The latest Wellesley, Mass., sports news:

Webb, Brooks strike gold at Meet of Champions

Wellesley High Track & Field’s Eddie Webb, a senior captain, this past weekend at the Meet of Champions won the boys’ javelin competition with a throw of 181 feet. Webb broke the school record last year for the new javelin at this meet with a throw of 184′ 10″, and this year’s effort allowed him to defend his title and cap off an undefeated career. This Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association event brings together top performers from all of the state’s divisions (Wellesley competes in Division 2).

Webb spent most of this outdoor track & field season assisting with coaching, as he was recovering from ankle surgery in December. But he did qualify for divisional competition, and earned his spot at the Meet of Champions.

Webb, who also throws the shot put and served as the football team’s kicker and punter the past 2 years, will take his javelin throwing skills to Brown University now that he has graduated from Wellesley High.

Teammate Christopher Brooks, a speedy junior who shined earlier this year for the indoor track team locally and at Nationals, won the 200-meter dash at the Meet of Champions and nearly doubled up in the 100-meter race, where he finished second.

Chris Brooks is the MIAA Meet of Champions 200m Champ!
🥇21.42s@wellesleysports @WellesleyGTrack pic.twitter.com/sIzfAwn9rN

— James Everhart (@JDEcoach) June 2, 2023

Middle schoolers win state ultimate frisbee title

In just its second year playing as a team, the Wellesley Ultimate Team ran the table at the state middle school championship on June 3 in Northampton to bring home the title. Last year, the team won only 1 game at the tournament, but this time around it went 4-0.

As we wrote recently, Wellesley Ultimate emerged during the pandemic as a way for kids to get together in a socially distanced way, and much to Coach Jim Chen’s chagrin, the team is not formally affiliated yet with the public school system.

During the tournament, Wellesley went to sudden death to defeat favorite Amherst Middle School, a team that’s been around since the 1990s and crushed Wellesley last year.
“You can’t imagine the emotional high coming off this win!” Chen said.

Wellesley then edged Newton’s Brown MS 8-6, Hartsbrook MS 11-7, and Four Rivers MS 13-3.

“All in all, an amazing day, and an amazing group of young ultimate players who not only represented Wellesley with pride, but also put Wellesley on the MA Ultimate Frisbee map. WUT went undefeated this year in the regular season (not counting the lost in one of the HS scrimmages) and the State Championship games. Hopefully, the graduating 8th graders can take this experience as the foundations to build up a high school team next year,” Chen said.

Golfer Michael Thorbjornsen back at US Open golf major

Wellesley High alum and current Stanford University student-athlete Michael Thorbjornsen has earned his way back to the US Open, which starts June 15 in Los Angeles.

Thorbjornsen qualified for the US Open by winning a qualifier in Summit, NJ.

This will be Thorbjornsen’s third appearance at the US Open.

Free swim lessons at Charles River Aquatics

Learn to swim with Charles River Aquatics, located in the Boston Sports Institute facility at 900 Worcester St., during a FREE 4-day crash course in Basic Water Safety in June.

CRA has partnered with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) as a site for the 2023 Water Safety Initiative.  CRA will provide beginner swimming lessons with the goal of creating a safer environment for all patrons at public beaches and pools across the Commonwealth.

This program is open to anyone ages 4 and up.

Dates:  June 5-8; 12-15; 19-22; 26-29

Registration:  https://app.iclasspro.com/portal/charlesriveraquatics/camps/42

Questions: Email laurie@charlesriveraquatics.com

*Please note: This program is not designed as part of regular CRA Instructional Swim Programming and is not intended for those already enrolled in CRA lessons.

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The Wellesley Ultimate Team (WUT) team got its start during the summer of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing and parents were looking for socially-distanced ways for their masked elementary school kids to have fun and get exercise. Now three years later, as the ultimate frisbee team preps for the state’s championship on June 3, it remains to be seen how things will be play out out as most of the team heads to high school in the fall.

Longtime ultimate player Jim Chen got the team going with his kids and other Schofield Elementary School students, and has been trying to get formal support through the public school system for the sport, with a grand vision of seeing the popular disc sport eventually go varsity at Wellesley High.

“Ultimate is a great alternative sport for kids no longer interested in traditional sports like basketball, baseball, and football. It’s a non-contact, outdoor team sport. The cost to playing the game is low—just cones, plastic frisbees, and field space,” Chen says. “The sport of Ultimate allows youths to develop their game as they choose. Ultimate can be a casual pick-up game, or it can be as competitive as you want it. Massachusetts high schools already have three divisions of play.”

As of now, the team is not formally affiliated with the public school system. “It is maddening to see middle school programs in Newton and Needham that have garnered such popularity that they had to restrict participation to tryouts,” said Chen, who says he has been unable to get the team officially recognized through Wellesley Public Schools or to work out anything on the liability forms front.

There’s a process to get sports on the varsity track at Wellesley High, usually starting at the club level. Teams such as cheerleading, girls’ golf, and boys’ volleyball have taken this path over the past decade or so in becoming varsity programs.

Wellesley High actually does have a Frisbee Club, which includes weekly ultimate games and weekend disc golf matches. Though Chen says it’s much more casual than what most of the kids on Wellesley Youth Ultimate are looking for. Assistant Athletic Director Chris McGrath says maybe a more formal team will develop in the future, but that there’s nothing immediately happening.

At other area schools, ultimate has become more formalized and co-ed teams are thriving. Natick High Ultimate was formed in 2010, and last year the varsity team won the Division 2 state title. Weston High has a new spring club team, and a program for little kids have emerged in that neighboring town as well.

The Wellesley Ultimate Team, which has a brand new website, has cobbled together a schedule of games that began at the end of March, with home games played at Sprague Fields. WUT has reeled off wins vs. middle school teams from Shady Hill, Belmont Day, Needham, and Newton, and games against a couple of high school junior varsity teams have been added to the schedule “to keep our kids on their toes,” Chen says.

“Our program is in the air for next year where we have not had the support from the school to grow the middle school team, and there is currently no Wellesley High School Ultimate,” says Chen, who played the sport in high school in California, as well as at college and in leagues like BUDA. 

Chen says Boston has one of the most vibrant ultimate scenes in the country, and even points to a couple of Wellesley Ultimate Frisbee team members from the 1970’s and 1980’s who were inducted into the USA Ultimate Hall of Fame.

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