The following is a look back on the first six months of 2009. A second installment, covering July to December, will appear in the Jan. 6 issue of The Star-Herald.
The Presque Isle cheerleaders won the Aroostook League Cheering Competition, held at Caribou High School. Houlton was second and Central Aroostook took the Spirit Award. Brittany Brown of Presque Isle won the all-star jump award. The Wildcats also took second in the Big East Championships held at Hermon High School. The following weekend, the Central Aroostook Panther cheerleaders placed first in the Eastern Maine Class D regionals, defeating second-place Machias by 20 points. Presque Isle was seventh in Class B and failed to qualify for the state meet.
The Presque Isle girls varsity basketball team, thanks to a Kayla Richards foul shot with 3.1 seconds to play, edged Central of East Corinth at home, 64-63, in a key regular season matchup.
Brad Trask became the latest 1,000-point scorer at Easton High School, accomplishing the feat during his team’s game against Central Aroostook in Mars Hill. In other high school basketball highlights, Jeremy Tarr’s 35 points lifted Ashland over Washburn, 72-41. Rebecca Campbell hit a shot with 8/10ths of a second left to send Washburn’s game with Hodgdon into overtime, and her two free throws in the extra session keyed a 32-28 victory.
The Presque Isle Middle School blue grade 8 boys basketball team, coached by Tim Olore, went 14-0 and won the Aroostook League title.
The Wildcat hockey team handed John Bapst its first loss of the season, 4-2, in a match played at the Forum. Later in the month, the ’Cats traveled downstate and were beaten by Greely of Cumberland, 10-1 and at Cape Elizabeth, 6-3.
The Presque Isle girls youth hockey U16 team tied Houlton, 2-2. Hilary Albert scored both Presque Isle goals and teammate Jillian Flynn was stellar in goal.
At Limestone, the Presque Isle swim team defeated Caribou, 88-65 in the girls meet and 80-44 in the boys meet.
Jon Robertson and Beth Flannery won gold medals in skiing for CAARC at the Special Olympics Maine 2009 Winter Games. Laurie Coffin and Steve Michaud both took home silver medals from the event.
The Presque Isle Recreation and Parks Department held an extreme decathlon for area youth. Jack Beaulieu won the gold medal, Adam Paterson the silver and Sam Beaulieu the bronze in the younger division; while Taylor Williams won the gold, Parker Lambert the silver and Khasen Lowe the bronze in the older division. Competitions included fox and hounds, cup speed stacking, the shuttle run, leg wrestling, bean bag toss, dizzy bat scooter relay, balance beam pillow fighting, head stands, timed jump rope and Superman jump.
Wildcat Lucas Mathers won the state skimeister title for his high placements in all four disciplines of racing (giant slalom, slalom, nordic freestyle and nordic classical) at the Class B state meet. Both Presque Isle teams placed eighth in the event, which was held at the Nordic Heritage Center and Big Rock Ski Area.
Senior Dylan Collins became the fourth player in the history of Presque Isle varsity hockey to score 100 points in a career, joining Doug and Darren Carlisle and Brandon Daigle. Collins hit the milestone during his team’s 4-2 win at Gardiner. A few days later, junior Brennen Shaw joined the 100-point club during a home match against Hampden Academy.
Central Aroostook won the Class D state cheering title at the Bangor Auditorium.
The PIHS junior varsity cheerleaders won the invitational JV competition held at Ellsworth High School.
Erica Davis was named NAIA Div. II women’s basketball player of the week after averaging 29 points, 16 rebounds and 6.5 steals during the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s games against Fisher College and UM-Machias.
Cassidy Pelletier and Carmen Bragg were state winners in the Maine Elks Association Hoop Shoot held in Augusta.
The Presque Isle girls and boys basketball teams were both defeated in Caribou. The girls score was 47-41 and the boys score was 37-34 in a game that needed overtime before a winner was determined.
The Central Aroostook girls put and end to Fort Fairfield’s unbeaten regular season with a 45-44 victory. Vicki McIntyre’s 21 points led the Panthers. Jeremy Tarr became the 10th player in Ashland Community High School history to eclipse the 1,000-point mark for his career. He did so during his team’s home victory over Limestone/MSSM.
The Wildcat girls and boys, the Central Aroostook boys and the Fort Fairfield and Washburn girls all reached the semifinal round of the Eastern Maine Basketball Tournament. The Fort Fairfield boys, after going undefeated during the regular season and gaining the No. 1 seed in EM Class D, were upset by No. 9 Bangor Christian, 53-51. Coach Larry Gardner’s FF girls and coach Tim Brewer’s CA boys were the only area teams to reach the finals. Fort fell to Woodland, 49-34, while CA also lost to Woodland, 61-49.
Presque Isle’s U16 girls hockey team came in second place in the Mid-Coast Classic Tournament held in Rockport.
Several members of the Presque Isle varsity swim team competed in the state meet held at the University of Maine at Orono.
Presque Isle lost to Greely, 5-1, in the Class B State Hockey Championship. Coach Carl Flynn’s Wildcats had beaten Winslow in the Eastern Maine championship, 5-1, for their first-ever title.
The University of Maine at Presque Isle baseball team garnered national attention, including a New York Times article and a feature on ESPN, due to the lack of home games the team has played over the past few years.
Darrell McCrum of Mars Hill and Fred Whited of Robinson competed in the 2009 Cain’s Quest Snowmobile Endurance Race in Labrador City, Canada. The pair combined for a ninth-place finish.
The Nordic Heritage Center hosted the eighth annual Himie Towle Memorial cross-country ski frolic with nearly 75 skiers competing.
Peter Jakl of Presque Isle and Linda Milligan of Ashland won the 40-and-over division in the Dash for Cash ski race held in Caribou.
Fort Fairfield’s Josh Ricker, 11, sank all 25 of his free throws at the Knights of Columbus state free throw shooting competition in Old Town. Amanda Hotham, 14, of Fort Fairfield won her age group as well, sinking 22 of 25 foul shots.
UMPI lost to UMFK in the Sunrise Conference women’s basketball championship, 64-32. The Owls defeated SUNY-Canton, 64-53, to reach the finals. Erica Davis was named co-player of the year in the conference.
Players Manny Martinez of Central Aroostook and Russ Mortland and Sarah Porter, both of Presque Isle, joined Central Aroostook boys coach Tim Brewer as participants in the McDonald’s High School Senior All-Star Basketball Games held at Husson University in Bangor.
NMCC won the Presque Isle Gentlemen’s Hockey League title with a 6-3 victory over UMPI.
Carmen Bragg of Washburn won the MRPA state Hotshot title in the girls 11-12 age division. Taylor Williams of Presque Isle placed second in the age group.
The Presque Isle eighth-grade girls’ basketball travel team won the John Doucette Memorial Tournament at Husson University.
The Wildcat volleyball teams took the Aroostook League championship in the large school division. The girls were coached by Alan Curtis and the boys by Ron McAtee. Fort Fairfield captured the Div. II titles for both girls and boys. Courtney Churchill of FF was the girls’ MVP, while Ian Towle of FF took the boys’ MVP honor. John McCrea served as the Tiger girls coach, while Tony Levesque was the boys’ coach.
Former Presque Isle standout Natasha Deschene was named to the New England Women’s Basketball Association All-Senior Team. She was a member of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute basketball team.
The MFX hockey team won the Casco Bay Tournament in Portland to close out its competitive season.
Sarah Porter was the recipient of the McDonald’s All-State Academic Scholarship. One of 10 finalists for the award, Porter claimed a $1,000 check.
Presque Isle Middle School was third in the Aroostook League wrestling championship held at Presque Isle High School. Wildcats Matt Tilley, Huston Putnam, Khyver Lowe and Jamey Lessard all won County titles.
The UMPI softball team won its season-opening doubleheader against Maine Maritime by scores of 17-15 and 8-4.
Miranda Jandreau took first place in the youth division and father Rod Jandreau was third place overall at the Long Lake Fishing Derby.
Spring sports teams at the high school level were getting ready to begin play. The Ashland softball team, coached by Terry Hunter, was anxious to begin play after finishing as EM Class D runners-up the previous season. Tim Dolley was getting ready to coach both the girls and boys tennis teams at Presque Isle High School. Ashland bested Central Aroostook, 8-5, in the regular season baseball opener for both squads.
The Presque Isle Elks I team was third in the Eastern Maine Bowling Tournament held in Houlton.
Quoggy Jo’s end-of-the-season awards were presented to skiers and snowboarders.
The Dutch Soccer Academy’s sixth annual European soccer tour visited Italy, with several local players participating in the trip, including Presque Isle’s Eric Morris, Russ Mortland, Josh Allen, Warren Zubrick, Lucas Mathers and Caleb Mathers.
The American Heart Association’s Hoops for Heart program established a school record at Washburn District Elementary School, as $12,095.37 was raised by students.
The University of Maine at Presque Isle softball team captured the Sunrise Conference title by sweeping Fisher College of Boston in the finals.
The Presque Isle Elks I team won the women’s Eastern Maine Bowling Tournament. Laurie Michaud, Sue Chasse, Mona Reiersen, KimSue Leavitt and Alice Caron were members of the winning squad.
The Presque Isle girls and boys track teams placed second to Caribou at the Aroostook League Championships.
Sarah Porter, Brittany Bearden and Alex Carter went undefeated in the Eastern Maine Region I Tennis Tournament held in Presque Isle, earning the right to advance to the state individual tournament.
The Caribou boys and girls track teams took home first-place honors at the County’s first track meet of 2009.
Erica Davis and Tyler Delaney were named female and male athletes of the year at the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s athletic awards banquet.
The Presque Isle boys tennis team lost to Ellsworth, 5-0, in the Eastern Maine Class B championship match played at the indoor courts in Hampden due to inclement weather.
The Fort Fairfield softball team and Central Aroostook baseball team posted quarterfinal wins, but both squads were defeated in the semifinal round of the EM Class D playoffs. The Tigers lost to Limestone/MSSM, while the Panthers boys were beaten by Shead of Eastport.
Lucas Richards of Presque Isle took second in the javelin at the Class B state track and field meet held at Mount Desert Island. Wildcat teammate Jason Johnson took third in the discus. On the girls’ side, Katrina Whittier was fifth in the 300 hurdles.
Presque Isle mustered wins on the diamond over Caribou to close out the regular season. The girls won in extra innings, 7-6, while the boys claimed an 8-3 win. Both Wildcat squads were beaten in the quarterfinal round of the Class B playoffs.
Fred Ludwig of Houlton captured the overall title in the Aroostook River Fun Run, an event for kayakers and canoeists which included 40 crafts.
Tyler Seeley won the William J. Smith Award as the pee wee hockey player displaying sportsmanship and outstanding dedication to the sport.
The final Logan Graves Golf Classic was held at Presque Isle Country Club, with more than $700,000 raised for the Maine Children’s Cancer Program during the tourney’s 10-year run..
Bryce Smith of Mars Hill was the winner of the Northern Maine Soap Box Derby.
