As 2025 begins, it’s time to reflect on Whitman sports’ best accomplishments of the past year. Here are The Black & White’s top five most memorable moments throughout this historic year for Whitman Athletics, from buzzer-beaters to state championships.
Wrestling wins team states, Solomon Randall wins individual states
In a record-breaking season for the mens wrestling team, they secured their first state championship since 2005 and second in school history. In the regular season, Head Coach Derek Manon won a dual meet for the 200th time in his career. After serving as the assistant wrestling coach at Col. Zadok Magruder High School, Manon became the head coach of Whitman’s team in 2006. This season was Manon’s most successful at Whitman by far, and to top it off, junior Solomon Randall captured the individual state championship. At 113 lbs, Randall lost just once on his way to the state championship, winning an impressive 43 matches during the season.
“It was extremely gratifying,” Randall said. “It’s something we as a team train every day for.”
Girls soccer wins 4th straight state championship, making history in the process
The girls soccer team capped off an incredible season with a 3–0 win in the State Championship against Crofton High School. In doing so, the Vikes became Maryland’s first high school girls soccer team to win four consecutive state championships. This was the team’s first undefeated season since 2015 and their seventh state championship overall. Achieving yet another championship will be tough, as the team will lose 12 seniors, including four Division 1 commits, but the Vikes have shown time and time again that they can reload on talent to dominate the state.
Football secures first winning season in 8 years
The boys football team enjoyed another season of success, winning a playoff game for the second consecutive season after going winless two years prior. This season, they achieved a winning record for the first time since 2016, a significant turnaround of the once-inferior program. The Vikes went 5–4 in the regular season, with close wins over Thomas Johnson, Springbrook and three blowout wins. They beat Springbrook in the first round of the playoffs before falling in a hard-fought game to Blake. After Coach Prettyman took over in the middle of the season, the Vikes showed resilience and gave themselves something to build on for next season.
Will Shapiro hits a game-winning three to send Whitman to the state championship
The boys basketball team made an incredible run to the state finals this year, and it wouldn’t have happened without a miraculous buzzer-beater by junior Will Shapiro in the state semifinals against Richard Montgomery. After leading by double digits for most of the game, the Vikings were outscored by 16 points in the final four minutes. Up by two points with five seconds remaining, Richard Montgomery missed a free throw, which allowed the Vikes an opportunity to tie or win the game. Shapiro took advantage of the moment, nailing a deep three-pointer just as time expired, sending the Vikes to the state championship for the first time since 2014. Shapiro’s shot later appeared on SportsCenter’s top plays of the night.
“I had no thoughts, there was no ark on the shot,” Shapiro said of his three in an interview with CapitalHoops. “As soon as I threw it up it was basically in. It didn’t feel real.”
Cross country wins the team states, Mateo Gros-Slovinsky wins the boys state championship
The boys cross country team captured the state championship and senior Mateo Gros-Slovinsky scored a first-place finish at the individual state championship in a dominant year for the Vikes. In the past several years, the team has come close to winning the championship, including a third-place finish last season, but they couldn’t break through until this year. Gros-Slovinsky had an impressive time of 15:44.74 in the 5k, beating out the second-place finisher by just under nine seconds to take the 4A individual state championship. Whitman also continued their dominance in the team competition, beating out BCC and Urbana. The Vikes were the only team in the state to have four of their five runners score in the top 18 of the competition. Gros-Slovinsky, Jonah Greszler, Zack Pritts and Max Wolf were among the runners who placed in the top 18.
