AUGUSTA — The fall sports season wrapped up Nov. 23 with a trio of football state championship games, bringing an end to games and matches.

It also marked the beginning of a new season: Deciding our athletes of the year.

It’s no small task, with a plethora of worthy candidates emerging in each sport.

It was even tougher this fall season, the first in which we combined the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel athletes of the year.

This season’s batch of all-stars features a two-time defending golf state champion and an elite field hockey player whose toughness is only matched by her skills. It features a three-year starting junior quarterback who’s emerged as one of the better signal callers in the area, and a girls soccer player who eclipsed the century mark in career scoring. It features a boys soccer player who scored 29 goals to lead his team to a state final, and a couple of mentally tough runners who tasted championship success this fall.

They are all worthy athletes of the year, and on Dec. 5 the group of seven got together for a group photo and talked a little about their seasons and what lies ahead.