The second half of the year brought just as many memorable achievements by young and older athletes from the greater Houlton area.
July
Kolleen Bouchard went on to compete at the National Hershey Track and Field competition, coming in fifth place in the 9-10-year-old softball throw.
The Braves of the Houlton Men’s Softball League were runners-up in the Class E state championship. Playing for the team were Aaron Brown, Cliff Urquhart, Aaron Greenlaw, Brian Andrews, Jordan Guy. Aaron Urquhart, Mitchell Clayton, Jason Clayton, Jim Gravel, Jerry Hanning, John Mooney and Danny Scott.
August
The Houlton Merchants won the 43-team state men’s softball championship, with a chance to compete in their first Class D ASA National competition in Columbus, Ohio. The Merchants, sponsored by County Yankee, The Vault Restaurant and Crawford Homes, plays in the Houlton Men’s Softball League. Playing for the team were Charlie ‘Hotwheels’ Bard, Eric Berube, Andrew Clavette, Tim Desjardins, Tommy Desjardins, Todd Gammon, Chad Gentle, Trapper Gentle, Nick Howe, Shannon Kidney, Ryan Thibodeau and Clyde Warman.
Thomas Beckum and Marie Beckum, both of Caribou won the Island Falls Summerfest Road Race. Fifty-five runners competed in the event, along with numerous walkers.
In another running event, Ty Thurlow of Millinocket and Susan Plissey of Stockholm won the County Open Half-Marathon. Forty-four runners participated. Also, the County Open golf winners were: Men’s A: Gross, first, Jerry York and net, Dave Dubois; Men’s B: Gross, first, Jim Taylorand net, Dave Edgar; Men’s C: Gross, first, Matt Carroll and net, first, Ryan Dee. Ladies: Gross, first, Lou Ann Dwyer and net, first, Bev Osborne.
The Houlton Club Championship found Dylan Flewelling edging defending champion Jerry York in a three-hole playoff, while in the “B” Division, Nick Chase finished ahead of Fred Putnam. In the “C” Division, Walter Mitty was first and Gary Stewart, second, and Wayne Quint won the “D” Division. The Women’s champ was Linda Holmes, with Lori Holmes as the “B” champ and Jennifer Wallace was tops in “C.” Doug Dickison topped Kyle Bouchard to win the Junior’s championship.
The Island Falls “Around the Pond” canoe/kayak race was held on Pleasant Lake. First-place winners were: Nick Hagan (Junior Kayak), Matt Steeves (Student Kayak), Al Skofield (Adult Men’s Short Kayak), Heather Bager (Adult Women’s Short Kayak), Matthew Osman and Shanna Porter (Tandem Kayak), Clint Cushman (Open Kayak), Brian and Kelsey MacDonald (Mixed Double Canoe), and Peter Blood (Open Canoe).
The Houlton Elks softball team picked up back-to-back championships, winning the State Elks Tournament on Aug. 13-14. A Houlton team had not won the State Elks Tournament since 1980, until winning the last two years. Playing for the team were Scott Shaffer, Cliff Urquhart, Tony Marino, Patrick Crawley, Mike Brown, Mike Fogarty, Kevin Tuttle, Nick Howe, Derek Nickerson, Galen Nickerson, Shannon Kidney, Trapper Gentle and Del Carmichael.
September
It was the first time in school history that the Hodgdon boys and Katahdin girls programs did not field varsity soccer teams due to lack of interest. The Katahdin boys made school history by adding two girls to its squad since the girls program was not running.
Players for the Houlton Lodge of Elks captured the state Elks over-40 softball title defeating teams from Millinocket and Augusta to advance to the finals where they defeated last year’s winner Rockland. Playing for the team were Marty Bouchard, Alan Paradis, Mike Brown, Pat Crowley, Mike Fogarty, Scott Shaffer, Brian McGuire, Rod Britton, Brian Donnelly, Donnie Levasseur, Bob Cleary, Wendell Hersey, Galen Nickerson, Billy Lyons, Kevin Tuttle and Peter Duff.
SACS senior David Dubois was ranked 36th in the New England Junior Golf Championship held at Abenaqui Country Club in New Hampshire.
The Ashland Hornets snapped the Southern Aroostook girls varsity soccer team’s 32-game winning streak. The Lady Warriors went undefeated in 2009 at 18-0 and in 2008, they were 14-1-1.
Living Waters Mt. View Challenge events started with seven children running in the Kids’ Fun Run where Colby Hicks was the first across the finish line. The five-mile run and three-mile walk followed with Joe and Angela Ewings of Littleton crossing the finish line in 35:04 and 37:14, respectively. In the walkers’ category, Galen and Lisa Elliot of Ellsworth finished in 51:36. The final event of the day was the Survival of the Fittest Challenge, with J. Ewings finishing first in 15:26, followed by Tim Jehnings of Guilford in 15:30.
Players who moved on to the state individual golf tourney at Natanis Golf Course were: David Dubois of Southern Aroostook (83), Brandon Robinson of Katahdin (90), Cody Cunningham of Katahdin (93) and Chris Wallace of Hodgdon (95).
October
The Houlton Shiretowners golf team captured the Class C regional crown with an 18-hole score at JaTo Highlands of 313, defeating George Stevens Academy, 356 and Penobscot Valley, 361.
The Houlton High School varsity golfers were back-to-back state Class C champions, as they defeated St. Dominic Regional High School by one stroke to capture the state title at Natanis Golf Club in Vassalboro. Playing for the team were Ian Gervais, Nick Chase, Logan Shaffer, Gaige Flewelling and Parker Sanderson.
The state individual golf championship for Class C was held on the Arrowhead Course at Natanis Golf Course in Vassalboro. Houlton’s Ian Gervais finished second with a 75, just two strokes behind Madison’s Seth Sweet. Results included David Dubois, Southern Aroostook, 78; Gaige Flewelling, Houlton, 88; Nick Chase, Houlton, 90; Logan Shaffer, Houlton, 91and Brandon Robinson, Katahdin, 95. Gervais will join Maine’s three other top golfers at the New England Regional Championship held at Brentwood Country Club in Keene, N.H. in June 2011.
Jeanette “Nevers” Peters of Fort Fairfield was inducted into the Maine Sports Legends Hall of Honors at an Oct. 10 ceremony held at the Alfond Youth Center in Waterville.
Greater Houlton Christian Academy cross-country runners Whitney Cote, Destinee Neureuther and Micah Wiley qualified for the Cross Country State Competition in Belfast. Neureuther finished 14th and Cote 18th in the girls’ division, while Wiley was 24th in the boys division of the Eastern Regional Cross Country Championship in Belfast.
Qualifying for the Maine State 4-H Equestrian Team were Brianna Hanington of Bancroft, Sara Fitzpatrick of Hodgdon, Melissa Peabody of Houlton and Desiree Foster Sixberry of Linneus.
John McNally, 10, of Patten shot a bull moose during the second week of the 2010 Maine moose hunt. The bull’s antler spread measured an impressive 65 inches with 19 points and the bull dressed out at 800 pounds.
November
The high school soccer playoffs began with the No. 4 Houlton Shires being defeated 1-0 by host Fort Kent in the Class C semifinals. The Shires defeated Washington Academy 4-0 in the quarterfinals. The Class D defending state champion Southern Aroostook Lady Warriors’ chance for a third regional title came to a halt with a 2-0 loss to Van Buren in the semifinals. The Lady Warriors topped Bangor Christian 1-0 in overtime in the quarterfinals. The Southern Aroostook boys lost to the Calvary Chapel Sabers, 3-0 in the Class D semifinals after taking a 3-0 win over CAHS in the quarterfinals. The Katahdin Cougars, which overtook Jonesport-Beals 3-0 in a preliminary game, lost their Class D quarterfinal bid to Machias 2-0. The Houlton Lady Shires season ended in the Class C quarterfinals with a 5-3 loss to Madawaska.
On the football field, the Houlton Knights captured their second straight Aroostook Football League title, with a 61-0 win over Milo.
Named to the Maine Soccer Coaches Regional All-Star Teams 2010 in Eastern Maine Class D were Anthony Diaferio, Cody Robinson and Janel Rockwell, Southern Aroostook and Class C, Taylor Bailey and Amanda Fogarty, Houlton.
Members of the Woodstock Lions/Elks squads in the 1950s, which included Jay Brewer of Monticello, was inducted into Baseball New Brunswick’s Hall of Fame.
Southern Aroostook’s Pat Goodall and Cody Robinson were among the winners of the annual Butch Shaw Award presented to outstanding soccer players during the 2010 season in Aroostook County.
Houlton Knight Caleb Black was named the Aroostook Football League’s Offensive Player of the Year at the league’s end-of-season banquet.
Aroostook League all-stars were named. They included, Whitney Cote, Destinee Neureuther, Russell Socoby and Micah Wiley of the GHCA cross-country team; Chris Wallace of Hodgdon, along with Nick Chase, Ian Gervais, Parker Sanderson and Logan Shaffer of Houlton; Cody Cunningham and Brandon Robinson of Katahdin and David Dubois of Southern Aroostook in golf; Malik Abouleish, George Bessa, Jimmy Fitzpatrick, Dylan Gard, Ben Ward, Taylor Bailey, Amanda Fogarty, Abby Kinens and Chelsi Murray of Houlton; Alex Brittian and Shaunna Beaudoin of East Grand; Kohle Birmingham, Patrick Knowles, Micah Rodgerson and Mickey Savage of Katahdin; Anthony Diaferio, Patrick Goodall, Cody Robinson, Jillian Diaferio, Shelby Hartin, Janel Rockwell and Jasmine Rockwell of Southern Aroostook, soccer.
Dalton Wilde, age 10, shot a 581-pound cow moose in District 6 during the 2010 Moose Hunt, while his brother Tanner, 13, also shot a 344-pound bull in District 11 during the moose hunt. The boys are the sons of Leonard and Leanne Wilde.
Dale Fiske was named the new varsity girls coach at Katahdin High School.
Abby Worthley, a 9-year-old Houlton girl, had an outstanding showing in the Girls Under 10 Division at the Elks’ regional Soccer Shootout in Portsmouth, N.H. She came in third place.
Local equestrian Briana Hanington completed her last year as a member of the 4-H Equestrian Team at the Big E in Springfield, Mass.
Paul Folsom III shot an 11-point buck, which dressed out at 209 pounds in Hodgdon. Folsom’s trophy will place him in the Biggest Bucks in Maine Club.
December
The Houlton-Hodgdon Black Hawks won their preseason hockey tournament against Eastern Maine Class B teams Presque Isle, Old Town, Brewer and John Bapst. The Black Hawks defeated Presque Isle in the championship game 7-0.
Winning the annual Turkey Trot Road Race in Caribou were Spencer McElwain of Caribou in a time of 17 minutes and 4 seconds and Susan Plissey of Stockholm in a time of 21:24. Age division winners were Jacob Michaud (20:07) and Emily Wright (24:09) in the under-19 category, Evan Graves (17:40) and Michelle Roy (23:55) in the 19-39 group; and Jamie Clasby (21:48) and Angie Ewings (22:50) led the masters.
Ben Austin, son of Tara and Scott Austin of Houlton, hosts a sports talk show at Emerson College called ETIN with three friends.
Robert Smith was named the new varsity boys coach at Hodgdon and Susan Lindsey took over the helm of the varsity girls program at East Grand School.
Award winners at the Aroostook Riding Club end-of-year banquet were, Grace Stevens, Skylie Bartlett, Mallory Williams, Randy Johnson, Brianna Hanington, Melissa Peabody, Lindsay Gardner, Megan Fitzpatrick, Megan McLaughlin, Dakota Beaulier. Kristen Farwell and Callie Foster.
