NHS sports play on - Needham Observer

November is here, and several Needham High School teams are preparing to compete in the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association playoffs.

After drawing a bye in the preliminary round, Courtney Chaloff’s girls varsity volleyball team begins play in the Division 1 Round of 32 Thursday afternoon, Nov. 2 at home against Central Catholic. The Rockets are the No. 5 seed after going 14-3 and finishing atop the Bay State Conference Herget Division. Central Catholic (7-13) is the No. 28 seed.

Needham brings valuable experience to the tournament, after winning state championships in 2019 and 2021. Senior co-captains Samantha Tam and Izzy Streeter were sophomores on the 2021 team. “They’re definitely eager to get back (to the top),” Chaloff said. “They know what it takes to get there.”

Today’s game time is 5:30 p.m. If Needham wins, it will host the winner of today’s Chelmsford at Brookline game in the next round.

Tomorrow night, Needham (7-1) takes on Westford Academy (5-3) in the first round of the MIAA football playoffs at Memorial Field.

Coach Doug Kopcso’s Rockets are the No. 3 seed in Division 1. They’re on a three-game winning streak after losing 10-9 at Milton on Oct. 6. The Rockets feature a stout defense and strong running game featuring senior fullback Tate Hoffmeister.

The winner of tomorrow night’s game will move on to face the winner of tomorrow night’s Natick at Methuen game.

Needham’s field hockey team (13-5-0) is seeded No. 12 in Division 1 and will host No. 21 seed Newton North (12-5-3) tomorrow afternoon in the first round of the state tournament. Game time is 5 p.m. The winner will face the winner of tomorrow afternoon’s Essex North Shore at Acton-Boxboro game. Stephanie Magni’s Rockets were a Bay State Conference-best 11-2 in league play.

Division 1 tournament brackets for both boys and girls soccer were announced Wednesday afternoon. The boys’ team was seeded No. 2 in Division 1 (behind Concord-Carlisle) and drew a preliminary-round bye. On Sunday at 3 p.m. it will host the winner of tomorrow’s Plymouth North at Lexington game.

The Rockets, coached by James Odierna, went 14-2-2 during the regular season, topping the Bay State Conference with a 13-1 record in league play.

Coach Kayla Steeves’ girls’ soccer team (8-5-5 and 5-4-4 in Bay State conference play) is the No. 12 seed and drew a bye on the preliminary round. On Sunday at 5 p.m it will play No. 21 Woburn (9-5-5) in the Round of 32at Memorial Field.

Tournament brackets for unified basketball are still to be announced. The final home game for Needham’s coed unified basketball team is scheduled Thursday afternoon vs. Walpole.

Here’s a look at how Needham High’s varsity teams are doing in other fall competition:

Kate Curtin’s swim & dive team last weekend won the Bay State Conference Meet for the first time since 2003 after going 9-1 during the regular season. The team’s recent victory over Wellesley snapped that team’s 76-meet win streak. The South sectionals are coming up Saturday at Boston University.

After finishing the regular season 10-3-1, the boys golf team, coached by Adam Cole, finished tied for 11^th in Tuesday’s state Division 1 finals in Hampden.

The Needham girls cross country team, coached by Sue McNatt, finished second by a tie-breaker in last weekend’s Bay State Conference Championship meet in Wrentham. Coach Chris Van Cott’s boys finished 6^th. The state tournament is scheduled Nov. 11.

The coed Sailing Team, coached by Jamie McClellan, was on the Charles for a Halloween practice race with Cambridge Rindge and Latin and Boston Latin.

The cheer team, led by Rhiannon Heckman, was participating in Wednesday’s Bay State Event after finishing second in the Game Day and Division I category at the recent Natick Invitational.

Coach Jessica Arruda’s dance team will be at Endicott College this weekend for the season’s first event.

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Pep rally revived at NHS

By Molly Krupat

Pairs of twins from the senior class get ready for the three legged race / Credit: Jillian Fluekiger NHS '24

On Friday, Oct. 27,all four grades of Needham High School made their way to the hill overlooking the football field for the first NHS pep rally since 2019. Each grade sat in sections on the field, sporting specific class colors they were asked to wear and the Needham Rocket mascot greeted everyone as they made their way outside.

Four seniors began by recognizing students and teachers for accomplishments in academics, sports, debate and more. They also brought students from the crowd to “pie face” — and one student even had their head shaved.

The rally leaders then called all the senior twins to participate in a two-legged race. The sibling teams sprinted across the football field and the Ching team won.

The pep rally was especially important to this year's seniors because their high school experience had been atypical with COVID disrupting the first couple of years. Last year, Principal Aaron Sicotte and student council members advocated to bring it back.“Brad Hamermesh, Elsie Sachs, Catherine Brandish and Julia Robbins were four instrumental StuCo leaders who were heavily involved in the planning,” he said.

Organizers worked tirelessly over the past few weeks to finalize details and make the necessary preparations. Senior Robin Briggs, one of the organizers, said they were “going for a new approach this year.” Historically, the grades had been split between the cafeteria and the gym, but they wanted to make it more inclusive and have everyone together, so they moved it to the hill.

NHS juniors and seniors gather in the gym before the all-school pep rally / Credit: Jillian Fluekiger NHS '24

“Last year, Student Council leaders and I started talking about having a pep rally,” said Sicotte. “They weren't able to coordinate the details for a spring rally, which we briefly aimed for, but they were able to bring to life the idea for this year. It was a student's idea to have an upper class experience in the gym during one block, then to bring the full school together for the last block. This creates something new for students to look forward to as they go through Needham High and look forward to junior and senior year experiences, while also giving the all-school experience that we were striving for.”

Briggs said she and her team will discuss what went well and what needs to be improved, and that there are “many iterations on how to do it exactly.” For starters, they’re hoping for a better sound system for next time.

Briggs said overall, she and her team were proud of how the pep rally went and hope to see it inspire younger students and spark a tradition for the future. The seniors heading this event said that they wanted it to be their senior year legacy.

“The pep rally is designed to bring the school together to celebrate the student body and the incredible successes of students and groups, and to build spirit within Needham High School,” said Sicotte. “Student Council has done a wonderful job of advocating for the student body and creating an event that was fun, celebratory, and inclusive, while also building spirit and enthusiasm.”

Molly Krupat is a sophomore at Needham High School.