The Wayland Boosters recognized numerous student-athletes at the fall awards ceremony on Wednesday, December 2 at Wayland High School (WHS).
A number of teams went into the playoffs and/or won the Dual-County League title including field hockey winning the DCL title and making into the first round of the Division II North playoffs; boys soccer won the DCL title and made it to the Division III North semi-final, and football made it to the second round of the Division III Northwest playoffs.
Boosters treasurer Mark Lucier emceed the event and introduced WHS’ new Athletic Director Heath Rollins, recognizing his smooth transition in spite of just taking over the position in mid-August.
Lucier also thanked the crowd of students and parents for their support of Boosters noting their significant contributions last year allowed them to purchase the 14-passenger bus for the school’s athletic department. He also emphasized that Boosters has purchased a second bus (to be delivered in mid-January) and is looking to raise an additional $20,000 to reach their budgetary goal of $75,000.
AD Rollins spoke about the achievements of the fall sports teams and introduced the coaches to take the stage and comment on their respective teams before Lucier announced the Boosters Award winners.
The Jim Griffin Booster Award, given to a varsity senior athlete who has shown outstanding merit in the areas of leadership, sportsmanship, team spirit, and athletic ability was awarded to Mackenzie Matscherz (Cheerleading), Sarah Maietta (Girls Crew), Zach Last (Boys Cross-Country), Allie Kunen (Girls Cross-Country), Emily Barnard (Field Hockey), Jimmy Lampert (Football), Ben Slater (Golf), Daniel Keating (Boys Soccer), Caroline Bache (Girls Soccer), and Elizabeth Flagg (Volleyball).
The Hal Barnett Unsung Hero Award, given to a varsity team member who shows what hard work and dedication can mean in improving the overall quality and well being of the team was awarded to Megan Kistner (Cheerleading), Thomas Hereema (Boys Crew), Cole Jacobs (Boys Cross-Country), Rachel Lorenc (Girls Cross-Country), Nina Blahut (Field Hockey), Zach Falber (Football), Jake Brady (Golf), Jacob Fong (Boys Soccer), Brianna Fu (Girls Soccer), Victoria Varnau (Volleyball).
The Buzz Bowers Sportsmanship Award presented to a varsity player whose behavior is characterized by fair play, shows generosity, and general concern for others and demonstrates sportsmanship in a loss and is a gracious winner was awarded to Elizabeth McAuley (Cheerleading), Tyler Chase (Boys Crew), Jenna Levine (Girls Crew), Devin Comettant (Boys Cross-Country), Caroline Provost (Girls Cross-Country), Fiona Hart (Field Hockey), Anirudh Nagesha (Football), Jimmy Cope (Golf), Peter Murray (Boys Soccer), Elena Erdekian (Girls Soccer), Mary O’Donnell (Volleyball).
Lucier also presented the DCL All-Star Awards, which are awarded to those athletes who have been chosen by all of the coaches within a particular sport in the Dual-County League.
WHS boasted a large number of student-athletes among the list including: Sarah Tully for Girls Cross-Country, Emily Barnard, Fiona Hart, Grace Hart and Kylie Ham for Field Hockey; Joshua Brito, Michael Connell, Liam Henning, Benjamin Jones, Wesley Jones and Jimmy Lampert for Football; Benjamin Slater and Cameron Tredgett for Golf; Caroline Bache for Girls Soccer and Elizabeth Flagg for Girls Volleyball; Jamie Carver, Daniel D’Amico, Jack Fletcher, Daniel Keating and Ethan Stavisky for Boys Soccer with Charles Halliwell, Michael Jones, Marco Melero and Peter Murray for 2nd Team-Boys Soccer.
The Wayland Boosters provide each sports season with an awards banquet and subsidizes Wayland jackets for those players who earn a Varsity letter. Its mission is to recognize excellence in high school athletics and to provide financial support to enhance the experience for all middle school and high school athletes and coaches.
