Hackett All-St8

The Hackett Irish have long been revered as an athletics powerhouse. In this fall season, eight students have received the Division 4 all-state title in their respective sports. The eight include two from cross country and six from soccer.

To achieve all-state in soccer, one must first be recognized by their coach in a statewide meeting where every all-state team, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and honorable mentions are selected from a comprehensive list of players. 

Throughout the state, six Hackett soccer players got all-state, including Alex Dugas, Jack Prom, and James Whiting on the 1st team, Liam Roth on the 2nd team, Cullen McBride on the 3rd team, and Christian Willis as an honorable mention. 

On the topic of his achievement, James Whiting says, “I’m the first Hackett junior since Brennan Creek and Max Keenan to be 1st team so I feel blessed to have been awarded this.” This feeling carries on to Alex Dugas as he says, “I feel great and remember that my goalie coach last year (Coach Rolf) had a joke about only training all state goalies. I made my coach proud and kept his streak going.” 

In order to run in the state meet in cross country, one must first either run the state qualifying time at regionals or be in the top 3 teams in the region. After that, at the state meet one must place in the top 30 to earn the all-state title. This year, the two Hackett runners, sophomore Marek Butkiewicz and senior Gavin Sehy,  achieved 6th and 8th place respectively, giving them the all-state title.

When asked about winning all-state Gavin had this to say, “being all-state feels great. It’s the first time I’ve done it in cross country in my four years of high school. I want to give thanks to my dad for pushing me into doing cross country in 6th grade, even though I didn’t want to at first.”

As the fall season ends with several Hackett all-state athletes, there is no telling of how many more athletes will earn this title this year.