By Zuri Berry, Boston.com Staff

The boys and girls swimming and diving section championships, which were scheduled for this weekend, have been canceled because of Friday's impending snowstorm.

The events will not be rescheduled because of facility and time constraints, according to the MIAA.

Swimmers who have already qualified for the state tournament will automatically move forward to the state championships, which are slated for Feb. 16 and 17.

By Andy Deossa, Globe Correspondent

The Weston’s boys’ swimming team is on cruise control driving along the road to success.

“These guys are incredibly focused,” said coach Claude Valle. “It’s almost like I just stick the key in and turn on the car.”

On Tuesday, the Wildcats defeated Newton South, 93.5-74.5, behind solid contributions from Jack Blyzinskyj, Tommy Peacher, Ryan Burrow, and Sam Cekala. Weston (9-0) set two pool records at the Peter J. Foley Natatorium, finishing the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1 minute and 28.04 seconds and the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:13.63.

“Can’t believe how fast they swam today,” Valle said. “I think they just realize that it’s their last year together and are working their tails off to enjoy every second of it.”

The program has won 20 Division 2 state titles in the last 30 years. As defending champs, Valle said the experience his team gained last year has carried over and led them to a perfect season so far.

“They figured out a lot last year when they won states,” Valle explained. “They started the year on a mission and saw that the results paid off.”

Despite all the accomplishments, Valle acknowledges the competiveness of the Dual County League and knows his team will be challenged on a daily basis. However, the goal of winning another state championship remains the final destination.

So far it has been a smooth ride.

By Bob Holmes, Globe Staff

The MIAA announced Monday that it has stripped Gardner's 2012 South/Central girls swim title and placed the school on two years probation after an investigation into the high school swim program revealed numerous violations of the bona fide team rule.

A letter from MIAA Board of Directors chairman and Case principal Brian McCann said, "The conduct of your swim program has been of concern to the Board for many months. We do appreciate your expressed willingness to address the issues raised by the Board, which you and the high school leadership seem to have embraced. Nonetheless, the sub-committee finds that the swim program presents patterns that require Association redress.

For example, it appears that MIAA championships earned by your teams over the years, if this past year is any indication, were achieved by a non school “club team” rather than an education based high school team."

According to MIAA rules, “Bona fide members of a school team are precluded from missing a high school practice or competition in order to participate in a non-school athletic activity/event in any sport recognized by the MIAA." The letter detailed the multiple days swimmers were allowed to miss Gardner High practices because they were participating in club activities.

"The 2012 roster you submitted following our meeting includes only one Gardner High School student who was not connected to the team through school choice, home schooling, or through a cooperating school. This is unusual. That roster also reflects that every member of your swim team (with one possible exception) was a member of the Greenwood Swim Club, another suggestion that your team was more reflective of a non-school club team than a school team.

"Over the months of inquiry, we learned that a home school student did participate at some point on your team, and was subsequently declared ineligible by Principal Pierce. We also learned that a choice student swimmer transferred from Gardner HS within hours of Principal Pierce informing the coach that he could not attend the upcoming state tournament.

"In light of the aforementioned, the sub-committee requires that all regular season competitions in which ineligible members competed (by virtue of bona-fide team violations, home school ineligibility, etc.) be forfeited. In addition, the MIAA team trophy presented in conjunction with the MIAA 2012 Sectional Tournament must be returned to the Association, and that championship forfeited (given that most of the participants were likely ineligible due to bona fide team rule violations). We respectfully request that the actions described above be completed before the beginning of the winter season (i.e. before November 26).

The sub-committee also places Gardner High School on MIAA probation for two years, during which time the school leadership needs to demonstrate to the MIAA Board of Directors better institutional control of the athletic program, and establish protocols that will ensure compliance with all local and Association policies. During this probationary period, Gardner will not be permitted to host any cooperative swim program, and is encouraged to foster sufficient interest within the school to sponsor an all Gardner HS team."

The letter was sent to Gardner Superintendent of Schools Carol Daring. Gardner had won 16 state swim titles under coach Don Lemieux, also the director of the Greenwood Swim Club. But after winning last winter's sectional title, Lemieux was told he couldn't attend the Division 1 state championship. He resigned and Monday's decision was the end result of a lengthy investigation by a sub-committee of the MIAA Board of Directors.

By Hannah Becker, Globe Correspondent

For the first time in as long as eight-year veteran coach Andrew Patterson can remember, the Ursuline girls’ swim team won its dual meet against Notre Dame Academy of Hingham.

Ursuline hosted Thursday’s meet at Dedham Pool and came away with the narrow 96-90 victory. The meet was tied going into the afternoon’s final event, the 4x400 freestyle relay, which the Bears won by less than half a second.

The foursome of Abby Lake, Mary Glass, Catherine Rocket, and Caroline Powell finished the race in 3:57.81. The Cougars relay team came in at 3:88.12.

“[The win] was huge,” Patterson said. “There were tears of joy, there was a lot of screaming and a lot of smiling faces. It was incredibly loud in there. I have never seen my girls so happy after a meet.”

FULL ENTRY

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

High school principals and athletic directors have until next Wednesday to nominate student athletes for the 16th annual Massachusetts Student-Athlete Citizenship Awards Ceremony on April 24 at Northeastern University.

This awards ceremony and program are designed to recognize Massachusetts high school student-athletes who have demonstrated excellence in three disciplines: academics, athletics and citizenship. The ceremony will be held from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the Curry Student Center Ballroom at Northeastern University.

The theme of this year’s event is “How Can Student-Athletes Make a Difference in the Community?”

The event, which is being sponsored by Sport in Society at Northeastern University and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, is open to schools in Districts A, B, C, D, E and H.

Each school can nominate two male and two female students that merit this recognition and have participated in community service. One faculty member, coach, or parent representative should also be willing to provide transportation and accompany the students.

For more information contact Ted O’Reilly at 617-373-4025 or m.oreilly@neu.edu.

Justin A. Rice can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

Video by Matthew J. Lee / Globe Staff

By Zuri Berry, Globe Staff

Concord-Carlisle's Sean O'Brien made quite an impression Sunday at the swimming and diving North sectional title at MIT's Zesiger Fitness Center.

O'Brien, who has committed to swim for Texas next year, broke his own state record that he set a year ago, posting a 704. In the video above, you can see a sample of some of O'Brien's finest dives and how he wowed the crowd at MIT.

By Hannah Becker, Globe correspondent

Friday night's Independent School League coed swim meet between Minuteman and Greater Lawrence Academy marked only the second time a female swimmer for the Mustangs has qualified for the state sectionals.

While the Mustangs won the meet 88-81, sophomore Liz Weinberger won the 100-butterfly with a time of 1:08.99 to qualify for the North girls' sectional. Weinberger's time also broke the school record for the 100-butterfly, which has stood since 1994. Amy Baker held the record time until Friday night at 1:10.86.

Baker is also the only other female Mustang to ever qualify for sectionals, which she did in the 100-butterfly in 1994.

"[Liz] is a pixie in terms of her size, she is very very small," said Minuteman coach Skip Farkas. "She trains really hard."

Weinberger also swims the medley relay, the 200-freestyle relay and the 50 free, which she broke the school record for earlier this season with a time of 28.5.

The Mustangs won Friday night's match by a close margin. Minuteman took first in nine of the 11 events, while the match came down to the final race of the night, the 400-free relay.

"Because Greater Lawrence has such a bigger team it all came down to the last race," Farkas said. "If they had won that race, they would have won the match."

The Mustangs relay team of Yuri Gentef, Stephen Spencer, Peter Kelly, and Curtis Kazmaier took home the race win and the match win, swimming the 400-free relay in 4:45.12.

The win improved Minuteman's overall record to 2-8.

Concord-Carlisle's Andrea and Mike O'Brien are All-American soccer players in addition to being Boston Globe All-Scholastics. (Essdras M Suarez / Globe Staff)

By Zuri Berry, Globe Staff

The Boston Globe Fall All-Scholastics are out, available for view on Boston.com. More than 200 high school athletes from nine different sports have been selected as All-Scholastics, marking the end of the fall season.

On this season's cover is Concord-Carlisle brother-sister duo Mike and Andrea O'Brien, who are both All-American soccer players for the school. They highlight the level of talent of the many individuals selected this season.

Take a look at who was recognized in football, boys soccer, girls soccer, volleyball, field hockey, boys cross country, girls cross country, girls swimming and golf.

By Zuri Berry, Globe Staff

It was a long weekend in Massachusetts high school sports. The MIAA awarded championship trophies in soccer, volleyball, cross-country, swimming and field hockey. And a week before that, golf champions were crowned. Here's a roundup of all the games and state championships from the fall. You can also find all of our stories and photos at our Fall 2011 Championships page.

Div. 1 girls soccer

Peabody rides defense to title - Katie Brunelle’s goal with 3:26 remaining in the first half helped the Tanners beat East Longmeadow 1-0.

Div. 2 girls soccer

Canton can't halt Auburn - Alysha Brunelle’s strike was all Auburn would need, as the Rockets capped off an undefeated season and claimed the Division 2 girls’ soccer state title, 1-0, over Canton yesterday at Worcester State.

Div. 3 girls soccer

Dover Sherborn edges Hopedale - After losing in the EMass title game last year, the Dover-Sherborn girls’ soccer team had one goal this season, and that was to finish the job with a state championship. The Raiders completed the mission with a 2-1 victory over Hopedale.

Div. 1 boys soccer

Ludlow beats Masconomet - Kyle Tomas scored two second-half goals to lead Ludlow to its third state title in four years and 17th overall.

Div. 2 boys soccer

Groton-Dunstable derails Concord-Carlisle - Daniel Beyh and Alex Merlino scored in the second half as the Crusaders (20-1-1) won their first championship since 2001 in beating the two-time defending state champs.

Div. 3 boys soccer

Sutton proves too much for Georgetown - Despite late momentum by Georgetown, Sutton prevailed, 3-1.

State Volleyball championships

Barnstable adds No. 14 to dynasty; Marlboro tops Melrose; Frontier bests Case - Barnstable’s dynasty grew by beating Central Catholic, 3-0, in the MIAA Division 1 championship; Marlboro rallied to complete an undefeated 23-game season, finishing off Melrose 3-1; and Frontier capitalized on the power and athleticism of junior Cassidy Stankowski, who drilled 24 kills in the Red Hawks’ victory in a marathon 3-2 match.

Boys X-country championships

Bishop Feehan edges Pembroke in photo finish - Bishop Feehan placed four runners in the top 17, overcoming three Pembroke top-10 finishes, to win the MIAA boys’ Division 2 cross-country state championships.

Girls X-country championships

Whitman Hanson girls pull a fast one - All five of Whitman-Hanson’s scoring runners crossed the finish line in under 20 minutes.

Swimming championships

Andover girls glide to 12th title - The Golden Warriors got off to a rousing start when the 200-yard medley relay team of Maeve Awiszus, Ashlee Korsberg, Rachel Moore, and Emma Cammann cruised to a win in 1 minute 49.76 seconds, nearly five seconds in front of runner-up Framingham.

Div. 1 field hockey

Andover repeats as state champions - Sophomore Julia LeBlanc redirected a pass from Meagan Keefe in the second half as the Golden Warriors (22-0-2) defeated Longmeadow, 1-0, for their second consecutive state title.

Div. 2 field hockey

Watertown sinks Oakmont - Watertown (21-0-1) defeated Oakmont, 3-1, to extend its unbeaten streak to 69 games and lock up its 12th state title since coach Eileen Donahue took over in 1986.

Div. 1 golf

St. John's Pandelena takes crown in playoff - Nick Pandelena of St. John’s Prep won a three-man playoff to take the Division 1 individual competition, and St. John’s (Shrewsbury) won its fourth state championship in six years at Glen Ellen Country Club.

Div. 2 golf

May, Masconomet rule roost - ith all eyes on Charlie May, the Masconomet junior calmly rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to clinch the Division 2 state individual championship.

Div. 3 golf

Westwood gets the drop on Medfield - Pat Frodigh -- Westwood High’s No. 1 golfer -- eagled on a crucial 13th hole to spur his team to victory.

By Zuri Berry, Boston.com staff

Kevin Bradley, a stellar swimmer for Milford High school, was featured in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" feature this week, one week after St. Mary's (Lynn) ice hockey goalie Sarah Foss made it in the feature.

Bradley, a sophomore, owns every individual record at Milford high, according to the national magazine, and a national-championship-qualifying 3:47.56 in the 400 individual medley, "the fastest time in the nation among 15-year-olds."

By Jesse Liebman, Globe Correspondent

The Reading Rockets boys swimming team defeated visiting Andover 90-80 in Saturday's meet, giving the school its first unbeaten season in the program's history.

Reading wrapped up its season with an 11-0-1 overall record (4-0-1 in Middlesex League matchups), winning nine of 11 events against the Golden Warriors.

Leading the way for the Rockets were senior Nick Fredetté, who won the 200-yard individual medley and 550-yard freestyle, junior Connor Daly, who won the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke, and sophomore Scott McGinty, who finished first in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle.

Head coach Ken Holbrook was ecstatic with his team's accomplishment, crediting all 19 members of the varsity squad.

"It's just fantastic," Holbrook said. "My guys swam really well, and getting this last win was just the icing on the cake."

Departing senior captains Gib Stevens and Chris Briere also performed well.

"They did great," Holbrook said. "But the win was a team effort; that's the way it's been all year."

Reading will now compete for the league championship Thursday at Bentley.

By Ryan Thomas, Globe Correspondent

Concord-Carlisle's Sean O'Brien and Lincoln-Sudbury's Ryan Shelley both broke Zack Cassavant's 14-year-old 1-meter diving record in the Dual County League Swimming and Diving Championships Wednesday held at Beedy Center in Concord.

Cassavant, an Acton-Boxboro graduate, set the mark at 325 points in 1996, but Shelley recorded a 349.40, followed by O'Brien one-upping him and setting the bar at 355.70.

The DCL Swimming and Diving Championships will continue on Friday, with the swimming portion taking place. Currently, L-S is leading with 48 points and Concord-Carlisle is second with 34.

Nothing draws the best out of a winner like some good competition.

Last night, St. John's Prep boys toppled a strong group of BC High swimmers 104-82 to secure regular-season Catholic Conference supremacy. Senior captain Brendan Moran said the rivalry stoked his team's competitive fire.

"It's always a big meet, we always have kids swim fast [against BC High] so we were pretty pumped to swim against them, particularly here at [Harvard's Blodgett Pool]," Moran said. "Kids just put their hearts into their swims and we executed it, so we're happy about that."

Moran led off for the second-place 400 Freestyle relay team (3:37.41) as well as for the third-place 200 Freestyle relay team (1:37.35). He finished the solo 200 Freestyle in 1:52.71 for third place.

Prep won the Division 1 title last year while BC High placed fourth. Last year's win was the fourth in a row, and despite last night's solid victory against the eagles, coach Tony Padvaiskas said he is unsure of how his young team will fare this year.

"We graduated 17 boys last year, so to only have three seniors this year we have a lot of work to do to get the underclassmen ready to go," he said.

Moran echoed his coach's cautious sentiments, but said he's ready to do whatever it takes to win.

"As coach says, we've got three more weeks where we've got Catholic Conference championships, sectional championships and state championships," Moran said. "We've got a lot of work left to do, and I'm looking forward to the practices that we put in and what we get out of them."

FULL ENTRY

Whether you prefer the court or the ice, and even the pool, there's a few events to note this week.

Hockey

• Catholic Memorial, the Globe's No. 1 team in the region, and St. John's Prep, the No. 7 team, will be playing each other at 7:20 p.m. Wednesday at Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington. It's a rescheduled game the two teams were supposed to play Jan. 2.

  Catholic Memorial (9-2-1) downed the last No. 7 team, Malden Catholic, 4-2 Saturday after going into the third period tied 1-1.

  St. John's Prep (5-5-1) is second in the Catholic Conference.

• No. 1 St. Mary's vs. No. 9 Woburn girls hockey, Wednesday. A rematch of last year's division 1 state championship, won by St. Mary's.

• No. 3 Hingham vs. No. 6 Duxbury girls hockey wednesday. Two top 10 girls hockey teams, each with just one loss. For Hingham, beginning of a brutal two-game stand that has them facing St. Mary's on Saturday.

Basketball

• No. 7 Madison Park vs. No. 6 East Boston in boys' basketball Thursday. Last time these two teams met, Eastie won in overtime. Both teams are in top 10.

Other

• Swimming -- Boston College High vs. St. John's Prep swimming Sunday at 7 p.m. at Harvard.

  Defending state champion St. John's is unbeaten and faces Catholic Conference rival and unbeaten BC High for the conference title. This could be the best competition of the entire winter season. This is the first of three straight matchups between the schools with the Catholic Conference meet and the state championships also ahead.

• Track and Field -- State Coaches Elite track meet Sunday at Reggie Lewis center. Best of the best in state line up in what is usually a great preview of the state championship next month.

For those looking to attend this winter's City Championships, here's a list of dates for this year's festivities:

• Indoor track: Feb. 9-10, 3 p.m. at the Reggie Lewis Center
• Swimming: Feb. 10, 3 p.m.
• Girls' basketball: Semifinals on Feb. 18, 4 and 5:30 p.m. at Madison Park; Final on Feb. 20, 5 p.m.
• Boys' basketball: Semifinals on Feb. 19, 4 and 5:30 p.m. at Madison Park; Final on Feb. 20, 6:30 p.m.
• Boys' hockey: Semifinal on Feb. 19, 10 a.m. at Matthews Arena; Final on Feb. 20, noon.

We'll pass along the matchups for basketball and hockey when they are released.

Former Andover swimmer Elizabeth Mancuso (Globe File Photos)

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Judicial Court said today that participation in school athletics is not a constitutional right for anyone, rejecting former Andover swimmer Elizabeth Mancuso's claim after she was banned as a fifth-year senior.

From the Globe's Local News Updates

The state’s high court today strongly endorsed the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association’s oversight of athletics in the state’s public schools, rejecting a former Andover High School swimmer’s claim she was denied her constitutional rights when banned as a fifth-year senior.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Judicial Court said that participation in school athletics is not a constitutional right for anyone. Writing for the court, Justice Judith M. Cowin also ruled that MIAA’s grievance procedure does not violate the state’s civil rights law.

“The right to a public education, even one with a mandatory physical education component, is not synonymous with the right to participate in extracurricular activities, such as interscholastic athletics," Cowin wrote.

She added, “we do not expand the contours of a student's property interest in public education to include within it every extracurricular activity that might enrich the educational experience, however meaningful those activities might be to individual students.:

Elizabeth Mancuso was a star swimmer in 2003 when she and her school asked the MIAA to treat her as a fifth year senior. Mancuso had attended Austin Preparatory School for her freshman year, but then repeated freshman year when she transferred into Andover’s public school because she had started school one year earlier than her peers, according to the SJC.

While at Austin, Mancuso swam on a travel team but not for the school. As she prepared for her senior year on the Andover swim team, the MIAA said her year at Austin counted towards her four years of high school eligibility and knocked her off the team, according to the SJC.

Denied by the MIAA, Mancuso went on to Dartmouth College where she was a member of that university’s swim and has since graduated from college.

As you may have noticed when you picked up your Boston Globe this morning, all of our high school sports standings are moving online here at Boston.com starting today.

Hop over to High School Sports Central for all of today's content, which includes:

• Notebooks for boys' and girls' basketball and boys' hockey
• Standings for all winter sports
• Players of the week and leading scorers

If you don't see the standings for your favorite team or league, please get in touch with your coach, athletic director, or league representative and remind them to contact the Globe on Sundays to report the latest information.

We're dusting off our Player Diaries blog for the fall season and we're looking for athletes who might be interested in chronicling their seasons on Boston.com.

Last fall, Mansfield football standout Mike McPherson and Ursuline volleyball All-Scholastic Caitlin Burchill kept us updated on their exciting seasons. Now we want you to tell us all about your fall season.

Interested? Drop us an email with your name, sport you play, and a brief bio about yourself. Remember, you don't have to be the team superstar. Heck, if you're the stats keeper and you want to tell the world about how your team is doing, we want you, too.

We'll pick a handful of our favorites to handle the Player Diaries this fall. Hey, it doesn't look bad on a college resume, either.

The Eastern Massachusetts Interscholastic Swim Coaches Academy will dedicate the Massachusetts Swim Coaches Hall of Fame Wednesday, Aug. 27 at the Milford High School Pool with the unveiling of the State Coaches Hall of Fame at 7:30 p.m.

Established in 1981, the Massachusetts Swim Coaches Hall of Fame honors the finest coaches in Massachusetts's history of swimming and diving, and a similar display is on exhibit in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. at the International Swimming Hall of Fame. The exhibit in Milford will include the Jack McDonald Memorial Award, Massachusetts state records,
along with photos depicting the people and events that helped shape interscholastic swimming in Massachusetts.