Four high school journalists named winners of new-look Will McDonough Writing Contest

Sport admin June 9, 2026 0 Comments

Four high school journalists named winners of new-look Will McDonough Writing Contest

Four New England high school journalists are the 2026 winners in the revamped Will McDonough Writing Contest.

Devyn O’Donnell and Joseph Manzi, both of Cranston West High in Rhode Island, were the Grades 12 and 11 winners, respectively. Ada Ferguson of Oakmont Regional High (Mass.) was the Grade 10 winner, and Ella Fireman of The Rivers School (Mass.) won the Grade 9 division.

The contest, previously held by The Sports Museum at TD Garden as an essay contest for Grades 4-12, was transformed into a high school sports journalism contest in 2026. This spring, the Globe sports department took over managing the contest, which is held in memory of longtime Globe sports columnist Will McDonough, who died in 2003.

More than 90 entries were received from students around New England, and judged based on “how well they express and support ideas, opinions, and claims, with sports as a central element.” John Vitti, a Globe sports multiplatform editor, was the contest chairman and managed the judging process.

The Globe Foundation, The Sports Museum, and the McDonough family all provided support for the new-look contest.

The winning entries covered a range of sports. O’Donnell’s story was about his school’s wrestling team, while Manzi profiled a longtime Cranston West coach who was promoted to athletic director. Ferguson’s entry covered the unified basketball program at her school, and Fireman wrote about her participation in competitive tennis.

Entries receiving honorable mentions were:

Grade 9: Evgeny Zatsepin, Brookline (Mass.); Kennedy Daigle, Freeport (Maine); Amelie Theunissen, Brookline (Mass.); Alyssa Sutherland, Norwood (Mass.); Becket Todd, Wayland (Mass.).

Grade 10: Lydia Costa, Freeport (Maine); Katie Rish, Natick (Mass.); William Greenhill, Belmont Hill (Mass.); Mariam Abdulle, Boston Latin (Mass.); Kim Tauro, Austin Prep (Mass.).

Grade 11: Kyle Zhu, North Quincy (Mass.); Xavier Cardoso, Sharon (Mass.); Joey Fay, Wayland (Mass.); Annabelle Hage, Wayland (Mass.); Gabriella M. Curtis, Bangor (Maine); Liam Cincotta, Grafton (Mass.).

Grade 12: Philip Wang, North Quincy (Mass.); Nathan Rettkowski, Triton (Mass.); Gabe Cohen, Brimmer (Mass.); Ella Angelo, East Haven (Conn.); Ava Stairs, Freeport (Maine); Eli Schwartzman, South Windsor (Conn.).