We’re halfway through the winter sports season, and all the winter sports teams have shown great success so far in their respective seasons. With COVID precautions in place and safety measures practiced, the pandemic hasn’t been as big of an obstacle as it was during the previous winter sports season when the start date was much later and teams went weeks without having practices or games.

Athletic Director Scott Paine said he is happy about how the season is going, including the high participation numbers across the teams and the amount of fans showing up to all games and meets. Although winter sports games and meets are held at a variety of different venues, fan outcomes can be difficult, and there have been some issues with transportation due to the ongoing bus driver shortage. Paine is proud of how the winter sports programs continue to thrive despite these minor setbacks. Paine mentioned that COVID has been managed as well as expected, and almost every team has played all their scheduled games. Paine said that he can’t guarantee that COVID won’t affect the second half of the season–but he hopes it won’t. If a great surge in the numbers of COVID cases begins again, Paine believes the school will be able to handle it as long as the teams follow all the guidelines necessary to keep their seasons alive. 

The winter sports at SHS include boys and girls basketball, the swim and dive team, boys and girls hockey, winter track, gymnastics, and the ski team. Winter sports captains and notable athletes commented on how they feel their seasons are going so far: 

Senior Lillian Wiechert is a member of the gymnastics team at SHS and believes her season is going very well–they have only lost one meet this year and are 4-1. 

Senior basketball player Will Kimball is pleased about the first half of their season, as the basketball team is 8-2. Additionally, the team is looking forward to playing at TD Garden as part of the Andrew Lawson tournament on January 30th vs. Marshfield. 

Senior Thomas Bleakney participates in winter track, specifically engaging in the long jump, high jump, mile, and sometimes the 4×4 relay. Bleakney said they “don’t really have a winner or loser until the league championship so there is no definite record.”

Furthermore, the swim and dive team has gone 3-0 so far in their season, and senior Brian Hixson has been deemed notable this season, as he broke the record for the 200-yard freestyle, 200 yard IM, and 100-yard breaststroke. 

Junior Sarah Fogarty, who plays basketball at SHS, says she is happy about the first half of their seasons outcome, as their record stands at are 6-5.

Junior skier Reid Fulton is ranked 71st in his division, and describes his winter season as “fun.”

Lastly, junior defender Matt Seghezzi on the varsity hockey team stated that although the start of their season may have been a little rocky, they are now 8-3 and are playing very well.