AWHS Athletics Winter Blog #2

Winter Season in Full Swing

Written By:  Seniors Abby McCulloch & Liam Barnicle

Winter season has reached half-way point and teams are off to a fantastic start. As we approach the second half of the season, every Varsity team in the athletic program, except for one, has a record of .500 or better. The second half of the winter season should be a good one for all the teams. Abby & Liam sat down to take a look at each team!

*REMINDER: SPRING REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN! *

SWIMMING:

The swim team continues to knock off teams in their path. After 5 meets, the Bishops find themselves at 4-1 on the season. After finishing the year 7-2 last season, Coach Lally and company find themselves on track to finish with a better record than last season, which was a record-breaking season in many ways. The only loss so far this season came against Bishop Fenwick, but that didn't stop the swimmers from bouncing right back with a huge CCL victory over St. Marys. In the latest victory, the swimmers won all but one event in the meet. 

The Rossini brothers continued their dominance on the season, winning every time they dove into the pool against Marys. Junior captain, Kelsey Harrington, got to the winner's circle in the 100 backstroke for the first time in her three year career. The Bishops will look to take on O'Bryant this Friday, at Randolph. Also, the Austin Prep meet has been rescheduled for January 29th! 

CHEERLEADING:

This season the cheerleading team will have competitions coming up in February. They’ve won CCL titles in the past and hope to add another one this winter season. A couple of days a week, the girls have been working extremely hard in practices to perfect their routines. They also have been great support at all of the boys' basketball games this winter.  The cheerleaders hope to have support at the competitions in February so we hope everyone comes out and supports the Cheer team!

BOYS BASKETBALL:

The boys basketball team is looking forward to improving their 2-7 record in the second half of the season. Despite having 7 losses, the Bishops have been in a lot of games including a 5 point loss to Canton, 9 point loss to Fenwick, and a 2 point loss to Pembroke. Senior captain Tom Veasey says, "Our team has had a slow start but have improved greatly since the beginning of the season. We’re looking to get a few big road victories to get back on track. We are all so excited for the rest of the season!” The Bishops continue to work hard every day in practice and will need all the help that they can get with Cardinal Spellman coming to town on Friday and a road date next week with St. Marys. 


James Dolan, another captain, is part of the captains council here at AWHS. When asked about the new class, Dolan had this to say: “captains council is a great way for all the leaders of each team to collaborate and talk about things we need to work on as a school and things we are doing well. Captains council allows us to listen to ideas of other students to help better our own teams.”

GIRLS BASKETBALL:

Girls basketball is off to another strong start in the first half of the season. Coming off a State Title is never easy, but the Lady Bishops find themselves at 9-1 in their first ten games. That is good enough to land them a top-5 ranking in the state of Massachusetts. Their only loss on the year came on the road in overtime against a very good Cathedral team. They avenged that loss this past weekend in New York against Kennedy Catholic, out of PA. “Girls Basketball has been having a great season so far and we are looking forward to improving after our loss to Cathedral. We are very excited for the rest of the season to come!” says senior captain Shannon Kelly. The girls are looking forward to another big game on the road against Spellman.


Along with showing leadership on the court, our winter captains participate in a captains council. Shannon Kelly says “Captains council is a good way to gather all the captains together to address how are teams are working and how we can each become better leaders by learning from one another.” 

BOYS HOCKEY:

The boys hockey team hopes to improved their record, which now stands at 3-3-5, as the season approaches the half way point. The Bishops still have their eyes set on their pre-season goal of making the playoffs. That goal became a whole lot more realistic after key wins against King Philip and St. Marys. The second half of the year is going to be huge for the Bishops on the ice. Their 5 ties could make-or-break if they can get into the playoffs and will need to turn those ties into wins in the second half of the Winter.

When asked on his thoughts of the season so far, Senior Captain Brendan Foley said "After a slow start I think the boys are ready to turn it around. Everyone's starting to gel together at the right time with a couple big games coming up. We'll always be the hardest working team in the building win or lose.” The Bishops will travel to Bishop Fenwick this Saturday night in a big CCL showdown.

GIRLS HOCKEY:

The 7-2 girls hockey team is off to a very promising start in the first half of the season. The girls are still chasing the required points to qualify for some post season play, and if they keep up this success, there will be no doubt they will not only see a playoff birth, but also a very high seed. Coming off a big wins against Arlington Catholic,Whitman Hanson, Mount St. Charles, and Weymouth, the Lady Bishops will hope to clinch the tournament soon. 

When asked about the season Senior Captain Hannah Bell said “We’ve had a few tough losses after battling Austin Prep and Dennis Yarmouth. We are improving each day, we seem to be back on track and itching to get a spot in the tournament. Its important to keep our spirits up and keep our focus on working hard every day.” The Lady Bishops will host Stoneham tomorrow night at the Zap. Get out and root on the girls as they look for win #8.

WINTER TRACK:

Winter track got back over .500 last night with a convincing win over Marian/Matignon, 94-33. That puts both the boys and girls 3-2 on the season. In the meet, the Bishops took 1st place in 13-out-of-16 events, including very strong performances in both the 4 x 400 and 4 x 200 relays. The team continues to achieve personal bests each event, and continues to compete at a very high level in both boys and girls events. Coach Van Dorpe had this to say after the Lowell Catholic meet, in which he saw his team dominate early and often; "It was great to see just how focused everyone was from start to finish. It certainly hasn't been easy to prepare for these meets because of the weather we face each day during the winter season, but I am very proud of both our male and female student-athletes who have done an outstanding job staying motivated. We are looking forward to a strong end of the season."

Feel free to go by GOBishops and check out the list of every one who is achieving personal bests on a weekly basis! Great work guys and girls!