By Tiffany Williams –
Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray turned their first seasons in Boston into All-MLB recognition. Georgia took over the College Football Playoff rankings as Utah and UCLA reached program highs. At Elon, Brodie Carroll earned an award recognizing a contribution that extends from the football field to families confronting childhood cancer.
In Worcester, WPI delivered the night’s most decisive result among these updates, doubling Albertus Magnus 76–38 behind sharp shooting, a commanding rebounding advantage and four players in double figures.
Contreras and Gray Give Boston Two All-MLB Honorees
Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray were named to the 2026 All-MLB Second Team, becoming the seventh and eighth Red Sox players to receive All-MLB recognition since the award began in 2019.
Selections combined fan voting with votes from a panel of media members, broadcasters, former players and other officials.
Willson Contreras became the first Red Sox first baseman and third Boston infielder to earn the distinction. Sonny Gray became the third Red Sox pitcher honored and received his second career selection after making the Second Team with Minnesota in 2023.
They joined a Boston group that includes Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts, Rafael Devers, Jarren Duran, Garrett Crochet and Aroldis Chapman.
Xander Bogaerts made the First Team in 2019, while Mookie Betts received Second Team honors that year. Rafael Devers followed with a Second Team selection in 2021, and Jarren Duran earned that recognition in 2024. Garrett Crochet and Aroldis Chapman were First Team selections in 2025.
For Willson Contreras, the honor followed a season of career bests across several major offensive categories.
The 34-year-old hit .275 with 27 home runs, 81 RBI and 59 walks in 130 games. His home runs, RBI and walks were career highs, as were his .386 on-base percentage and .902 OPS. He finished with 123 hits in 448 at-bats and a .516 slugging percentage.
Those numbers placed him near the top of the American League. Among qualified hitters, Willson Contreras ranked second in on-base percentage and OPS, fifth in slugging and tied for 11th in home runs.
He also ranked second among major league first basemen with 4.0 FanGraphs wins above replacement.
The production came through more than home runs. His walks and ability to reach base helped make him one of the league’s strongest offensive performers even when he was not driving the ball for extra bases.
Willson Contreras was also hit by pitches 24 times, matching his career high from 2022. That total ranked fourth in the majors and tied for second in a season in Red Sox history, behind Don Baylor’s 35 in 1986.
He earned his fourth career All-Star selection and participated in his first Home Run Derby.
His season included AL Player of the Week honors for the week of May 18, when he hit .458 across six games with two home runs, eight RBI, two triples and five runs scored. He recorded his 1,000th career hit May 22 and reached 10 years of major league service May 27.
Sonny Gray’s Recognition Follows an 18-Win Season
Sonny Gray finished 18–5 with a 2.72 ERA and 149 strikeouts across 169 innings in 29 starts.
His .783 winning percentage led qualified major league pitchers, and his 18 victories tied Cristopher Sánchez for the major league lead.
The right-hander ranked fifth in the American League and eighth in the majors in ERA. His 2.72 mark was his lowest in any of his 12 seasons with at least 100 innings pitched.
The consistency behind those totals was substantial. Sonny Gray allowed three or fewer earned runs in 25 of his 29 starts. In 16 starts, he allowed no more than one earned run, matching his career best from 2023.
From May 6 through July 19, he won 10 consecutive decisions, the longest such streak of his career. He became the first Red Sox starter to record that many consecutive winning decisions in one season since Clay Buchholz won 11 straight in 2013.
Now 37, Sonny Gray became the first major league pitcher to win at least 18 games at age 36 or older since Justin Verlander in 2022. He joined Cy Young and Curt Schilling as the only pitchers to accomplish that with Boston.
He also became the seventh pitcher in club history to win as many as 18 of his first 29 games with the Red Sox, and the first since Curt Schilling in 2004.
Two career milestones arrived in the same June 28 outing against the Yankees: his 2,000th strikeout and 2,000th inning pitched.
The award recognizes a completed season. His future is a separate matter: Sonny Gray became a free agent Oct. 29.
Brodie Carroll’s Leadership Reaches Beyond Football
Elon linebacker Brodie Carroll received the 2026 Chuck Boone Leadership and Excellence Award, an honor voted on by CAA athletics directors.
The award recognizes a football student-athlete who demonstrates leadership, integrity, teamwork and sportsmanship in academics and athletics.
Brodie Carroll’s football credentials are significant on their own. The redshirt junior leads Elon with 95 tackles, nine tackles for loss, four sacks and 12 pass breakups. The Phoenix rank seventh nationally in total defense and ninth in scoring defense.
The team captain earned preseason Second Team All-America recognition from Stats Perform and midseason First Team honors from Phil Steele. He also made the watch list for the Buck Buchanan Award, presented to the top defensive player in FCS football.
His academic record includes a 3.78 GPA as a sport management major with a coaching minor. He earned CSC Academic All-District honors in 2024 and has appeared on the CAA Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll for three years.
Brodie Carroll made Elon’s President’s List last spring and has earned Dean’s List recognition in four semesters.
His community involvement carries a particularly personal connection.
Diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma at age 2, Brodie Carroll now works with Alex’s Army, a childhood cancer foundation. He connects with patients and families and helps organize fundraisers and toy drives.
His long hair serves as a visible reminder to young patients of his own experience: He lost his hair during childhood cancer treatment and now uses his story to help others confront fear and uncertainty.
After receiving Stats Perform FCS National Defensive Player of the Week honors Sept. 21, Brodie Carroll partnered with Special Olympics and pledged $10 for every tackle and $25 for every sack he recorded in Elon’s next game.
Others matched his commitment. The initiative generated more than $1,000.
The award brings those parts of his work together. His tackles contribute to Elon’s defense. His academic performance reflects sustained classroom achievement. His outreach gives families facing cancer a connection with someone who has lived through it.
Other nominees were Kamden Sixkiller of Campbell, Korede Sogbesan of Hampton, Bryce Purnell of Maine, Jaeden Jones of Monmouth, Colby Ramshaw of New Hampshire, Elijah Kennedy of North Carolina A&T, Marquis Buchanan of Rhode Island, Curtis Whiting of Sacred Heart, Anthony Ferrelli of Stony Brook and Daniel Anderla of Towson.
Brodie Carroll follows Monmouth’s Derek Robertson, the 2025 recipient. He is the third Elon player on the award’s winners list, joining Caleb Curtain in 2024 and Davis Cheek in 2021.
Georgia Leads CFP Rankings as Utah and UCLA Make History
Georgia moved from second to first in the CFP Selection Committee rankings covering games through Nov. 7, replacing Miami at the top.
The Bulldogs are 8–1. This is Georgia’s 16th week at No. 1 in the CFP rankings, second only to Alabama’s 24.
Utah rose to second at 9–0, establishing a program high after reaching No. 3 the previous week. UCLA, also 9–0, climbed four places to fourth, surpassing its previous best of eighth.
Utah and UCLA are the only undefeated FBS teams entering Week 11. Having just two unbeaten teams in the season’s second rankings matches the fewest in CFP history, a mark previously reached in 2014.
Alabama sits between them at No. 3 with a 7–2 record. According to the CFP’s ranking notes, this is the earliest a two-loss team has appeared in the top four, surpassing the previous benchmark set by Auburn on Nov. 28, 2017.
Notre Dame made another historic move, jumping from 11th to fifth. The 8–1 Fighting Irish became the first team to climb from outside the top 10 into the top five in a single week.
Texas moved to sixth at 7–2. Miami dropped six places to seventh at 8–1, followed by Tennessee, which climbed five positions to eighth.
Indiana fell from fourth to ninth. BYU rounded out the top 10, down one spot.
Kentucky dropped five places to 11th. Texas Tech, Wake Forest and Houston each climbed three positions to 12th, 13th and 14th, respectively. Houston’s ranking is its highest in program history.
Iowa moved to 15th. Oregon made the largest upward move of the week, climbing seven places to 16th despite carrying three losses at 6–3.
South Carolina is 17th, followed by USC. Ole Miss fell nine positions to 19th, Ohio State dropped eight to 20th and LSU slid seven to 21st.
Missouri is 22nd, Arizona 23rd and Boise State 24th. Boise State remains the highest-ranked team from a Group of Six conference.
Oklahoma State entered at No. 25, its first appearance since the 2023 season.
The movement underscores how sharply the committee’s assessment changed in one week. Notre Dame gained six places, while Miami lost six. Oregon climbed seven, while three teams — Ole Miss, Ohio State and LSU — each fell at least seven.
WPI Takes Control Early and Never Gives It Back
WPI needed one quarter to establish a firm advantage Tuesday against Albertus Magnus.
The Engineers made five 3-pointers in the opening period, built a 24–10 lead and finished with a 76–38 victory. WPI improved to 2–1, while Albertus Magnus fell to 0–1.
Fem Jansen led all scorers with 16 points, shooting six of nine overall and four of seven from three. Three of those 3-pointers came in the first quarter.
Leila Nielsen and Hannah Levine also connected from beyond the arc in the opening period.
WPI extended the lead with a 15–6 second quarter and entered halftime ahead 39–16. The Engineers added 20 points in the third and closed with a 17–6 fourth quarter.
Leila Nielsen, MJ van der Horst and Emmy Allyn each scored 10 points. MJ van der Horst made all five of her field-goal attempts and added six rebounds and five assists.
Leila Nielsen also grabbed six rebounds and handed out two assists. Emmy Allyn made two 3-pointers, while Ava Giansiracusa contributed nine points, five rebounds and three assists.
Kayla Goldrick and MJ van der Horst shared the team lead with five assists apiece. Fem Jansen added four.
The Engineers finished at 55% shooting, making 33 of 60 attempts, and assisted on 24 baskets. They outrebounded Albertus Magnus 41–21 and scored 44 points in the paint.
The opening 3-pointers created separation. The rebounding and interior production gave WPI other ways to maintain it.
Isabella Fiorillo led Albertus Magnus with 14 points, and Ariellys Velez added 13. Together, they accounted for 27 of the Falcons’ 38 points.
WPI returns to Harrington Auditorium on Thursday, Nov. 12, to host Regis at 7 p.m.