Credit: Sasha Libenzon

WSPN shares information about every 2024 fall sport, including a recap of each team’s 2023 season, the team captains and upcoming games.

Fall sports are now picking up speed at Wayland High School. Below are updates and information on each of the teams kicking off their seasons.

Football
Last season, the football team finished with a record of 6-2 and clinched a Dual County League (DCL) Foley Division win. This year, the team is led in part by senior captain Max Dresens, a National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division I commit to Bucknell University. Last year, Dresens beat a WHS record in most rushing yards in a single season with 1,762 yards. The team’s first “Friday Night Lights” game is against Hopkinton on Friday, Sept. 13 at the WHS turf.

“I’d say I’m most excited about playing one last season with the guys I’ve played with since eighth grade,” senior captain Luke DiPietro-Froio said. “The family we’ve built here is special and is the reason why we chose the slogan ‘Brotherhood.’ Along with that, there’s heavy expectations surrounding our team, but the goal right now is to take one game at a time and be 1-0 every week.”

Captains: Dresens and DiPietro-Froio, along with seniors Owen Finnegan, Michael Keenan and Ben Hynes.

Girls Soccer

This season, the girls soccer team has a new head coach, WHS English teacher Ed Dehoratius. Senior captains Jackie Rainville and Zoe Mittelsteadt have committed to play soccer at the collegiate level. Next fall, Rainville will play for Williams College and Mittelsteadt will play for Bates College. Their first game will be on Wednesday, Sept. 4 at Dover-Sherborn.

“We have a strong senior class and a lot of talent, so I look forward to playoffs and seeing how far we can make it,” senior captain Annie McQuilkin said.

Captains: Rainville, Mittelsteadt and McQuilkin.

Boys Soccer

After three scrimmages during preseason, during which the team beat Foxborough 4-0, Oliver Ames 3-2 and Maynard 2-0, the team hopes to clinch another victory against Cohasset, away on Wednesday, Sept. 4. After playing for the club team Major League Soccer (MLS) NEXT Intercontinental Football Academy of New England his junior year, senior Alex Crawford has returned to the WHS soccer team after committing to Trinity College for soccer.

“Going into the new season our team is super excited to play with each other and are confident that we will succeed,” senior captain Riley Martins said. “A goal for us this year is to win our league.”

Captains: Martins and seniors Jack Gavron and Lucas Yemin.

Field Hockey

This year, the field hockey team has an all new coaching staff with former middle school coach, Sarah Woodside, as the new varsity head coach. Cara Chase is the new assistant varsity coach and Heather Russo is the new junior varsity coach. The field hockey team beat Framingham 4-0 in a preseason scrimmage and their first official game is on Friday, Sept. 6, at Concord-Carlisle.

“I am excited to see the progress in the team throughout the season and really work together to accomplish our goals,” junior captain Kate Goodman said. “I really want every player to put in all their effort and use communication on and off the field.”

Captains: Goodman and seniors Finley Knapp, Lily Cerne and Cate Ellenbogen.

Girls Volleyball

After going 11-8 last season and making it into the third round of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) playoffs, the team hopes to build on their success for the upcoming season. Their first game is at home on Friday, Sept. 6 against Natick.

“The team and I are really excited for this season especially because of how far we made it into [the] playoffs last year,” senior captain Abby Bennett said. “I’m mostly just excited to get to play with a great group of girls.”

Captains: Bennett and seniors Sam Lee and Tristen Chow.

Cross Country

The cross country team looks to rebuild this season with new freshmen on the team. Last year, members of the boys team and senior captain Arya Samaratunga qualified for the MIAA Cross Country Meet of Champions. The girls team has its first meet in Waltham on Wednesday, Sept. 11, while the boys team will have its first meet in Bedford on Wednesday, Sept. 18. Some runners will also compete at the Vineyard Invitational at Martha’s Vineyard High School on Saturday, Sept. 7.

“I’m really excited for this season because we have an unprecedented number of new underclassmen joining and our team is showing some really promising potential,” senior captain Arya Samaratunga said. “This season it’s even possible we could break some records, so that is something I’m really looking forward to. Everyone is already showing great commitment and eagerness to do well this season, and I can’t wait to see how we will execute that into our training and races.”

Captains: Samaratunga with additional captains to be announced.

Golf

Last year, Wayland Middle School science teacher Brian Reddington took over as head coach of the golf team. During his first season coaching, the team went 3-7. This season, the golf team started with a win against Bedford. Their next match is away on Thursday, Sept. 5, against Boston-Latin.

“I’m excited for us to compete in every match,” senior captain Spencer Kates said. “The team is solid this year. [I am] hoping that we can qualify for sectionals as a team.”

Captain: Kates.

Crew

After former girls varsity coach Mike Baker left the Wayland-Weston Rowing Association (WWRA) crew team to take on the role of Boatman at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), assistant coach Paul Hoffman took the position of head coach. In the past, WWRA has sent several rowers to NCAA Division I teams. Wayland senior Sadie Batista is committed to the University of California, Berkeley for rowing. However, she will no longer be competing for WWRA. This season, Batista switched to Community Rowing, Inc. (CRI), a club team that practices on the Charles River in Cambridge.

Captains: Seniors Jillian Segel, Evan Brown and Alex Dremov and Weston seniors Erin Flanigan and Thomas Lee.