Skates are sharpened, the court is waxed, the wait is over and winter sports are back. The traditional meet the coaches night was held last week; play begins Thursday for ice hockey, basketball, swimming and indoor track and field.

Facing competition in the form of familiar and new foes from towns all over Massachusetts, the Vineyard runners torched their way through the 3.1 mile course at the Gardner Municipal Golf Course.

For the second year in a row the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School cross country team has produced a banner season. Saturday the boys squad won the division five South Sectional championship.

On a bitterly cold and windy Friday night at Dan McCarthy Field, a motivated Mashpee team out-muscled a banged-up Vineyard squad 20-6.

After defeating Seekonk 2-1 in the preliminary playoff round Sunday afternoon in Seekonk, the boys soccer team was tested Tuesday against undefeated Norwell.

While the Whalers and Vineyarders slugged it out on the gridiron Saturday, over on the Cape, cross country’s senior captain Peter Burke was leaving runners in his wake.