DeWolfe

Williams

Male:

JACKSON WILLIAMS, Senior—Hockey

* Evans Spear Award finalist

* Class B South all-star, third-team

* Class B South Senior All-Star

* Captain 

Williams’ play and leadership helped his team to the pinnacle and allowed him to bow out as a champion.

Williams started playing hockey at a young age and took to it immediately.

“Hockey is fast, physical and fun,” he said. “I always look forward to playing and practicing. I’m very competitive and I don’t like to lose.”

Williams joined the Rangers varsity as a freshman and by junior year, he was a captain. That season, Greely reached the Class B state final, but couldn’t hold a two-goal lead and lost a heartbreaker to Old Town/Orono in overtime.

This winter, the Rangers completed the job.

Williams, a forward, who also played four years of football and is about to embark on his fourth year of lacrosse, served as captain again and helped Greely win 19 of 21 games, including playoffs, against a daunting schedule. He scored 23 goals and added 24 assists.

The Rangers proved to be an unstoppable juggernaut in the postseason, scoring 10 goals against Gorham in the semifinals (Williams had two), nine against Cape Elizabeth in the regional final (Williams scored twice) and eight in a dominant victory over Old Town/Orono in a therapeutic state game triumph, as Williams had one more goal.

“It feels good knowing I ended my hockey career in the best way possible,” Williams said. “I enjoyed being a leader. I wanted that responsibility.”

Williams is also a member of Greely’s Athletic Advisory Board, served as an on-ice buddy/counselor with the Adaptive Skate program and hopes to cap his high school lacrosse career the way he did in hockey, with a state title a year after falling in overtime on the big stage, before moving on to Bates College, where he plans to study economics and play lacrosse.

Jackson Williams, Greely’s Winter Male Athlete of the Year, left his mark as a special talent and leader and his impact won’t soon be forgotten.

Coach Barry Mothes’ comment: “Jackson has been one of the most consistently hard-working, positive and competitively mature young men to have played at Greely in my time here. He shows up every day ready to go, working to do things the right way, pushing his teammates and leading by example in a very determined, focused way.”

Previous winners:

2017-18 Zach Brown (basketball)

2016-17 Matt McDevitt (basketball)

2015-16 Axel Lindsay (Alpine skiing)

2014-15 Kyle Kramlich (hockey)

2013-14 Jonathan Dunnett (swimming)

2012-13 Nick Vogel (wrestling)

2011-12 Dan Spencer (swimming)

2010-11 Dan Spencer (swimming)

2009-10 Mark McCauley (track)

2008-09 Kevin Hart (hockey)

2007-08 Nathan Mecray (swimming)

2006-07 Nathan Mecray (swimming)

2005-06 Drew Bowden (hockey)

2004-05 Ben Knowles (skiing)

2003-04 Kerry Burke (track)

2002-03 John Loren (track)

2001-02 Tim Apuzzo (basketball)

Female:

ANNA DEWOLFE, Senior—Basketball

* Miss Maine Basketball

* Bob Butler Award winner (top Senior player in WMC)

* Brud Stover Award winner (MVP of Class A South tournament)

* Maine McDonald’s Class AA/A/B South Senior All-Star

* WMC all-star, first-team

* WMC Senior All-Star

* Captain

DeWolfe had no peer on the court, capping her transcendent career with the loftiest of honors, and as hard as it might be to believe, she’s even more special without a basketball in her hand.

The Legend of Anna DeWolfe began inauspiciously, as she followed in her older brother Shane’s footsteps, loving the sport of basketball from a young age, but despite myriad attempts, being unable to beat her sibling one-on-one.

“I always looked up to Shane and wanted to beat him, but I couldn’t, so I’d get mad and quit,” DeWolfe said. “I wanted to be like him and I got his passion.”

DeWolfe has also excelled on the soccer pitch, but it was on the hardwood that she dazzled. 

“I loved having an opportunity to put on a uniform and wear it with pride,” DeWolfe said. “I loved playing for my community, my friends and my family.”

DeWolfe entered high school highly touted and didn’t disappoint, turning heads with her athleticism, poise and capacity for making tough shots. While she was an all-star as a freshman and sophomore, Greely wasn’t able to go all the way, losing tough games to York and Brunswick respectively in the regional finals.

Entering her junior season, DeWolfe not only felt the pressure of wanting to win a championship, but with an abundance of colleges showing interest, the stress got to be too much at times.

“There was a time when I didn’t enjoy it,” DeWolfe said. “My Dad (Frank DeWolfe) helped me relax with imagery and visualization. I convinced myself to enjoy it and I wanted my teammates to be successful.”

DeWolfe then led Greely to the Class A championship her junior season, eclipsing the 1,000 career point mark along the way, and this winter proved to be more of the same. 

After committing to Fordham University in New York City before the season, DeWolfe was able to relax and go out and leave high school fans agog one final time.

DeWolfe led the Western Maine Conference in scoring and helped the Rangers run the table. She was unstoppable in the playoffs, helping the Rangers go back-to-back, scoring 23 points in a quarterfinal round win over Fryeburg Academy, tallying 21 points, adding 10 steals and seven assists in a semifinal round victory over Kennebunk, producing 32 points in a regional final win over Brunswick, then delivering the punctuation mark, a 28-point, six-assist, six-steal tour-de-force (on an injured ankle no less), in a 54-42 state game victory over Hampden Academy.

DeWolfe was a captain three years running, made the all-conference team in all four of her high school seasons, thrice was nominated for the Gatorade Player of the Year award and last month, was named Miss Maine Basketball.

DeWolfe also belongs to Greely’s Culture Team and Community Service Club and has coached a youth team of third and fourth grade girls who, unsurprisingly, went undefeated this winter.

“Working with the younger kids is so much fun,” DeWolfe said. “Having them come to my games and cheer me on is unreal. I looked up to players like (McAuley star and 2014 Miss Maine Basketball) Allie Clement and (former Greely standout and 2015 Miss Maine Basketball) Ashley Storey and I wanted to be a great role model and leave my own legacy.

Mission accomplished.

DeWolfe will major in business and minor in geriatric psychology at Fordham, in addition to playing basketball at the Division I level. Her ultimate goal is to own a retirement home.

She certainly is one of a kind. Rest assured that the Legend of Anna DeWolfe, Greely’s Winter Female Athlete of the Year, will long be celebrated.

Coach Todd Flaherty’s comment: “Anna’s one of the players in Maine girls’ basketball history who changed the game. It’s a pleasure to be around her. Our girls want to play like her, fast and full of skill. Anna consistently brings positive energy to practices and games, raising the play of her teammates by setting the example and with well-timed encouragement and guidance. Every coach should have the opportunity to work with a young person of Anna’s quality. I’ve been blessed.'”

Previous winners:

2017-18 Courtney Sullivan (hockey)

2016-17 Nettie Cunningham (Alpine skiing)

2015-16 Danita Storey (hockey)

2014-15 Ashley Storey (basketball)

2013-14 Elyse Dinan (skiing)

2012-13 Sarah Easterling (swimming)

2011-12 Emma Seymour (hockey)

2010-11 Sarah Easterling (swimming)

2009-10 Sarah Easterling (swimming)

2008-09 Sara Schad (swimming)

2007-08 Becky O’Brien (track)

2006-07 Dani Cyr (hockey)

2005-06 Becky O’Brien (track)

2004-05 Rebecca Furey (track)

2003-04 Steph Ginn (basketball)

2002-03 Abby Chapman (track)

2001-02 Mandy Bowden (skiing)

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter:@foresports.

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