WAKEFIELD — The MIAA’s first power rankings of the fall season were released on Friday afternoon.
Multiple teams from Wakefield High had impressive rankings at about the halfway point of the season for most. The MIAA will now update their power rankings every Tuesday and Friday until the end of the regular season.
The five sports that are power ranked in the fall are football, field hockey, girls’ soccer, boys’ soccer and volleyball.
Wakefield’s golf team has already punched their ticket to the North Sectional where they will look to defend their title from last year. The Warriors will bring a perfect 11-0 record into their match with Arlington today, 3:30 p.m. at Thomson Country Club. Wakefield has three matches and the Middlesex League Shootout left on their schedule.
Wakefield’s cross country teams will travel to Watertown tomorrow. The girls’ team is coming off a 19-43 victory in their first league meet against Burlington on Sept. 16 while the boys’ team is looking to bounce back from a close, 33-24 loss to the Red Devils.
The Wakefield girls’ swim team will meet Lexington tomorrow, 4:30 p.m. at the Malden High pool. The Warriors are looking for their first win but have had multiple impressive performances throughout their first four meets.
As for power ranked sports, the football team came in with the highest ranking in town. The Warriors were ranked No. 4 in the first Div. 4 rankings after starting 2-0 with wins over Greater Lawrence and Lynnfield. After the rankings were released, Wakefield fell to Beverly 41-40 on the road Friday night. The Panthers are ranked No. 13 in Div. 2. The top 16 ranked teams make the playoffs. Joining Wakefield in the top five of the first D4 rankings was Tewksbury, Scituate, Canton and Duxbury. The Warriors will play another D2 team this Friday night when they welcome a talented Winchester (No. 16 in D2) to Landrigan Field.
The volleyball team earned the No. 12 ranking in Div. 2. Wakefield moved up from Div. 3 this year. The Warriors are 7-3 and coming off back-to-back wins over Weston and Watertown. The victory over Weston was a big one for the Warriors as the Wildcats knocked Wakefield out of the D3 tournament in each of the last two seasons. The Warriors have three matches this week. They host Wilmington tonight at 6 p.m., travel to Wayland tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. and welcome Winchester to the Charbonneau Field House on Friday night at 6 p.m. The top five teams in D2 are Oliver Ames, Duxbury, Longmeadow, Wayland and King Philip.
The girls’ soccer team earned a No. 34 ranking in the first D2 rankings. The soccer, field hockey and volleyball state tournaments accept the top 32 ranked teams regardless of record. Teams that are .500 or better qualify automatically regardless of ranking. The Warriors are 2-5-1. They host a strong Div. 1 Winchester team tomorrow, 4:15 p.m. at Walton Field. The top five Div. 2 girls’ soccer teams are Duxbury, Longmeadow, Mansfield, North Quincy and Canton.
The boys’ soccer team was ranked No. 42 in Div. 2. The Warriors, who have made the D2 Final Four in each of the last two seasons, will bring a 3-2-3 record into this week. They beat Burlington 6-0 in the Kicks for Cancer game held at Concord-Carlisle on Saturday morning. Wakefield will travel to Winchester tomorrow at 4:15 p.m. for their only game this week. The top five boys’ soccer teams in D2 are Northampton, Longmeadow, Oliver Ames, West Springfield and Dartmouth.
The field hockey team was ranked No. 43 in the initial Div. 2 rankings. The Warriors (1-6-1) travel to Wilmington tonight at 5:30 p.m. and then host Winchester tomorrow at 4:15 p.m. The top five field hockey teams in D2 are Hingham, Nashoba, Somerset-Berkley, King Philip and Canton.