This ceremony honors six outstanding seniors whose excellence in athletics, academics, leadership and community service earned them recognition as the 2025-2026 Cape Ann Savings Bank Student Athletes of the Year. Join the North Shore Sports Desk for a special look inside this memorable celebration, which featured award presentations, scholarships from the Bank, exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes moments and highlights from an incredible afternoon recognizing the very best student-athletes on Cape Ann.

2025-2026 Cape Ann Savings Bank Student Athletes of the Year

Gloucester High School

Keagan Jewell – Jaylen Severino

Rockport High School

Gabby Lucido – Timothy Patrick

Manchester Essex Regional High Schooll

Anna Gardner – Charlie Thurlow

Hosted by Dom Nicastro and the North Shore Sports Desk, this video celebrates not only these remarkable student-athletes, but also the families, coaches, teachers and teammates who helped them reach this achievement. A special thank you to Cape Ann Savings Bank for its outstanding commitment to supporting local students and high school athletics throughout Cape Ann. Special thanks to: Marianne Smith, President, Cape Ann Savings Bank Jennifer Orlando, VP, Marketing, Cape Ann Savings Bank Congratulations once again to all six Student Athletes of the Year.

Your dedication, perseverance and leadership have made your schools and communities proud.

The Fishermen first baseman and captain discusses her team’s success, her reputation as one of the area’s top power hitters, balancing multiple sports and academics, and why she’s excited to study nursing at Merrimack College this fall.

From 11 career home runs and Boston Herald All-Scholastic honors to leadership on and off the field, Emma shares what made her senior year so memorable.

North Shore Sports Desk with Emma Carrapichosa

Dom Nicastro with State Tennis Champion Grace Scarbrough

State Champion Grace Scarbrough Leaves Manchester Essex With Lasting Legacy

For Grace Scarbrough, the ending could not have been scripted much better.

After years of battling rival Hamilton-Wenham and coming close to a state championship, the Manchester Essex senior helped lead the Hornets to the MIAA Division 4 state title this spring, closing out her high school tennis career atop the mountain.

Scarbrough was a model of consistency throughout the season, finishing undefeated while helping anchor a Hornets lineup that finally broke through against a Hamilton-Wenham program that had become the measuring stick in Division 4 with four straight state crowns. For Scarbrough, defeating the Generals in the championship match made the accomplishment even more meaningful.

It was the perfect way to end it, Scarbrough said during a recent interview. To win a state championship and do it against a team we’ve battled with for so long is something she’ll never forget, she said.

The title represented the culmination of years of hard work, not only for Scarbrough but for a program that had repeatedly found itself within reach of a championship. This time, the Hornets finished the job, and the senior leader was at the center of it all.

While tennis has been a major part of her life, Scarbrough’s next chapter is already taking shape. This fall, she will attend UMass Amherst, where she plans to study business and marketing. Her interest in business has been influenced in part by spending time working in her family’s dry-cleaning business, where she has gained firsthand experience interacting with customers and learning how a small business operates.

Those experiences have helped shape her goals beyond athletics and given her an appreciation for the work that goes into building and maintaining a successful business.

As she prepares for college, Scarbrough leaves Manchester Essex with more than an undefeated season and a state championship trophy. She leaves as part of the team that finally cleared the final hurdle, delivering a championship that players, coaches and fans will remember for years to come.

For a senior who got one final opportunity to chase a title, it was a finish worthy of the journey.

Wyatt Wilkinson makes his mark as one of Rockport’s most versatile and team-first student-athletes.

A standout on both the soccer pitch and baseball diamond, Wyatt embraces whatever role his teams need to succeed. Whether changing positions, taking on new responsibilities or simply doing the little things that help a team win, he earns the respect of teammates and coaches through his willingness to put the team ahead of himself.

That selfless approach pays dividends during a memorable senior year. Rockport’s soccer and baseball teams both qualify for the state tournament, with the Vikings’ soccer team advancing all the way to the Elite Eight. Along the way, Wyatt helps provide leadership and stability for programs competing at a high level.

Away from school sports, Wyatt has another passion that has shaped much of his life: sailing. A lifelong sailor who feels most at home on the water, he spends summers working at a yacht club and competing in sailing events. That passion will continue at the next level when he attends Boston College, where he plans to join the men’s sailing team. The opportunity is especially meaningful because his father serves as the team’s coach.

An outstanding student with a strong interest in math and business, Wyatt is excited to combine academics and athletics as he begins the next chapter of his journey at Boston College.

In this conversation, Wyatt reflects on balancing multiple sports, the lessons learned from team success, his lifelong love of sailing, and what he’s looking forward to as a future Eagle.

Dom Nicastro with Rockport’s Wyatt Wilkinson, another Cape Ann Savings Bank Player of the Week

Mariana DeBenedictis leaves an impressive legacy at Rockport High School as a standout student, athlete and leader.

Recently named the Cape Ann Savings Bank Student-Athlete of the Week by the North Shore Sports Desk, Mariana excelled both in the classroom and in competition. She played golf as Rockport’s lone female golfer, embraced the challenge of competing against top players throughout the Cape Ann League and beyond as the Vikings’ No. 1 girls tennis player, and built a reputation as one of the school’s most respected student leaders.

As class president, Mariana focused on bringing her classmates together. One of her most memorable initiatives was organizing a senior class gathering and dinner at her home before the school year began, helping strengthen relationships and create lasting bonds among her classmates.

Beyond athletics and student government, Mariana served on the Student Advisory Council, represented student voices before the school committee and took on numerous leadership responsibilities throughout her high school career.

In this interview, Mariana reflects on her experiences balancing academics, athletics and leadership, the lessons she learned representing her classmates, and her excitement about the next chapter at Bentley University.

Topics include:

Winning Student-Athlete of the Week honors
Competing as Rockport’s No. 1 tennis player
Playing golf as the team’s lone female athlete
Leading the senior class as president
Student Advisory Council experiences
Representing students before the school committee
Preparing for college life at Bentley University

Mariana’s story is a reminder that leadership isn’t just about titles — it’s about bringing people together and leaving your community stronger than you found it.

Cape Ann Student-Athlete of the Week – Mariana DeBenedictis, Rockport High School

The Cape Ann Savings Bank Student-Athlete of the Week was a key contributor to Gloucester’s Northeastern Conference championship track and field team, Jewell excels as a runner, hurdler and shot put competitor. Her versatility, work ethic and leadership helped power the Fishermen to one of their most successful seasons in recent memory.

But track is only part of the story.

Jewell is also a standout field hockey player whose Gloucester teams have been among the best in Massachusetts. In the classroom, she has matched her athletic success with academic excellence and will continue her education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she plans to study biology and explore a future in veterinary medicine.

Coming from a family with a rich athletic tradition at Gloucester High School, Jewell discusses her journey, the lessons she has learned through sports, her future goals and what it means to represent the Fishermen.

Gloucester track and field
Gloucester field hockey
UMass Amherst
Biology and veterinary aspirations
Northeastern Conference champions

North Shore Sports Desk with Dom Nicastro featuring Gloucester High School’s Maddie Jewell

Left to Right: Cassandra Anderson, Librarian and Archivist; Sarah Tripp, Assistant Librarian and Archivist.

GLOUCESTER, MA. (March 2026) – Cape Ann Museum is pleased to announce the appointment of Cassandra Anderson as Librarian and Archivist and Sarah Tripp as Assistant Librarian and Archivist.

Together, Anderson and Tripp will steward the Museum’s extensive Library and Archives, which have been available to researchers and the public since 1875. The Archives include manuscripts and printed materials that provide insight into the daily lives of Cape Ann residents, including letters, business records, cargo manifests, and other historic documents. The Museum’s collection also houses more than 15,000 historic photographs dating from the 19th century to present day.

Anderson graduated in 2022 from Simmons University’s dual master’s degree program in Library and Information Science, with a concentration in Archives and History. She has worked with several university archives, historical societies, and libraries as a consulting archivist and project manager. Her favorite archival materials to work with are letters and diaries, which offer intimate glimpses into everyday life throughout history.

A lifelong Essex County resident, Tripp holds a bachelor’s degree in English and History from Merrimack College and a master’s degree in Library and Information Science from Simmons University, which she completed in 2025. She most recently served as a Reference Assistant at the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum. Tripp is deeply committed to making local history accessible and looks forward to collaborating with colleagues to share Cape Ann’s stories with the public.

“This is an exciting time to welcome Cassandra and Sarah to Cape Ann Museum as we prepare to reopen our Downtown Campus in June,” said Oliver Barker, Director of the Cape Ann Museum. “Their expertise will be invaluable as we expand access to our collections with a new Archival gallery Downtown, and continue the Museum’s mission of preserving and sharing Cape Ann’s rich history.”

The Museum’s Downtown Campus at 27 Pleasant Street is currently closed for renovations and will reopen on June 30, 2026, unveiling beautifully redesigned and upgraded gallery spaces dedicated to the Museum’s archival collections.

For more information, visit capeannmuseum.org.

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The Cape Ann Museum, founded in 1875, exists to preserve and celebrate the history and culture of the region and to keep it relevant to today’s audiences. Spanning 44,000 square feet, the Museum’s Downtown campus is a major cultural institution on Boston’s North Shore, welcoming thousands of local, national, and international visitors annually to its exhibitions, programs, and community-led events. In addition to fine art, the Museum’s collections include decorative art, textiles, artifacts from the fisheries and granite industries, four historic structures, a Library & Archives, and a sculpture garden in the heart of downtown Gloucester.

The Cape Ann Museum’s Downtown campus is located at 27 Pleasant Street in Gloucester and, beginning June 30, 2026, will be open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. General Admission is $20 for adults and $15 for Cape Ann residents and seniors. Youth (under 18), students with ID, and Museum members are free. Cape Ann residents receive free general admission on the second Saturday of each month. During Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea, additional fees apply and timed ticketing is required. Tickets go on sale June 1, 2026.

The Cape Ann Museum Green (CAM Green), the Museum’s campus off Grant Circle and Route 128 in Gloucester, is home to the 12,000-square-foot Janet & William Ellery James Center, built in 2020. The center includes a flexible exhibition and community programming space designed to reach broader audiences with new exhibits and public programs. CAM Green, which served as the Museum’s base of operations during the renovations, features three historic structures—the White Ellery House (1710), the Babson-Alling House (c. 1740), and an adjacent barn (c. 1740)—as well as a Contemporary Art Wetu (2023–2024) and a Mush8n (mi-shoon) (2023), an Eastern Woodlands boat. From July 10 through September 27, CAM Green will be open Friday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

More information can be found on capeannmuseum.org or please call (978)283-0455 x110. 

2/26/26

Feature:  Cape Ann Savings Bank Student Athlete of the Week. Louis Iacono,
Rockport

Feature:  Cape Ann Savings Bank Student-Athlete program update

Sports Talk:  Latest happenings at Sports World USA

Feature:   North Shore Sports Report

2/19/26

Feature:  Cape Ann Savings Bank Student Athlete of the Wee. Zachary Hashley,
Gloucester wrestling

Sports Talk:  Cape Ann Savings Bank Student-Athlete program update

Update:  Latest happenings at Sports World USA

 
Sports Talk:  North Shore Sports Report

NORTH SHORE SPORTS DESK

2/12/26

Feature:  Cape Ann Savings Bank Student Athlete of the Week. Jake Zschau,
Manchester Essex boys basketball

Feature:  Cape Ann Savings Bank Student-Athlete program update.

 Feature:  Latest happenings at Sports World USA.

Sports Talk:  North Shore Sports Report.