In Mackenzie Clarke’s own words, she felt FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).
After missing her sophomore season of ice hockey to focus on year-round field hockey in the most important year for her college recruiting, she yearned to return to her first sport at the high school level. Two years later, she’s graduating as the lone Belmont High School All-Scholastic honoree across all Marauders winter athletes.
“It’s always been a part of me,” Clarke said. “I started to miss it, and a bunch of people who I played field hockey with were on the team that year.”
The senior forward collected 15 goals and 12 assists en route to Boston Herald All-Scholastic and Boston Globe All-Scholastic Honorable mention honors this winter. Her tradeoff for field hockey worked, too. A two-time Globe and Herald All-Scholastic and the Belmont High School’s all-time leading scorer on turf, she’ll play collegiately for the five-time national champion University of Connecticut Huskies. She’s undecided on a major but wants to study marketing.
The Marauders went 11-6-3 in the regular season, earning the No. 16 seed in the MIAA Division 1 tournament. They fell to No. 17 Shrewsbury in overtime at home in the Round of 32. Clarke played ice hockey as a freshman but did not as a sophomore, focusing on field hockey.
After a year off from ice hockey, Clarke returned as a junior and immediately established herself as a top regional scorer. Clarke started skating at age four and playing club at age six. Field hockey started around the same time, but she didn’t start club until third grade.
Reflecting on her high school sports experience as a whole, Clarke talked about how much she enjoyed competing for Belmont High School. Club sports focus so much on recruiting and performing for college coaches. College will bring another level of commitment.
“Having that experience was really enjoyable, playing with all your friends is fun and a relief,” Clarke said. “It was kind of an escape from other things that were going on in my life.”
The Complete List of Belmont High School Athletics Winter 2025-26 League All-Stars
Middlesex League
Boys hockey: Michael Rowan
Girls hockey: Mackenzie Clarke, Mackenzie Tierney
Boys basketball: Braiden Dargon
Girls basketball: Sarah Geller, Sophia McClendon (MVP)
Girls wrestling: Ava Svistunov
Boys track and field: Esmael Peavey
Girls track and field: Kira van Kelsted
Boys swimming: Rohan Bhagwati, Krystof Bykov, David Chen, Ethan Gong, Aodhan Mitchell, Quinn Mitchell, Hunter Olowinski, William Qin, George Quigley, Benjamin Wu
Mass. Bay West (skiing)
Boys: Rhys Harteveldt, Colin Markos
Girls: Ash Carney, Lola Henn, Sophie Huang-Galaznik, Sarina McCarthy.