So the new division alignments for the new 8 division football playoff format have been announced and your Wellesley Raiders are moving up as in the new alignment the Raiders will be competing out of Division 1A South. The Raiders will continue to play 6 of their D2 South comrades but in more interesting news will no longer play Needham, Braintree or Natick in terms of when playoff time rolls around as all 3 teams will now be competing in Division 1 South. The full alignment for all divisions can be found here,

Click to access Football_Alignment_2016.pdf

It’s Friday again and that means it’s time for another installment of Raider Friday Trivia so here’s todays question. What two now former Raider Girls Hockey players were named Boston Globe All Scholastics for the 2014-15 winter season? The answer will be posted tomorrow.

So today as the first official week of the winter sports season wraps up we wrap up the 2015-16 winter sports previews as we take a look at gymnastics, Boys Swimming, and Wrestling who all had very successful seasons in 2014-15. We start with the gymnastics team who captured their 6th straight Bay State Conference championship a year ago and captured a 6-1 record during the season. The girls will look to get their quest for a 7th straight Bay State title off to a strong start as they open their season December 18th at Weymouth followed by their home opener on the 21st vs Walpole at the site of all their home competitions Exxcel Gymnastics in Newton.

Boys swimming also had a successful 2014-15 campaign with a 6-2 record and a 10th place finish at the all state meet. That included a 5th place finish in the 200 yard freestyle relay that included returners Andrew and Matt Scherrer and Graham Harris. The boys will open up their season on the 14th at Babson as they take on St Johns High School, the first of 3 home meets in a row to open up the new year.

Wrestling is coming into the new season off of a 6-8 mark a year ago in which the team finished 3rd in the Herget Division. The boys then went on to the all state meet where they finished 43rd out of 105 teams. Coach Jesse Davis and his squad will look to get this season off to a strong start as they travel to Dedham on the 15th before opening their home schedule on the 23rd vs Milton.

As we hit the home stretch of this first week of Winter Sport practices we take a look today at the Boys and Girls Indoor Track teams, who are both looking to once again contend for a Herget crown after both having successful seasons in their own way in 2014-15. The boys finished last season with a 1-5 record in 5th place in the Herget Division while taking 9th at the Division 2 all state meet. Meanwhile the girls had a banner year finishing 5-1 and capturing the Herget Division title. The girls went on finish 5th a the All State Meet.

Key returners on the boys side include Matt D’Anieri who finished second a year ago in the 1000 meters at the D2 meet and helped the 4×800 relay team finish 3rd in the same meet along with fellow returner Arjun Laud. Meanwhile on the girls side key returners include senior Ally Isley who captured first in the 55 meter dash at the D2 meet as well as 4th in the long jump. Both teams will open up their seasons on December 10th against Norwood and all of their meets will take place at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.

As we continue our winter sports previews we take a look at the Girls Hockey team who is coming off a 19-2-3 season a year ago and a second straight state title game appearance at TD Garden falling to Falmouth 3-2 in overtime. Coach George Campbell who will once again be behind the bench for the Raiders, took some time to answer some questions as his team prepares to defend their third straight Herget Division crown from a year ago. Campbell looked back fondly at the last two seasons and sees a lot of positives that this years group can use heading into the season. “As far as the past two years, they were great for everyone involved, ” Campbell said. “I think the take away is that many of our current players fully realize that many of them were a vital part of us getting to the Garden (Like (Kiely) Noonan’s overtime goal vs. Medfield). Many underclassmen last year made vital contributions and maybe are hoping to continue that into this season as Seniors. In addition playing before a large audience is a great thing to have in your background as you begin that quest again.”

The Raiders will be captained this year by their four returning seniors Carly Boyle, Noonan, Sophie Vernon, and Danielle Hickman and Campbell says that despite off season commitments he likes what hes seen from the captains so far, “A few have been very active in fall sports, helping the field hockey team to a successful season and all of them getting ready by working out on and off the ice to set the stage for this season.” As far as key players to watch Boyle, Noonan, and Vernon will anchor the first line with Hickman on defense  and the Raiders will look to replace stand out goalie Meghan King with both Alyssa Cimino and Caroline Bedrosian who both saw time last season. Also the Raiders return the likes of Catherine Donahue, a regular on defense last year and also Phoebe Lawrence and Katie Hawkinson who saw time as freshmen on varsity last season.

With departures of several key players to graduation Campbell certainly sees the impact of several younger players playing key roles last season, especially heading into this new year, “The coaching staff is happy that some of younger players last year played key roles in our run to the state final game and are happy to see them return. The experience they bring with them will enhance their own game as well as lead the way for this years new players. Although they were not Seniors last year, many of our returning vets played like seasoned veterans last year. It is great to have them back.”

The Raiders will once again play a very tough schedule both in the Bay State League as well as non-conference wise. Campbell touched on the toughness of their schedule both in league and out, “As you say our competition is always tough within the league and we schedule top quality non league opponents to enhance an already challenging schedule. Again we will meet Barnstable, Falmouth and LaSalle of Rhode Island in the Cape Cod Classic in February.” Campbell went on to say about the Bay State in particular, “Within our league it is difficult to predict who will rise to the top because some Freshmen usually appear on Bay state varsities and they come in and play like Seniors. After we go through the Herget teams in the first round, we will have a better idea of who the newly arrived premier players are and how they are going to elevate their teams and impact the league.”

The Raiders open up on the 12th at Dedham before hosting Needham on the 16th at Babson.

So as we continue our week long look at Raider winter sports teams we take a look today at both the boys basketball and boys hockey teams who kicked off practices yesterday and who are both coming off of state tournament appearances in 2014-15. We start with boys basketball who is coming off a 13-9 season a year ago in Mike Reidy’s return to the helm of the program. The boys won their first tournament game knocking off Bridgewater Raynham at home before falling on the road to eventual state champion Catholic Memorial. Now the boys will have a lot of shoes to fill as they graduated 8 seniors from a year ago but do get some experience back in the back court in guards Jake Mohan and Jack Waisel. Myles Cole also returns after seeing some key time off the bench a year ago. The boys will kick off another quest at both a tournament appearance and Bay State Herget title as they host Dedham on December 11th and their schedule also includes their yearly trips to the Rockland Tournament December 28th and 29th and to the Westwood Tournament February 14th and 15th.

For boys hockey meanwhile they are coming off a very successful 2014-15 campaign that saw them finish with a 15-3-4 overall record and a Bay State Herget title. The boys also knocked off BR in the first round of the tournament before falling in the quarterfinals to another eventual state champion the Hingham Harbormen. Paul Donato returns for his 10th season behind the Raider bench and despite losing some talent the cupboard definitely is not bare as they Raiders return several key contributors from a year ago including Carter Huff and Ethan Murphy up front and Kevin Ward on defense. The Raiders will have some big shoes to fill in net though with the graduation of Jack Maxwell and finding an adequate replacement will be key to the teams success this season. As of now it looks like Andrew Johnston is the favorite to replace Maxwell in net but we’ll certainly have to wait and see on that with tryouts just being over a day old. The boys begin their Herget title defense on December 12th against Dedham at home, the first of 3 home games including arch-rival Needham (December 16th). The boys non-league schedule consists of some familiar and some new foes including at the end of the season they will host two traditionally strong D1 North programs in Winchester and Waltham in consecutive games to close out the regular season.

So appropriately enough on the day that Winter Sports practices officially begin, we begin our preview of the 2015-16 winter season by taking a look at the girls basketball team whose coach Glen Magpiong enters his second season at the helm and his 11th season overall in Wellesley basketball having coached in the boys program for 9 years prior to taking the head girls position last year. Coach Magpiong was kind enough to answer a few questions about the upcoming season which sees his Raiders coming off a 13-8 season a year ago, in which the Raiders were eliminated in the first round of the tournament falling to Brockton. That being said Magpiong sees a lot to build on heading into this season as his squad returns many key pieces from last year, “We have 8 returning who played on last years team, which is really exciting.  Last year was the first time working on the girls side here at Wellesley and it took some getting used to for both them and me.  To be honest, I think the transition was seamless and with the success we had
last year and with a very solid core group returning, I like our chances heading into the year.”

The Raiders will go with 5 captains this year in seniors Emma Ivey, Caroline Sullivan, Katie Williamson, and Emily Cronin, along with junior Dorian Cohen. Magpiong is very excited about all the leadership qualities all the captains bring to the table. “Katie and Emily really spearheaded the off-season work (Emma was soccer Captain and Dorian and Caroline traveled a bunch with their AAU teams) and coordinated activities with the younger players. I am really looking forward to working with each players’ unique leadership quality.” In terms of key returning players Magpiong didn’t want to point out specific players as tryouts are just beginning but did reiterate the core that this team has coming back which certainly brings with it a lot of optimism, We have 8 players who played on the varsity team last year, who will presumably be on the team this year.  To be honest, I am excited about the prospects for each and every one of them.  We also have some strong underclassman I am excited about.”

As always the Raiders will be playing a tough Bay State Conference schedule and Magpiong is certainly aware of what the conference is capable of heading into the season. “I truly believe this will be one of the strongest years for the BSC.Every team on the Herget side returns a bunch of their players.  Walpole the defending champion and I think they have 11 returners.  Natick has arguably the best player in the state.  Norwood returns virtually their entire team after going 16-4.  Milton and Dedham are always tough. Braintree is the defending State Champion and Newton North gets back a D1 commit.  It will be a battle, night in and night out.” Lastly Magpiong touched on the exciting announcement that his team will be playing at TD Garden January 24th against their arch rivals the Needham Rockets. This will be Magpiong’s second time coaching in the Garden as back in 2014 his boys team knocked off St Johns Prep. “The girls seem to be excited about having the opportunity to be playing at the Garden against Needham.  When we did it with the boys a couple of years ago, it was the highlight of the year for some of us.  The fact that it is against Needham, probably does make it a bit more special.  Now we just need to make sure we fill the Garden at 8:30 AM on January 24th.”

The Raiders open up their season Friday December 11th at Dedham and their home opener is the following Tuesday the 15th vs Needham.

First of all want to wish all the winter sports athletes best of luck as they begin their seasons tomorrow. That being said the blog this week will be dedicated to winter sports previews as we take a look at what to expect out of all Raider teams in the 2015-16 winter season. Look out for that as we get started tomorrow with Girls and Boys  Basketball.

Wellesley Senior Baseball Commissoner Mike Vogel passed along some information about an exciting new season of Wellesley Senior League Baseball which once again this year will be entering teams into the Natick Babe Ruth League. For any further information or questions please contact Mike directly at mikegvogel@hotmail.com

WLL Senior Baseball 2016

Wellesley will be entering teams into a combined Dover/Natick/Wellesley Babe Ruth league. Games will be played on a major league diamond and will offer boys an opportunity to continue to develop their baseball skills and adjust to playing on a big diamond, while participating in a competitive league. Games will be played in Dover, Natick, and Wellesley. The season will run from April to the middle of June, including playoffs. There will also be an opportunity to participate in preseason practice sessions run by professional coaches during the months of January and February.

Once the season begins there will be 2 or 3 games and one practice a week. We will have some flexibility to accommodate AAU/school baseball schedules. This is an excellent opportunity for boys who want to continue to refine their skills before trying out for a school team next year, are looking for a second league in which to get extra at bats and game experience, or just want to keep playing the game they love.

So the question poised yesterday was what Major League Baseball organization does former Wellesley High School baseball standout Nate Freiman (05) play for currently? The answer is… The Oakland Athletics as Freiman joined the A’s back in 2013 playing for the big league both all or part of both that year and 2014 while this season Freiman played the full year down in the A’s minor league system.