News
Weekly Athletics Update
The Fall regular season is in the books, and we now turn our attention to the NEPSAC Championships. Congratulations to all the teams and coaches who have worked so hard over the past 12 weeks and to our support staff, including our Sports Medicine group, Field and Equipment personnel and lots of other folks who contribute on a daily basis to the success of our programming. The Fall season has been a whirlwind of activity and contests and has moved along at a furious pace. There is work to be done, however, prior to our much-anticipated Thanksgiving break, so let’s finish on a positive note.
- Cross Country ran in the NEPSTA D II Championships on Saturday at the Roxbury Latin School. Freshman Cavan Gardner was the 1st Hilltopper to cross the finish line (29th out of 125 runners) and junior Ella Budzinski (30th place out of 117 runners) was the top performer on the girls’ side. Thanks to Coach Silva and her assistant coaching staff and to all the team members for a successful season.
- Football closed the 2023 regular season with an impressive win over Albany Academy on Friday evening at Morse Field. On Senior night, our 14 graduates to be (along with 3 Varsity managers) went out in style as they cruised past Albany in front of an appreciative WA fan base. The win catapulted the Hilltoppers (5-2 overall record) into the John Mackay Bowl game – WA’s 1st bowl appearance since 2004 – as they will host the Canterbury School on Saturday afternoon at Morse Field at 1:00 pm. Congratulations to head coach Jeremy Bandy and his staff and players for their tremendous work and significant accomplishments and we wish them well on Saturday.
- Girls’ Soccer finished the week and the season in grand fashion pushing past St. Mark’s on Wednesday and Cushing on Saturday (Senior day) at Morse field. The run over the final 10 games without a loss was significant and helped the team earn the # 8 seed in the Class A Championships which start on Wednesday with the Hilltoppers travelling to Cambridge to square off with the top seed, BB&N. Game time is 2:30 pm. Great work and best wishes to all!
- Boys’ Soccer has stretched their streak to 15 contests without a loss as they ran past Austin Prep on Saturday in Reading after playing to a 0-0 draw at Suffield on Wednesday. The Hilltoppers (12-1-6 overall) will bring a stingy defense to the Class A Championships and look to defend their 2022 title as the # 3 seed. Game opponent in the quarter-final round is Loomis- Chaffe e School from Windsor, Ct. The two teams played to a 1-1 draw back in October. Good luck to the team.
- Varsity Volleyball concluded their ’23 campaign with road defeats at Lawrence Academy and Cushing. Despite a challenging season record-wise the team worked hard throughout the season and showed significant periods of growth and improvement that will serve them well next season. We appreciate the effort and resolve of coaches and players over these past 2 months.
- Field Hockey honored their departing Seniors on Saturday afternoon, and we thank them as well as our coaches and undergraduates for their seasonal commitments. The final stretch of games saw the team face a slew of talented clubs and although the losses outpaced the wins, the work put in this Fall will pay off next season for all returnees.
- JV Volleyball took Cushing to a 5th set but fell in the final game to close out their season. Thanks for the season long effort and energy that was present throughout the year.
- JV Boys’ Soccer enjoyed a nice mid-week win at Marianapolis Prep before bowing on Saturday afternoon in Ashburnham against Cushing Academy. We thank Coaches Mull and Yanco for their work this season and know the team had fun and shared many memorable moments during the campaign.
Recognition of the Week:
On behalf of all our coaches and student-athletes, we send a sincere thanks out to everyone, too numerous to name, but too important to not recognize and trust they will share in the successes we enjoyed this Fall. We have an amazing school and a supportive community when we all come together to root for and support one another. Harry Truman summed it up best when he stated, “It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you do not care who gets the credit”.
Best of luck to our Tournament teams this week and to all of our Winter teams who kick off their season as well.
