This year Holyoke High School ended the fall sports season with some great wins, with multiple teams making playoffs. Holyoke competed in field hockey, football, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls soccer, and volleyball.

The field hockey team had an impressive season finishing with a record of 16-2-2, and is still the only team undefeated on the new Holyoke High turf. The team was able to make playoffs and reached the semi-finals where they lost a hard-fought game to Longmeadow. Katie Keane hit the 100 point marker and broke the school record for career points. She was also Mass Live Athlete of the Week and made all-league along with her teammates Isabella Courchesne, Kassidy Lawrence, Bridget Healy, and Siobhan Brennan. Katie and Isabella also went on to be named to the All-Western Mass First Team.

Girls volleyball also had a great regular season and finished with a record of 11-10. They made the playoffs but unfortunately lost in the first round to Central. Ivonne Cruz was given All-League and All-Star honors, and Coach Paula Conway, who now has coached Holyoke High for 20 years, looks to have an equally impressive season next year.

Boys Cross Country continued to be dominant with a final, regular-season record of 11-0. The undefeated regular season pales in comparison to their postseason accomplishments. They won the Valley South League Title, took 2nd place at the Pioneer Valley League Championships, finished 3rd at the Brown Invitational race, finished 2nd at the Western Mass Championship, had six all western mass team runners, and qualified for the state meet for the fourth year in a row. The team has a lot of young talent and is looking forward to more strong seasons in the future.

Girls Cross Country gave a tremendous effort all season and went 3-8. Lone senior, Maggie McAndrew, ended her cross country career with an impressive season and led her small team to the most victories they’ve had in a long time.

Boys Soccer made a great improvement from last season and finished with a record of 9-6-4. They also were awarded a first-round bye in the playoffs but ended up losing to West Springfield in the quarter-finals. Jack Stevenson and Emmanuel Villa made the All-Western Mass team, and Brayan Tavera was selected to the All-State Team. They are graduating nine seniors this year so it will be interesting to see how the younger guys step up and take on next season.

The Girls Soccer team also gave it their all this year but only pulled off two wins. Their final record was 2-14-2. Two members of the team, Kayla Lafortune, and Kathleen Sabourin were awarded coaches’ all-league honors. They are looking forward to improving their record next season.

The Football team shocked the world and went 6-5 for the third time in four years. They made a great improvement from last year’s 1-10 record and were named the number two seed in the playoffs this year. They had five players awarded coaches all-league honors in Jaeden Alejandro, Giovanni Carrasquillo, Corey Thomas, Martin Keane, and Nolan Keane with three other players falling just one vote short of the honor. They lost a heartbreaking game to Minnechaug in the first round of the playoffs, but many applauded them for putting on a great show and keeping the game close the whole way through. Unfortunately, the Knights did not end the season as they had hoped, losing to East Longmeadow and South Hadley in their final two games. However, the new Thanksgiving rivalry between Holyoke and South Hadley is sure to be interesting in the years to come.

With the success the teams achieved during the fall season, Holyoke looks to enjoy the same success in the Winter and Spring seasons as well as in the years to come.