There are many Wayland High School students who enjoy playing for their varsity, JV or freshman teams. Student-athletes work hard to excel both on the field and in the classroom. It takes an even greater amount of sacrifice to make it to the next level and be named a Dual County League (DCL) All-Star. This past fall, WHS is proud to recognize 31 athletes as DCL All-Stars.

Many of these athletes work hard both in and out of practice. Some students even dedicate the time to practice their sport year-round. Boys soccer player Kyle Mabe doesn’t take a season off when it comes to soccer.

“I play soccer year-around,” Mabe said. “I play for a club team when I’m not playing with Wayland.”

It is an honor to be named a DCL All-Star, and Mabe doesn’t take the rewarding feeling for granted.

“It feels amazing to be a DCL All-Star because of all the hard work that was put into this last soccer season and knowing that it paid off in the end,” Mabe said.

Junior Cam Jones reiterated Mabe’s words. Jones also recognizes that even through adversity, hard work and dedication can pay off in the long run.

“It feels really good because I put in a lot of work in the offseason,” said Jones. “I was really excited when I first heard the news.”

Junior field hockey player Fatma Sayeh also credits the work she put in the offseason to her successes in the fall.

“I went to the turf over the summer with other players, and I let them do drills and shoot on me,” said Sayeh. “I also played in a summer league.”

Mabe is thankful for his teammates and coaches for his successful season.

“I think mainly my teammates and coaches helped me and pushed me every single day to help me achieve what I want,” Mabe said. “Everyone wants to see each other succeed and having others push you to your limits really helped me.”

For Jones, this was no ordinary season as his sophomore season ended early due to a broken arm.  Jones came into the year with a chip on his shoulder.

“Injuries are so common in sports, and it’s just something that you have to work through,” said Jones. “From being at that low point in my football career and then coming back and earning something like DCL All-Star is super rewarding.”

Sayeh was also thankful that her hard work had been recognized.

“Being a goalie, I have a huge responsibility, and I need to be able to carry the team and quite literally save us,” Sayeh said. “I never gave up even in times when we weren’t doing well because I knew they relied on me.”

Jones appreciates the recognition, but he knows when it all comes down to it, football is a team sport and focuses on team accomplishments over personal ones.

“I know myself as an athlete, and rewards like that are great, but at the end of the day that doesn’t really change that much when it comes to leading a team and playing with the boys,” Jones said.

Below is the list of all 31 athletes who were recognized as DCL All-Stars:

Volleyball: First team: Ava Tang and Noelle McGah; Second team: Ines Alpendre and Lindsey Robison

Girls Soccer: Kayla Poulsen, Ellie Tyska, Allyson Goldin and Carly Camphausen

Boys Soccer: First Team: Gage Fuller, Nick Smith, Andrew D’Amico and Mateos Norian; Second team: Jake Tyska, Kyle Mabe and Jack Dretler

Cheerleading: Alexandra Filandrianos

Golf: Liam Gill and Myle Larsen

Cross Country: Meghan Walsh and McKenna Kelemanik

Field Hockey: Lily Tardif and Fatma Sayeh

Football: Brooks Jones, Wellington Pereira, Brian Carmichael, Michael Lampert, Mason Bolivar, Cameron Jones, Phil Koechling, Kuran Freeman and Andrew Brogan