leading the Bulldogs to their third City League title in four years. Fenton set school records for assists and victories.
Another senior, Tzar Powell-Aparicio from Lowell High School, averaged 24 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and three steals to lead the Red Raiders to a 20-3 season. Powell-Aparicio carries a 4.0 grade point average and will attend Bridgewater State University in 2025.
Junior Javier Lopez played his ball at Central Catholic High School, where he was named MVC Player of the Year. He averaged 24 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals per game, and led the team to the MVC title.
Boys Track and Field
Lucas Andrade, who is heading to the University of Rhode Island this year, is considered one of the greatest high school athletes in Massachusetts history. Andrade, who ran track for Brockton High School, is the defending state champion, and lived up to his billing, resetting the 55-meter hurdles state record three times — the final mark at 7.22 seconds.
Altamo Aschkenasy, a senior runner for the Brookline High School Warriors, won the 1,000 meters at the Bay State championships in a time of 2:35.65 and the Division 1 championships in 2:34.28. He will attend UMass Amherst in September.
The Lowell High School 4×800 relay team, made up of seniors Alex Rodgers, Raymond Dafe, Abdul Jalloh and Jovani Ubri, broke the Meet of Champions record by a whopping four seconds (7:56.24). They won the Division 1 championships (8:03.11) and the Division 1 State Relays (8:02.62).
Delmace Mayo competed in his first Boston Marathon this year. PHOTO: MAYO FAMILY
All Scholastic coaching honorees include George Daly, Division 3 Milton High School, and Jason Montrose, coach of Division 5 Weston High School. Daly led the Wildcats to their first state title since 1998 and won the Division 3 State Relays. Montrose, a three-time Indoor Track Coach of the Year, guided his Wildcats to the Dual County League Small title, the Division 5 Relay title, and a 48-point victory in the Division 5 championship meet, the Triple Crown.
Special mention to All-Scholastic honoree Delmace Mayo, a wheelchair athlete from Brighton High School who will attend the University of Arizona this fall.
Special thanks go to the Boston Globe for continuing its dedication to the All-Scholastic project. The paper started the tradition in 1903 with football and has expanded it to other sports over the years.
