3+ week, 3+ day ago (269+ words) LOWELL " The Greater Lowell Road Runners do more than run races and stage races. The organization is an instrument of good in the community, as evidenced by recent developments. Westford Academy cross country and track star Abigail Hennessy, one of the top runners in New England, is a former Greater Lowell Youth Team member. When she was named the 2024-25 Gatorade Track & Field Player of the Year, Hennessy was awarded a $1,000 grant to donate to a social impact partner. Hennessy decided to donate it to the Greater Lowell Road Runners Youth Team. The team was honored to receive the grant and was able to purchase new uniforms thanks to Hennessy's generosity. The middle distance and distance talent earned All-American status at the New Balance National Outdoors in the mile run this past season, and her state-record time of 4:34.69 ranked No. 4 nationally…...

4+ week, 9+ hour ago (39+ words) LOWELL " Six years ago, Keara Page was a senior member of the Lowell High volleyball team. She vividly remembers counting on her two hands how many spectators were in the stands. "The wooden field " More in High School Sports...

3+ week, 3+ day ago (296+ words) Lowell and Tewksbury won the Division 1 and Division 2 Merrimack Valley Conference boys soccer titles, respectively. The league's awards reflect that. Lowell captured the Player of the Year (senior Bryan Monsalve) and Goalkeeper of the Year (senior Ikaro Da Silva). Named co-Coach of the Year were Bill Bettencourt of Lowell and Mario Almeida of Tewksbury. Eight area stars were chosen first-team All-Conference. Representing the area were junior Robert Boudros of Billerica; senior Jake Berry of Chelmsford; senior Justin Fazio of Dracut; senior Ty Picanso, junior Cecil Caulker and senior Alexander Garcia of Lowell; and junior Kevin Andriolo and senior Gustavo Oliveira of Tewksbury. They were junior Rylen Canney of Billerica; junior Arnav Gandhe of Chelmsford; senior Jason Fazio of Dracut; senior Guilherme Decastro and sophomore Patrick Do of Lowell; and senior Arbel Levenson and senior Owen Sovie of Tewksbury. The MVC's…...

5+ hour, 2+ min ago (693+ words) LOWELL "Thanksgiving leftovers are competing for space in the fridge and the holiday shopping push is upon us, which means the Sun Santa Fund is also back for 2025. Lowell Sun Charities was established by The Sun in 1947 with a basic mission to support local charitable causes. In 1988 the charity identified a persistent need among many families in Greater Lowell: Many" were struggling to provide Christmas gifts for their children and to put a holiday meal on their table. It was then that Lowell Sun Charities founded the Sun Santa Fund. Now in its 37th year, Sun Santa's mission of helping families during the holiday season continues with more than $2 million raised to support local families, and the need now may be about as great as it has ever been. Last year's Sun Santa Fund season helped 1,144 families in Greater Lowell get…...

4+ week, 1+ day ago (147+ words) Division 2 champion Lowell High picked up two major awards when the Merrimack Valley Conference announced its field hockey honorees. Junior Anthony Ford named the Div. 2 co-Player of the Year, while head coach Lisa Kattar was chosen the Div. 2 Coach of the Year. Named the Div. 1 Goalie of the Year was senior Brooke Cannata of Chelmsford. Dracut received the Team Sportsmanship Award. Ford and Cannata headline the eight local players chosen first team All-Conference. Selected were Cannata, junior Julia Salerno and senior Amelia Stroud of Chelmsford; senior Elania Wilkey of Dracut; Ford, senior Julia Soucy and senior Hannah Oung of Lowell; and senior Jennalise Mercer of Tewksbury. Picked second team All-Conference were junior Cara Grundy and junior Carly Hartman of Chelmsford; junior Kate Wilson of Dracut; senior Alana Cohen and junior Kate Moriarty of Lowell; and senior Kamryn Frechette of Tewksbury....

2+ week, 1+ day ago (383+ words) SPRINGFIELD " So many victories. So many highlights. But it all came to a crashing end Friday night for the Lowell High football team in a Div. 1 state quarterfinal. The Red Raiders fell 49-14 to second-seeded Springfield Central (9-1), a team many feel is one of the state's best. Despite hanging tough for the majority of the game, the Red Raiders (8-2) succumbed late. Lowell received the ball first, but had to punt after an incomplete pass near midfield on third down. Springfield Central got the ball for the first time, and after a few consecutive penalties against the Golden Eagles, an ensuing punt returned Lowell with the ball back at its own 47. Anthony Whaley for Springfield Central took the ensuing kickoff all the way back for a touchdown after a cutback on the run, tying the game up at 7 with 11:00 to go in the…...

3+ week, 6+ day ago (299+ words) Excitement abounds as the UMass Lowell men's basketball team is gearing up for a new season. The River Hawks will open the new campaign against Rivier University at the Kennedy Family Athletic Complex, formerly Costello Athletic Center, on Monday at 7 p.m. This season brings a new level of anticipation, as UML will feature an entirely new look, with 12 of the 13 players having never suited up for the program. Despite the challenge of the unknown, head coach Pat Duquette is looking forward to seeing what his roster, which features eight transfers, two true freshmen and three redshirts can do. Last season, the River Hawks finished 17-15 under Duquette's tutelage, marking their third consecutive winning season. Despite the new roster for 2025-26, UMass Lowell was still selected fourth in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll, signifying the respect for Duquette's recruiting abilities. The 2025-26 roster features…...

3+ week, 4+ day ago (1772+ words) LOWELL " The candidates in the municipal election for City Council and School Committee races had their triumphs and heartbreaks, cliffhangers and foregone conclusions. There were 7,516 voters in the 2023 general election out of just more than 75,000 registered voters. Final unofficial tallies were not expected until past The Sun's deadline due to a number of provisional ballots and the need to hand process write-in candidate ballots. Voters are marked inactive when they fail to return their annual census, but can request a provisional ballot in order to vote. Brandon "OzzO" Wright was a write-in candidate for the at-large City Council seat, and Sherri Barboza, who was on the ballot for City Council District 5, was also a write-in candidate against incumbent Dave Conway for the District 3 School Committee seat. When the polls opened at 7 a.m., 26 candidates were on the ballot. By the close of…...

2+ week, 1+ day ago (1156+ words) The Billerica and Chelmsford football teams were both bounced from the Division 2 state tournament Friday. Both fell on the road in quarterfinal round games. Sixth-seeded Billerica fell into a 14-point hole at halftime and was defeated by No. 3 Bridgewater-Raynham (7-3). Billerica drops to 6-4. Rival Chelmsford, meanwhile, was eliminated thanks to a 33-12 loss to second-seeded Bishop Feehan (9-1). The Lions (5-5) have produced a strong second half of the season, but Feehan was too powerful. Nashoba Tech, however, posted a 20-6 victory over KIPP Academy of Lynn to advance to the Div. 5 semifinals. The top-seeded Vikings improve to 8-2 with the victory on their home field in Westford. Sophomore Zack Deschenes produced a monster game for the Vikings. He carried 20 times for 225 yards and scored three times. He scored on a 35-yard run in the first quarter, a 12-yard run in the third and a 60-yard jaunt…...

3+ week, 12+ hour ago (390+ words) On Friday, UMass Lowell couldn't solve New Hampshire goaltender Kyle Chauvette in a shutout loss. On Saturday, in the Hockey East rematch in Durham, N.H., the River Hawks had no problem solving Chauvette and the Wildcats, scoring six goals on 22 shots. Led by captain Jay Ahearn, who collected a goal and three assists, the River Hawks romped to a 6-1 victory to gain the weekend split. Scoring goals for the River Hawks (5-5, 3-3 HE) were Jak Vaarwerk (No. 3 of season), Dalyn Wakely (No. 1), Dillan Bentley (No. 3), Libor Nemec (No. 1), Ahearn (No. 5) and Jaiden Moriello (No. 1). It was the first collegiate for Moriello, a junior forward from Saugus. Freshman goalie Austin Elliott was sharp, turning aside 26 of 27 shots. He only allowed two goals all weekend. Playing perhaps their best period of the season, the River Hawks raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first…...