DANVERS — St. John’s Prep athletics locked down national recognition from two major media outlets this past week.
For Eagles’ fans, this might not come as a surprise. After all, from October of 2021 through June of 2023, Eagles teams brought home 20 championships. In the 2023-24 academic year, the Prep captured seven MIAA state titles (alpine skiing, dual-meet wrestling, swimming and diving, ice hockey, tennis, track and field relays, lacrosse) and added a Northern New England championship in mountain biking.
The national media noticed. In its research to determine “Which U.S. high schools are best for athletes?” USA TODAY rated Prep the country’s No. 4 institution overall. Using a methodology that weighs factors such as parent and student survey responses, the total number of championships, enrollment, and sports offered, the publication selected 20 schools that stood out among the 27,000-plus public and private secondary schools across America.
The Prep also won the 2024 MaxPreps Cup for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, compiling 1,342 points to edge out Weston (1,300) and Walpole (1,293). A website owned by CBS that specializes in covering American high school sports, MaxPreps aims to determine the best overall high school sports programs in the nation.
Points are awarded for state championships, runner-up finishes, and national rankings, while points are weighted based on size of state, popularity of sport, enrollment, and number of teams competing in each enrollment division.
More than 5,500 schools were awarded points, but only 107 registered more than 1,000 points this year. The Prep also earned the most MaxPreps Cup points in Massachusetts in 2020 and 2023.