The Cathedral Catholic volleyball team is among the current greatest teams in high school athletics. The Dons are 41-0 and No. 1 in the MaxPreps Top 25. (Photo: Michael Cazares)
Football — Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.)
Since beating St. John Bosco in league play, the Monarchs have been the No. 1 team in the nation in the MaxPreps Top 25 football rankings. If Mater Dei can run the table, it will give retiring coach Bruce Rollinson two straight national championships.
Boys basketball — Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.)
With 10 players ranked among the top 100 in the country, the Eagles open the season as the No. 1 team in the National Top 10 rankings. They finished 22-4 last year and are the three-time defending national champions.
Girls basketball — Incarnate Word Academy (St. Louis)
With a 67-game win streak, the Red Knights featured at No. 1 in the Preseason MaxPreps Top 25 rankings.
Baseball — Parkview (Lilburn, Ga.)
The Panthers have earned national championship honors three times under coach Chan Brown and 2023 could be a fourth. Parkview returns the bulk of its pitching staff in Landon Stripling, Garrett Lambert and Ford Thompson while Colin Houck also returns after hitting 15 home runs as a junior.
Softball — Roncalli (Indianapolis)
The MaxPreps National Champions in 2022 with a 33-0 record, Roncalli returns the MaxPreps National Player of the Year in pitcher Keagan Rothrock.
Boys wrestling — Wyoming Seminary College Prep (Kingston, Pa.)
The Blue Knights have two of the nation's best pound-for-pound wrestlers in Meyer Shapiro at 152 pounds and Luke Littledahl at 120. The Blue Knights have seven wrestlers ranked in the top 10 in their weight class by FloWrestling.
Girls wrestling — Wyoming Seminary College Prep (Kingston, Pa.)
The Blue Knights have nearly half a dozen wrestlers ranked among the top 30 in the nation in their weight class by Flo Wrestling, including Clare Booe, who is No. 2 in the nation at 106 pounds behind the top pound-for-pound wrestler in the country, Audrey Jimenez of Sunnyside (Ariz.).
Boys lacrosse — McDonogh (Owings Mills, Md.)
Home to the nation's No. 1 recruit McCabe Millon, McDonogh won the MIAA championship last year for the first time since 2016.
Girls lacrosse — Darien (Conn.)
Although the Blue Wave lost to New Canaan in the playoffs last year, they were ranked among the top teams in the nation with a 19-1 record. All-Americans Kaci Benoit, Ryan Hapgood and Chloe Humphrey return.
Boys golf — The Woodlands Christian Academy (The Woodlands, Texas)
Winners of back-to-back TAPPS 5A state championships, TWCA has three of the top golfers in the country, all of whom are headed to Texas A&M. Aaron Pounds is ranked No. 1 in the nation by the AJGA while Jack Usner is No. 9 and Jake Maggart is No. 49.
Girls golf — Lambert (Suwanee, Ga.)
The Longhorns won the national high school girls golf championships in 2021 and 2022 and are a good bet to do it again this year. The top three players from last year, Sara Im (ranked No. 20 by the AJGA), Averi Cline and Iris Cao all return from last year's championship squad.
Boys soccer — Tampa Prep (Tampa, Fla.)
Winners of a Florida state championship and the MaxPreps winter national champions, Tampa Prep (21-0) returns all-region players Asher Jones and Santiago Castaneda, who led the team with 19 and 16 goals, respectively, last year.
Girls soccer — Bartram Trail (St. Johns, Fla.)
The Bears saw a 32-game win streak come to an end last year in a shocking playoff loss to Creekside. Bartram Trail (18-1) was ranked No. 1 in the winter MaxPreps soccer rankings for most of the year and are favored to take the championship in Florida this year thanks to the return of three all-state players and Gatorade State Player of the Year
Grace Ivey.
Girls volleyball — Cathedral Catholic (San Diego)
Ranked No. 1 in the nation by MaxPreps with a 41-0 record, the Dons are favored to win the California state championship this weekend. They've already defeated some of the nation's top programs, including Marymount (Los Angeles), Archbishop Mitty (San Jose), Punahou (Honolulu) and Xavier College Prep (Phoenix).
Boys volleyball — O'Connor (Phoenix)
The Eagles had the best record in the nation last year at 44-0, including wins over California teams Mater Dei, Huntington Beach, and Loyola. Every player on last year's team returns, led by conference player of the year Zach Rama (447 kills).
Boys swimming — St. Xavier (Louisville, Ky.)
The Tigers were the national dual meet champions the past two seasons and return state champions Johnny Crush (200 free) and Will Scholtz (200 IM, 100 breast). They also return seven out of 12 relay swimmers. St. Xavier won all three relay races at the state meet. St. Xavier swimmers have won 58 state team championships.
Girls swimming — Carmel (Ind.)
The Greyhounds won their national record 36th straight state championship last year and return 11 of the 12 relay swimmers that swept the relay events. Also back are state record-setters Alex Shackell (100 fly) and Berit Berglund (100 back).
Boys track and field — Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.)
The Eagles have two of the nation's top sprinters in Micah Larry and Zyaire Nuriddin, but they also excel in the field events with pole vaulter Alex Georgiev, triple jumper Kyle Johnson and long jumper Larry all finishing among the top 10 statewide in their events. Larry had the nation's top long jump last year.
Girls track and field — Flower Mound (Texas)
The Jaguars won the Class 6A state championship last year and have some of the nation's top middle distance and long distance runners in sisters Nicole and Samantha Humphries and sophomore Alexandra Fox. Riley Ward, one of the state's top high jumpers, also returns.
Boys bowling — Harlem (Machesney Park, Ill.)
A runner-up in the state finals last year in Illinois, Harlem defeated favored Centerville (Ohio) in the national championships by a whopping 133 pins.
Girls bowling — Harlem (Machesney Park, Ill.)
The Huskies are four-time national champions and are seeking back-to-back national titles. Harlem actually lost the state title to Lockport last year but battled through the survivor rounds at the national finals to beat favored Sun Prairie by 73 pins.
Boys cross country — Newbury Park (Calif.)
The Panthers have the top two runners in the nation in Leo and Lex Young while Aaron Sahlman, the brother of sub-4-minute miler Colin Sahlman, is ranked No. 8. The Panthers won the California state meet last year with an incredibly low 16 points and are ranked No. 1 in 2022 by DyeStat.
Girls cross country — Saratoga Springs (N.Y.)
The Blue Streaks recently won the Class A championship in New York, easily defeating traditional powerhouse Fayetteville-Manlius by 56 points after placing four runners in the top 10. DyeStat has Saratoga Springs ranked No. 1 in its national rankings.
Field hockey — Broadneck (Annapolis, Md.)
The Bruins finished the season ranked No. 1 in the MaxPreps national rankings, edging out The Hill School from Pennsylvania. Broadneck (20-0) posted 11 shutouts and allowed just 11 goals all season while scoring 110.
Boys gymnastics — Lake Park (Roselle, Ill.)
The Lancers finished second behind Palatine at the state meet last winter, but the team returns the top three gymnasts from last year's squad, including Karl Vachlin, Luca Marzullo, and Ryan Czech.
Girls gymnastics — O'Gorman (Sioux Falls, S.D.)
O'Gorman won the team title in South Dakota last year and return two athletes who finished 1, 3 in the all-around. Maeve Boetel, the defending all-around champion, is a Level 10 gymnast and ranks among the best in the nation. Audrey Meyer also returns after finished second behind Boetel in both the uneven bars and the floor exercises.
Boys ice hockey — Hermantown (Minn.)
The Hawks won the smaller Class A championship in Minnesota last year with a 29-2 record, but they might have the most talent returning in the state. All-state forward Zam Plante, whose father Derek played eight seasons in the NHL, returns after getting drafted by the Pittsburgh Penquins last summer. He's joined by brother Max at forward and all-state defender Ty Hanson.
Girls ice hockey — Andover (Minn.)
The Huskies return nearly every key player from last year's team that went 30-0 and won the Minnesota AA state championship. All-Metro first team pick Ella Boerger is back after making 28 goals and dishing out 40 assists last year. She's joined by All-Metro third team selections Isa Goettl at forward and Courtney Stagman at goalie.
Boys tennis — Punahou (Honolulu)
Punahou dominated the state finals last spring, placing their top two players in the single finals and winning the top three doubles matches. Payton Jim On is favored to win his third straight state singles title. He lost just two games en route to the title last year. Brandon Ramos, last year's runner-up, is also back.
Girls tennis — Canyon Crest Academy (San Diego)
The Ravens ended the San Diego Section reign of Torrey Pines four years ago and they have been winning ever since. Canyon Crest Academy lost to Westlake in the Southern California finals last year, but with the defending champs losing in the first round of the Southern Section playoffs, the Raves should be the favorite to win the crown this year.
Boys water polo — Newport Harbor (Newport Beach, Calif.)
The Sailors are the defending Southern Section fall champions and the won the championship again in 2022 with a 27-1 record. Their only loss was in league competition to JSerra Catholic, but Newport Harbor also defeated the Lions twice, including once in the postseason. The Sailors have one of the nation's top players in 2021 Southern Section player of the year Ben Liechty along with all-section pick Peter Castillo.
Girls water polo — Miramonte (Orinda, Calif.)
The Matadors finished the 2022 fall season 25-0 with a North Coast Section championship. Miramonte has not lost since the 2019 season, winning 64 straight games over three seasons with back-to-back section championships (no championship was held in 2020). Newport Harbor, last year's Southern Section champion, could emerge as the state's best team when it completes its season in the winter, but right now the Matadors are the clubhouse leader.
