After Friday’s action, which included multiple teams in multiple sports punching their ticket to the state semifinals for the first time in program history, the MIAA boys’ tennis semifinals are nearly solidified.
Before we dive into who is making a racket in the final four, check out all of Friday’s postseason coverage:
- Softball roundup: Sisterly solution — Nicole and Ashleigh Lent power Lincoln-Sudbury to first Division 1 semifinals
- Boys’ lacrosse roundup: Mansfield turns to closer Cole Hogencamp to reach first Division 2 semifinal
- Girls’ lacrosse roundup: In another one-goal duel, Westwood girls’ lacrosse the victor in Division 2 quarterfinal vs. Duxbury
- Boys’ volleyball roundup: Simon says ‘Smash’. Vardeh dominant for Newton North in Division 1 quarterfinal win
- Girls’ tennis roundup: With season hanging in balance, Winchester’s first doubles team delivers Division 1 quarterfinal win
- Boys’ tennis roundup: After six failed attempts, 13th-seeded Latin Academy boys’ tennis breaks through to reach Division 3 semifinals
1. Boys’ tennis semifinals
Fourteen of the 16 semifinalists have been determined, and all four No. 1 seeds are still dancing. The only seed lower than No. 7 is No. 13 Latin Academy, which took down No. 5 Medfield, 3-2, in the quarterfinals. The field:
Division 1
No. 5 Concord-Carlisle vs. No. 1 St. John’s Prep
No. 6 Lexington vs. No. 2 Acton-Boxborough
Division 2
No. 4 Duxbury vs. No. 1 Hopkinton
No. 7 Westborough vs. No. 3 Sharon
Division 3
No. 13 Latin Academy vs. No. 1 Bedford
No. 2 Martha’s Vineyard vs. No. 6 Weston/No. 3 Newburyport
Division 4
No. 5 Cohasset vs. No. 1 Manchester Essex
No. 7 Sturgis West vs. No. 7 Mystic Valley/No. 2 Lynnfield
2. Rugby finals set
With top-seeded Hanover’s 64-5 demolition of Algonquin in the Division 2 semifinals, all three rugby championship matchups are solidified: No. 2 Xaverian and No. 1 BC High will face off in Division 1, and No. 2 Brookline and No. 1 Hanover battle for the Division 2 crown, both on June 14 at Curry College. No. 2 Lincoln-Sudbury faces No. 1 Belmont in the girls’ rugby championship game, also June 14 at Curry College.
3. Upset city
With the two boys’ volleyball Cinderella’s, No. 26 Barnstable and No. 27 Taunton, both seeing their fairy-tale runs end in the Division 1 quarterfinals, there is now just one team seeded in the 20s remaining across all sports, and that’s No. 21 Bishop Fenwick girls’ tennis, which topped No. 13 Danvers, 3-2, Friday to advance to the Division 3 semifinals.
The first big upset of the girls’ tennis tournament saw No. 8 Winchester knock off No. 1 Boston Latin, so far the only No. 1 tennis seed to falter thus far.
And in softball, sixth-seeded Lincoln-Sudbury handed No. 3 King Philip a 4-1 loss in the quarterfinals, making the Warriors the highest-seeded team to be bounced from the softball brackets to date.
4. Three stars
Erin O’Day, Uxbridge — The junior, who is committed to UMass, was sensational, striking out 20 in a 1-0 one-hitter against Abington, and scoring the game’s only run. She now has 47 strikeouts in three playoff games.
Simon Vardeh, Newton North — The senior caught fire, slamming down a career-high 36 kills, including eight in a row during a stretch in the second set, to lead the Tigers to a 3-1 win over Lexington in the Division 1 quarterfinals. Teammate Paul Nelson dished 50 assists.
McCoy Walsh, King Philip — We don’t usually put athletes from eliminated teams here, but the junior did her best to keep the Warriors playing, striking out 14 and eclipsing 600 career strikeouts in a 4-1 Division 1 quarterfinal loss to Lincoln-Sudbury.
5. Going, going, gone
All four of the day’s home runs came from the same game, and represented four of the five runs scored in Lincoln-Sudbury’s win over King Philip. Nicole Lent launched a pair of shots for L-S, while her older sister, Ashleigh, hit one as well. Not to be left out, KP’s only run came on Liv Petrillo’s solo blast.
6. Daily lacrosse leaderboard
Goals
Avery Regan, Cohasset, 6
Sadie Lopez, Notre Dame (H), 5
Reese Hansen, Cohasset, 4
Cole Hogencamp, Mansfield, 4
Jill Martin, Chelmsford, 4
Holly Panttila, Norwell, 4
Points
Lexi Davos, Norwell, 8
Regan, Cohasset, 8
Kate Greer, Cohasset, 6
Lopez, Notre Dame (H), 5
Panttila, Norwell, 5
7. Daily strikeout leaderboard
Erin O’Day, Uxbridge, 20
McCoy Walsh, King Philip, 14
Lila Alvarez, Joseph Case, 13
Elsie Testa, Abington, 8
8. College corner
Texas Tech freshman Sam Lincoln, who pitched Taunton to its fourth-straight state championship just 12 months ago, made her College Word Series Finals debut, striking out four in three relief innings as Texas won, 10-4, to capture the national championship.
The Red Rangers trailed, 10-0, when Lincoln entered the game in the fourth inning. She didn’t allow a hit the rest of the way, walking two.
Lincoln a 6-foot lefthander, finished her freshman year with an 8-3 record and 3.65 ERA, striking out 52 in 69 innings.
@SamLincoln2024 clean inning girl. Fantastic poise on a ginormous stage. Future is bright girl! Keep
Working!! pic.twitter.com/1p7MAVqzcf— Carrie Consalvi (@cmiconsalvi) June 7, 2025
Northeastern graduate student Will Jones, a Hamilton-Wenham graduate, was chosen as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association District 1 Player of the Year.
A lefthanded pitcher, Jones went 11-1 with a 2.62 ERA, striking out 75 batters in 72 innings and tossing five shutouts. A first-team All-CAA selection, he was 11-0 with 1.82 ERA entering NCAA Regionals and set a Huskies single-season record for wins.
He is the second Northeastern player in a row to win the award, following Peabody native and St. John’s Prep graduate Tyler MacGregor.
𝗡𝗖𝗕𝗪𝗔 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝟭 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗢𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿
Will Jones becomes the second Husky in a row to claim District 1 @NCBWA POTY honors
https://t.co/c5hHMKPTBO pic.twitter.com/xFGtBb77Tt
— Northeastern Baseball (@GoNUbaseball) June 6, 2025
9. Coaching carousel
Dedham has a new football coach.
The Marauders have hired Doug Carilli, most recently the defensive backs coach at Curry College. The Dedham resident, who played at Curry, has also worked at Rivers, Westwood, Weston, Framingham, and BC High, where he was defensive coordinator.
“Throughout the selection process, his commitment to the town, his vision for the future of our football program, and his focus on the growth and development of our student-athletes clearly distinguished him from a strong pool of candidates,” the school’s athletic department posted on X.
We are excited to announce the appointment of Doug Carilli as the new Head Football Coach at DHS.
Coach Carilli, a proud Dedham resident, brings a wealth of coaching experience and a deep passion for our community.
— DedhamAthletics (@DedhamAthletics) June 6, 2025
10. Star list
The Eastern Mass. Lacrosse Coaches Association All-Stars were announced Friday.
The EMLCA League Reps Committee elected @usalacrosse post-season award winners for eastern MA this past Saturday. That list is now official. Attached are the All-Academics. Congratulations to all awards winners, their coaches, and their schools. pic.twitter.com/MqbYb7DMsg
— EMLCA (@EmlcaCoaches) June 6, 2025
Brendan Kurie can be reached at brendan.kurie@globe.com. Follow him on X @BrendanKurie.
The WIAA state track and field championships continue June 7 at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex in La Crosse.
AI-assisted summaryKimberly’s Hunter Sprangers won the Division 1 boys shot put title with a throw of 61 feet, 3.5 inches.Neenah’s Celia Gentile won the Division 1 girls triple jump with a jump of 40 feet, 2.5 inches.Little Chute’s Calvin Van Rossum earned silver in the Division 2 boys high jump.Appleton North’s Brooke Waddell took silver in the Division 1 girls pole vault, setting a school record.LA CROSSE − A little self-reflection and alone time went a long way for Hunter Sprangers on June 6 at the WIAA Division 1 state track and field championships at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.
Neenah’s Gentile captures gold in triple jumpIt was an interesting hour or so as Neenah’s Celia Gentile was seemingly all over the main track area.The uber-talented Rockets sophomore was leading the D1 girls triple jump event when the call went out for the 400 relay teams to assemble for the prelims. Gentile raced over to her spot as anchor and then helped the relay team qualify for the final.As soon as the race was over, Gentile celebrated with her teammates briefly before heading over to the triple jump pit to compete in the finals. She ended up recording her best jump of the afternoon — a leap of 40-2.5 — to win the title.”I mean, I just left it all out there,” Gentile said. “It was the last meet of the year for the triple. Knowing that I could leave it all out and jumping 40 on my last jump was great.”Gentile, who also qualified for the 100-meter dash finals earlier in the day, said her personal-best jump was 40-4. She added being the leader throughout the triple jump event wasn’t necessarily ideal.”I’d rather be chasing,” she said. “But knowing that I can have the last jump and leave it all out — I like having the last jump — but knowing that someone can pass you is very stressful.”
North’s Waddell, Little Chute’s Van Rossum earn silverLittle Chute junior Calvin Van Rossum took home the silver medal in the Division 2 boys high jump and also set a goal for next season.“I really want to tap into that 6-8, 6-9 height,” he said. “And I feel like next year I really have a good chance of making a run.”Van Rossum placed second in the event with a leap of 6-6. Edgerton’s Breck Anderson won the title with a jump of 6-9.“I was going for 6-7,” Van Rossum said. “I had some really good looks and I could have given extra effort to give the first-place guy a run for his money.”Van Rossum’s goal heading into the meet was to finish in the top three.“I felt like I met my expectations,” he said. “First place was just out of reach.”Waddell set the school record for the pole vault, finishing with a leap of 12-6 to tie her with Arrowhead’s Elise Schroeder and Sun Prairie East’s Alexa Wornson.
Waddell took second with Schroeder eclipsing the 12-6 mark in fewer attempts to take the gold.”I felt really good,” Waddell said. “My coaches were telling me the whole year that there were a lot of signs and that I was going to PR at state, and it happened. I felt really good during warmups. I got on my biggest pole and just did it.”Waddell, who’s heading to UW-La Crosse to compete in track in college, said the fact that it was her final high school meet was on her mind.”I just wanted to give it all I had and knew that it was my last high school track meet and wanted to put my school record as high, that way my name could stay up at my school for longer,” she said.The top three finishers attempted 12-9, which would have tied the D1 record.”Two of my attempts were really close,” Waddell said. “And it kind of sucked, but I’m close. I knew I could do it. I have four years left.”Neenah’s Olkowski leads third-place finishersNeenah senior Mazie Olkowski admits she’s a little “salty” about not having a faster time in the D1 3,200 girls run.But she did end up finishing third, which wasn’t so bad. Especially after she placed fifth in the same event last season as a junior.”Coming into the meet my PR had me ranked second in the state so I was really kind of hoping for that win,” Olkowski said. “But I’ll take it. It’s been kind of a long day, so I’ll take the third place.”
Olkowski finished with a time of 10:45.68 for her third-place finish. Muskego’s Ella Anschutz placed first in 10:33.91.”The time is just off my PR, so I’m a little salty about that,” Olkowski said. “But I’ll take it. Happy to be third. Better than last year.”Waupaca’s Owen Lencki was third in the D2 boys 1,600 with a time of 4:17.07. Jack Hefty of Whitewater won the event (4:13.78) with Notre Dame’s Joseph Hunt second (4:15.74).WIAA state track fourth-place finishersLittle Chute’s girls 3,200 relay team of Ashley Wilson, Campbell DeBoth, Sami Miller and Lauren Wegand placed fourth in Division 2 with a time of 9:26.89.Also taking fourth in the 3,200 was St. Mary Catholic in D3 with the team of Audrey Wanless, Maria Marti, Lauren Ripley and Claire Higgins (9:51.69).Manawa’s Olivia Santos was fourth in the D3 discus (129-3), as was Wrightstown’s Cailey Peterson in the D2 pole vault (11-9).Winneconne’s Grant Wenzelow was fourth in the D2 800 (1:54.48) with Hortonville’s Hailey Falbo fourth in the D1 3,200 run (10:50.35).Neenah’s Emma Severson, a freshman, was fourth in the D1 discus (135-9).WIAA state track podium finishersFifth-place finishers included Winneconne’s Hudson Samolinski in the D2 shot put (54-9.25) and Weyauwega-Fremont’s Broc Billington in the D3 high jump (6-4).Sixth-place finishers included Xavier’s Caroline Basehoar in the D2 pole vault (11-6) and Appleton North’s D1 3,200 relay team of Eva Busch, Ava Helmbrecht, Sophie Busch and Elise Brazzale (9:13.52).
The Indiana High School Athletic Association boys track and field state meet was Friday at North Central.
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