Four New England high school students have been named winners in the 2026 Will McDonough Writing Contest, a competition that has been reshaped to focus on high school sports journalism. The contest, managed this year by the Boston Globe’s sports department, honors the legacy of longtime Globe sports columnist Will McDonough, who passed away in 2003.

The winners include Devyn O’Donnell, a senior at Cranston West High School in Rhode Island, who took the Grade 12 division, and Joseph Manzi, an 11th grader also from Cranston West, who won the Grade 11 category. Ada Ferguson of Oakmont Regional High School in Massachusetts secured the Grade 10 award, while Ella Fireman from Rivers High School in Massachusetts was recognized in the Grade 9 division.

This year marks the contest’s transition from a broader essay format for students in grades four through twelve into a specialized high school sports journalism competition. Since the Boston Globe assumed management of the contest this spring, the focus has been on entries that effectively articulate and support ideas, opinions, and claims centered on sports.

Over 90 submissions were received from young journalists throughout New England. John Vitti, a multiplatform editor with the Globe’s sports department, supervised the judging process. Winning stories varied in their subject matter: O’Donnell wrote about her school’s wrestling team, Manzi profiled a longtime Cranston West coach recently promoted to athletic director, Ferguson explored her school’s unified basketball program, and Fireman recounted her experiences competing in tennis.

The contest was supported by the Boston Globe Foundation, The Sports Museum, and the McDonough family, all of whom help uphold the tribute to McDonough’s impact on sports journalism.

In addition to the four division winners, numerous students earned honorable mentions across all grade levels. These honorees come from a diverse array of schools spanning Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, reflecting the broad regional interest in sports writing nurtured by the contest.

The reinvigoration of the Will McDonough Writing Contest highlights continued efforts to encourage young writers to engage critically with sports, combining community storytelling with journalistic skills.