As always, the Globe is here to guide you through the madness. Class is officially in session!
With a new season beginning, let’s get you up to speed with our one-paragraph season previews for each sport.
Looking for football? We covered that last week. (And don’t miss Globe.com/Schools next week, where you’ll find a preview of every Eastern Mass. team.).
Defending champions: Natick (D1), West Springfield (D2), Norwell (D3), Bromfield (D4), Boston International (D5)
Preseason top 20 | Players to watch
As arguably the state’s top forward, UMass-bound senior Cole Boggis looks to nudge Natick toward a repeat after securing the program’s first state title last fall. Plan for a loaded Needham side to challenge the Redhawks in D1.In D2, Lucas Heald attempts to drag Duxbury back to the championship, but keep an eye on Oliver Ames. Medfield is the team to watch in D3, where it will try to unseat defending champ Norwell, which lost coach Michael O’Dea to Weymouth.
Defending champions: Natick (D1), Duxbury (D2), Medfield (D3), Sutton (D4), Hull (D5)
Concord-Carlisle sports the fastest player in the state in Duke-bound Emmy O’Donnell, an alternate for the United States under-20 national team. Will she be enough to usurp Natick, which is eyeing its fourth championship in six seasons? Can Sidney Heavey, daughter of Kristine Lilly, and Devon Weafer lead an imposing Medfield roster to a third straight finals appearance? Can up-and-coming squads Bishop Feehan or Wellesley make noise in Division 1? Can Masconomet keep Duxbury from repeating in D2?
Defending champions: Franklin (D1), Oliver Ames (D2), Bellingham (D3), East Bridgewater (D4), Hopedale (D5)
A stunning amount of top talent is back from last year, headlined by Newton North’s Nora Hamel. They look to claim the Tigers’ fourth championship in five years after last fall’s stunning defeat to Franklin. Taylor Donohue and Lyla McDonough will attempt to power Oliver Ames in D2, while Bellingham’s Mia Milani returns for her senior year with sights on another D3 title. East Bridgewater’s Olivia McManus hopes to deliver consecutive D4 crowns. Looking for a sleeper? In Division 1: Don’t nap on Winchester, led by Hazel Lovins; or Central Catholic, led by Julie Hall. In D2, watch out for Soley Rodriguez Martinez and Canton..
Defending champions: Walpole (D1), Somerset Berkley (D2), Uxbridge (D3), Dennis-Yarmouth (D4)
Preseason top 20 | Players to watch
Since the inception of the statewide tournament in 2021, no sport has seen a higher concentration of superpowers. Uxbridge has won five titles in a row, Walpole has captured three straight, Watertown won four in a row from 2021-24, and Somerset Berkley, with senior Ryan Crook returning to the back line, is looking for a D2 three-peat. Can Walpole retool after graduating 20 seniors? Can Watertown, which had its 103-game win streak snapped last fall, climb back to the mountaintop after falling to Uxbridge in the D3 semifinals? Defending D4 champ Dennis-Yarmouth returns All-Scholastic defender Jenna Richard.
Defending champions: Xaverian (D1), Canton (D2), Old Rochester (D3)
All three defending champions return their top golfer. Xaverian brings back its top two after capturing the program’s first state title in seven years: Last year’s individual titlist Christopher Morrow and Michael McCormack, the Hawks’ scoring average leader. In D2, Canton gets sophomore Chase Thomas back after his fifth-place finish. Defending D3 champ Old Rochester enjoys one more season with Jack Czerkowicz. Seamus O’Holleran and St. John’s Prep will be in the D1 mix again, as will AJ Platek and Braintree. In D2, keep an eye on Scituate and Joe Mulvey.
Defending champions: Brookline (D1), Boston Public Schools (D2), Parker Charter (D3)
Brookline is already in position to capture its fifth straight D1 crown thanks to senior Liam Hartmann, the top returning runner from last year’s championship race. The Warriors will face competition from Callum Doyle and Natick, 2025 runners-up, as well as Patrick Noonan and Lexington. Boston Public Schools must follow the lead of senior Bradon Spiess if it hopes to repeat last year’s historic championship over CJ Deliso and Longmeadow. Parker Charter has captured three championships in a row and brings back Jett Johnson, a sophomore, and senior Cypress Lance in a quest for No. 4.
Defending champions: Lexington (D1), Boston Public Schools (D2), Greater Lowell (D3)
Last year the girls’ cross-country championships featured three new winners for the second year in a row. Can any of them repeat? The top returning runner in Division 1 is Lexington’s Jane Conrad; she placed third in the state and 10th at Nike Northeast Regionals as a sophomore. Billerica returns juniors Caitlyn and Kylie Donahue, as well as star freshman Maya Niles, all of whom finished in the top 15 last year. In D2, Lauren Raffetto and Canton look to avenge last year’s runner-up finish to Boston Public Schools. In D3, Norwell’s Katherine Murray and Audrey Birtwell will make a case to supplant Greater Lowell, which returns its No. 1 runner, sophomore Hannah Levesque.
Defending champions: Newton North (D1), Wellesley (D2)
There’s no slowing down the Wellesley machine. The Raiders captured their sixth straight Division 2 championship last fall by relying on depth. Riley Goodrich is back for the Raiders, who also return senior Sonja Tellender. That’s similar to Division 1 champion Newton North, which also rode depth to a title and returns Victoria Sigmundstad Callahan and Barbara Liao. But this fall, there will be just one girls’ division, and thus, one champion.
Golf: St. John’s Prep opened with a Catholic Conference victory in which captain AJ Bodnar (3-under-par 32) eagled the 502-yard, par-5 sixth hole at Unicorn Golf Course in Stoneham to earn medalist honors. . . . Jack Sutliffe’s 38 at Ridder Farm Golf Course got Duxbury off on the right foot in Patriot League play. . . . Norton opened its Tri-Valley League slate with wins over Holliston and Ashland (206-240) at Pinecrest. . . . Saugus overcame a hole-in-one by Northeast junior Jack Cuddy on the 82-yard second hole at Stoneham Oaks as Sachems seventh-grader Jack Cuddy helped defeat his older brother.
Athletes of the week: Jackson Fournier, St. John’s (Shrewsbury) and Caroline Arruda, Marshfield
With a final surge in a one-minute, winner-take-all swing-off, senior Jackson Fournier clubbed his way to the top of the seventh A Shot For Life Home Run Derby. He beat out Xaverian’s Charlie Gallagher, who had matched Fournier’s total of 22 homers in the final round. Fournier won the swing-off with nine blasts. Earlier in the day at the New England Baseball Complex in Northborough, Greater New Bedford senior Dorian Fortes won the pitching competition.
Caroline Arruda, who went 20-3 with a 0.83 ERA and 174 strikeouts in 143 innings for Marshfield, captured the A Shot For Life Pitchers Challenge trophy, helping the organization raise $86,000 for cancer research.
Stop by the Sports Museum at TD Garden for a new exhibit: “Glory Days: The best in high school sports,” featuring Boston Globe photography of high school athletes.
Visitors can revisit championship performances, remarkable individual milestones, and the brilliant images that capture the emotional rollercoaster of high school athletics through the lens of the Globe’s award-winning photographers.
Looking to sign up for the Globe’s student photojournalism program? Fill out this interest form.
Mark your calendar for these big matchups:
Boys’ soccer: Nov. 2, Natick at Needham, 6:30 p.m.
Girls’ soccer: Oct. 10, Central Catholic at Medfield, 11 a.m.
Girls’ volleyball: Sept. 18, Oliver Ames at Franklin, 5 p.m.
Field hockey: Oct. 30, Uxbridge at Walpole, 4 p.m.
Brendan Kurie can be reached at brendan.kurie@globe.com. Follow him on X @BrendanKurie.
