By Maddie Gerber
Hometown Weekly Intern
The Needham-Wellesley football rivalry is notorious for being the oldest in the country, and a much-anticipated tradition for both communities. However, the 132nd game ended with both teams throwing fists rather than throwing passes in a massive, bench-clearing brawl. As a result, the referees called the game...
By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Expectations are always high for the Needham High boys varsity soccer team. Entering the fall, there were significant question marks surrounding Jimmy Odierna’s club, especially considering the departure of a large 2019 senior class that made up the majority of the Rockets starting lineup last season.
Despite...
By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Whenever Needham and Wellesley have met on the soccer pitch in the playoffs in recent years, there have been two major common denominators: the weather has been terrible, and the game has been an instant classic. Both of these trends continued on Thursday evening as the No. 12...
By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports
Starting the season 1-4 and losing stud slot back Odahri Hibberts to injury was not what Needham High football had envisioned when entering the 2019 season. Despite facing significant adversity, Needham showed a lot of grit and heart on Friday night when the Rockets hosted unbeaten Milton.
After falling behind,...
By Maddie Gerber
Hometown Weekly Intern
The Needham girls varsity volleyball team continues to assert its dominance over the Herget Division, adding another win against Natick to its already impressive undefeated record of 8-0 and officially securing a spot in the post-season. Although the Rockets had already played the Redhawks in their...
By Amelia Tarallo
Hometown Staff
On Thursday, September 19, kids had all their questions about space answered during the Needham Library’s Space Adventure program.
Niki Apostolicas, a junior from Needham High School, began the program by having the kids introduce themselves with a few icebreakers. Each kid named their favorite planet, their favorite fruit,...
By James Kinneen
Hometown Weekly Reporter
On Thursday afternoon, just before the rain came, the Needham Rockets field hockey team shut out Wellesley, 3-0. The victory moved the Rockets, who were playing on their new turf field, to 6-1-1. The Raiders, meanwhile, dropped to 5-4.
Needham’s Grace Kelley lifted the ball past the goalie ten...
By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Two of the Bay State Conference’s elite met on the pitch at Cricket Field on Thursday afternoon as the Needham High School girls varsity soccer team hosted Weymouth. Two of the favorites to win the Herget Division, the Rockets (4-0-1) and Wildcats (4-1-2) did not disappoint on...
By James Kinneen
Hometown Weekly Reporter
After her team moved to 4-1 with a 5-0 victory over Weymouth at Weymouth’s Legion Field, Needham field hockey coach Stephanie Magni described the game by noting: “This was a good game for us. We had a rough first half because we had very little to warm up...
The Needham High School Boosters Club’s annual sticker drive fundraiser begins the weekend of September 21. NHS student athletes will fan out all over Needham’s neighborhoods, knocking on doors, asking residents for a contribution to help support the school’s 75 athletic teams and 10 clubs. With any donation, they will receive a Rockets sticker as...
By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Two field hockey teams with high expectations this season met at Nora Searle Field on Monday for an early-season Division II vs. Division I non-conference showdown as Dover-Sherborn hosted Needham.
Thanks to a goal by junior Grace Kelley and a 13-save performance in net by Cammie Foster, the...
By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
After losing a large core of talent with the departure of last year’s senior class, which included the likes of Duke tight end Matt Smith and Assumption quarterback Charlie Ogletree, Needham High football entered the 2019 season with a lot of figuring out to do on both sides...
By Shelly Santaniello
Hometown Weekly Correspondent
The Sunita L. Williams Elementary School has opened. This is a significant event for the town. Needhamites probably can’t help but be impressed with the big, beautiful structure as they drive by. They may wonder what it looks like inside, how many lucky students will attend, and how it...
By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
With field hockey back in full swing, Needham native and The Gunnery School product Mikayla Michals and the Providence College Friars are 1-1 through two games of the 2019 season. After falling to BC, 2-1, in the season-opener on August 30, the Friars took out No. 24...
[caption id="attachment_33603" align="alignright" width="225"] (Right to left) Michelle Despres, Maya Vogt, Kayla Talcoff, Hanna Levy, Izzy Mersky, and Helena Zhang with their sculpture, 'SPEAK!'[/caption]
Needham High School Art 3...
By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
It was a tough ending to a remarkable run for Needham High baseball on Friday night, as the No. 8 Rockets hosted No. 9 Xaverian in the opening round of the Division I South sectionals.
After falling behind by a pair of runs twice in the early...
Needham resident Artie Crocker will forever recall the moment he learned that his daughter, Christine, had died by suicide. He will never forget the horror that seized his body, wrenching him from a peaceful Cape Cod day in March of 2015.
Christine was 27 1/2 years old; a thoughtful and funny young woman who...
By James Kinneen
Hometown Weekly Reporter
On Monday evening, June 3, Needham High School held its 2019 commencement ceremony.
But unlike many other ceremonies, this one was a unique mix of hopeful optimism, youthful hijinks and somber reflection of the classmates who couldn’t be there with them.
There were plenty of fun moments. Amid the...
By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Throughout the 2019 high school lacrosse season, perhaps no player in the state meant more to their team than Needham’s Jason Child. A shoo-in for All-Scholastic recognition, Child led Needham in both scoring and total points and helped the Rockets to a 12-0 league record en route...
By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
It’s playoff baseball season, a time of year about which the boys from Needham may know a thing or two, especially after winning their way to the Division I title last year.
After opening the year 0-3 and sitting at 6-7 on May 18, Needham had some...
