The Wellesley High School Cheerleading Team achieved a tremendous accomplishment last Sunday as the team finished in second place in the Student Body Hello Cheer and Dance Showdown in Boston. Congratulations to coach Odessa Sanchez and her squad on this terrific accomplishment and here is a brief recap from the coach herself!

On Sunday December 10th, the Wellesley Raiders Cheer Squad competed against Boston area high school teams in a “2017 Student Body Hello Cheer & Dance Showdown ” competition. The competition was held at the Reggie Lewis Ctr in Roxbury with an audience of hundreds.

The Wellesley Raiderettes performed well, using our exciting halftime show and dance moves, we worked hard on post-season training, and it paid off!

Wellesley Cheer placed 2nd out of 8 teams. This was our 3rd competition in as many years, and our first time placing.

We are elated about the results and super proud of ourselves and our efforts!

It’s that time of week again! Time for another rousing edition of Raider Friday Trivia. Today’s trivia question is…which Wellesley gym did former Celtic Ray Allen train at during the 2011 NBA Lockout? Answer tomorrow!

The final winter sports teams to open up its regular season schedule were the indoor track teams who headed into Boston to take on rival Natick in the opening meet. Could both teams come out strong with a big win, let’s find out!

Results for 12-14-17

Boys Indoor Track: Natick 52 Wellesley 47

Girls Indoor Track: Wellesley 61 Natick 39

It was another night of openers on this Wednesday as boys hockey opened up its season at home against Falmouth while wrestling opened up Bay State Conference play against Norwood. Before we get to those results however some exciting news for the boys lacrosse program as it was announced today that former North Andover and UMass Amherst standout Jim Connolly will take over the program replacing long time coach Rocky Batty. Now onto the recap!

Results for 12-13-17

Boys Hockey: Wellesley 2 Falmouth 2

Wrestling: Wellesley 57 Norwood 18

It was opening night for 4 Raider teams tonight as girls hockey, boys and girls basketball, and boys swimming all got their 2017-18 seasons under way. Could they all get the new season off on the right foot, let’s find out!

Results for 12-12-17

Girls Hockey: Wellesley 5 Milton 5

Boys Swimming: Wellesley 96 Xaverian 71

Girls Basketball: Wellesley 60 Walpole 47

Boys Basketball: Wellesley 90 Carver 42

Happy Monday everyone, and if the snow or the cold has you down, time to warm you up with another edition of Monday Poll! Last week’s question saw an overwhelming majority of you willing to spend most on Super Bowl Tickets. This week’s poll question is…who is the best NBA player of all time? Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, LeBron James or other?

The winter sports regular season is underway as we present the first winter edition of the weekly schedule for this first full week of regular season action. It’s bound to be an exciting week or what promises to be an exciting season for all Raider teams. Without any further ado here’s a look at the week ahead!

Monday 12-11

No Games

Tuesday 12-12

Girls Hockey @ Milton (Ulin) 4:15 pm

Boys Swimming vs. Xaverian (Babson) 5 pm

Girls Basketball vs. Walpole 6:30 pm

Boys Basketball @ Carver 6:30 pm

Wednesday 12-13

Boys Hockey vs. Falmouth (Babson) 5 pm

Wrestling @ Norwood 7 pm

Thursday 12-14

Indoor Track vs. Natick (Reggie Lewis Center) 4:30 pm

Friday 12-15

Boys Swimming vs. Dover Sherborn (Babson) 4:30 pm

Boys Basketball @ Brookline 6:30 pm

Girls Basketball vs. Brookline 6:30 pm

Saturday 12-16

Boys Hockey vs. Brookline (Walter Brown Arena) 2 pm

Girls Hockey vs. Brookline (Babson) 6:45 pm

Sunday 12-17

No Games

The winter regular season officially has begun and it certainly looks and feels like winter. Today the wrestling team kicked off the regular season schedule as they headed to Triton for a opening match that involved Triton, Belmont, Wakefield, and Essex Tech. Could the Raiders come out of the gates strong, we’ll find out but first here’s the answer to yesterday’s trivia question. Coach Magpiong joined the Wellesley basketball program in… 2004 as a boys assistant coach under then head coach Luke Day. Now onto the recap!

Results for 12-9-17

Wrestling: Triton 42 Wellesley 27, Wellesley 50 Belmont 24, Wellesley 54 Essex Tech 24, Wakefield 41 Wellesley 24

As we wrap up the winter sports previews, with just days to go before the regular season schedule kicks off, it’s time to take a look at wrestling and gymnastics, who both had difficult seasons in 2016-17 but both have high expectations for the new year. Wrestling finished finished off last season 5-6-1 and sent Josh Cohen (18) to the all state meet. With Cohen returning this season among others look for the Raiders to make a push towards finally finishing above 500 and take a shot at the top of the Bay State Conference. Gymnastics meanwhile finished last year 3-6 prior to competition at the Bay State championships. Despite a tough season a year ago, the team returns a solid core of talent and has always been a contender for the top spot in the Bay State league, and look for it to be no different this coming season.

The weather is certainly feeling like December and snow is in the forecast as we begin another Friday! Time to warm up a bit with another red hot edition of Raider Friday Trivia. Today’s question is… what year did current head girls basketball coach Glen Magpiong join the Raider basketball program? Answer tomorrow!