Sports major part of FF festival activities
By Quinn Graves, Special to The Star-Herald
FORT FAIRFIELD — The Maine Potato Blossom Festival wrapped up Sunday with champions decided in a number of sporting events held throughout the week.
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CANOES AND KAYAKS take off at the start of Saturday’s Regatta on the Aroostook, which was held as part of the Maine Potato Blossom Festival in Fort Fairfield.
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BICYCLISTS depart from the start of Sunday’s Spud Cycle Classic held in Fort Fairfield. Thirty seven cyclists took part in this year’s race.
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TREVOR LEVESQUE of Presque Isle arrives at the finish line to the applause of onlookers at Saturday’s Maine Potato Blossom 5-Miler road race held in Fort Fairfield. Levesque’s time of 33 minutes and 34 seconds put him in 11th place out of 86 runners in the overall standings.
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BRITTANY GRASS of Blaine crosses the finish line at the Maine Potato Blossom Festival 5-Miler, held Saturday. Grass finished the race in 40:53, good for seventh place among females and 34th overall out of 86 total runners.
Quinn Graves Photo
DRIVING THE BALL — Melissa Perley of Tobique First Nation, New Brunswick hits a tee shot during Saturday’s MPB Three-Person Scramble held at Aroostook Valley Country Club. Forty teams participated in this year’s tournament.
Eleven teams competed in last Tuesday’s three-on-three basketball tournament held at the Fort Fairfield Community Center. The team of Andrew Legassie, Jake Plissey, Matt Eager and Tom Enerva defeated Karson Eaton, Dayne Savage, Derek Richardson and Bradley Shields in the finals. The winners finished the double-elimination tourney with a perfect 5-0 record.
Presque Isle captured the junior girls’ softball tournament, which was played last Tuesday at the Fort Fairfield Middle High School Athletic Complex.
PI beat Caribou in the first game, 14-8, erasing a six-run deficit in the process. Savannah Rodriquez hit a grand-slam home run and also slammed out two doubles and a single, while Mayce Kinney tripled, doubled and singled in the victory.
In the semifinals, Presque Isle picked up a 10-2 triumph over Mars Hill behind a pair of homers and a single off the bat of Rodriquez.
The finals saw Presque Isle get past Ashland, 13-6. Rodriquez hit a home run and then was intentionally walked in her final four at bats. Kinney hit safely three times, while Libby Boone and Libby Moreau had two hits each.
Rodriquez and Hailey St. Thomas shared the pitching duties throughout the tourney. Other teams taking part were in the eight-team event were Madawaska, Fort Fairfield, Washburn and Houlton.
Eight teams from throughout Aroostook County participated in the single elimination event for girls ages 9-12. In the semi-final round of play, Ashland defeated Fort Fairfield by a score of 9-2 and Presque Isle defeated Mars Hill 10-2. Presque Isle then went on the outscore Ashland in the championship game by a score of 13-6.
Presque Isle was also victorious in the Potato Blossom swim meet held at the municipal pool last Wednesday. The victors totaled 405 points to outscore Caribou (255) and Fort Fairfield (178).
The high-point winners in their divisions were: age 8-and-under girls, Madison Hedrich of Presque Isle; 9-10 girls, Cammi King of Fort Fairfield; 11-12 girls, Madelyn Wing of Presque Isle; 13-14 girls, Emma Willette of Presque Isle; 15-18 girls, Kaleigh Kinney of Presque Isle; 8-and-under boys, Graden King-Rosato of Fort Fairfield; 9-10 boys, Chase Coiley of Fort Fairfield; 11-12 boys, Xavier York of Caribou; 13-14 boys, Stewart Curtis of Caribou; and 15-18 boys, Dustin Drabek of Presque Isle.
Eighty six runners and 15 walkers participated in the annual Potato Blossom 5-Miler Road Race, held Saturday. The race started and ended on Main Street, with Spencer McElwain of Caribou crossing the line first in 26 minutes and 23 seconds. The first female finisher was Jennifer St. Amand in 36:35.
Patrick Cote was the male runner-up in 28:06, with Evan Graves third in 28:52, Corey Park fourth in 29:14 and Chris Rines fifth in 30:35.
Stephanie Graves was second for females in 36:54. Rene Gorneault was third in 37:49, followed by Kimberley Wright in fourth in 38:42 and Angela Ewings fifth in 39:23.
Age division winners were: 14-and-under female, Sarah Beaulieu; 14-and-under male, John O’Meara; 15-18 female, Alexis Coiley; 15-18 male, Zachary Lasater; 19-29 female, Stephanie Graves; 19-29 male, Cote; 30-39 female, Gorneault; 30-39 male, Graves; 40-49 female, Ewings; 40-49 male, Jeff Ashby; 50-59 female, Wright; 50-59 male, Leo Kashian; 60-69 female, Lynn Soucy; 60-69 male, Waldo Libby; 70-and-over male, Thompson.
Bill Flannery was the first walker in 57:31. Rob Langner was the first Fort Fairfield resident to finish and 79-year-old Art Thompson of Limestone was recognized for competing in his 39th consecutive MPB 5-Miler.
Forty teams registered for the annual three-person scramble held at Aroostook Valley Country Club. Taking first in Division I with a 58 was a team from St. Quentin, New Brunswick consisting of Pierre Phillip, J.P. Bernard and Fern Dube. Placing second, with a 61, were Ralph Michaud and Dillon Kingsbury, both of Presque Isle, and Bobby Russell of Fort Fairfield.
In the second division, John McCrea, Tim Nightingale and Larry Gardner, all of Fort Fairfield, won with a 61. Taking second gross, with a 64, were Vaughn Nicholas, Erlin Perley and Aubin Springer of Tobique First Nation, New Brunswick.
The Regatta on the Aroostook was also held Saturday with 67 participants. The event started at the Forbes boat landing on the Aroostook River and finished in downtown Fort Fairfield. The six-mile event was won by Fred Ludwig of Houlton in a kayak with a time of 44:16. He was followed by Fran Cyr and Dave McCrossin, who took second place by paddling a canoe in 47:00.
The first overall finisher for the women was Kelsey Towle Elliott in a kayak with a time of 1:03:03.
Other division winners included: Chip Loring (solo race canoe); Cyr and McCrossin (tandem race canoe); Carmen Reller and Kim Johnson (rec women canoe); Tom Towle and Morgann Towle (rec mixed canoe); Greg Johnson and Derek Johnson (rec men canoe); Ron Bomberger and Fran Bomberger (open canoe); Malcolm Langner (youth boys kayak); Shannon Towle (women short kayak); Towle Elliott (women long kayak); Zachary Lasater (men short kayak); Ludwig (men long kayak); and Rob Langner and Colby Langner (tandem kayak).
Paul Towle was the lucky Regatta participant this year when his name was drawn as the winner of an Old Town kayak, sponsored by Kayak Country of Fort Fairfield.
Sunday’s Spud Cycle Classic Bicycle Race was held Sunday with the 25-mile event starting and finishing on Main Street with riders pedaling through rolling back country roads lined with beautiful potato fields in full blossom.
Thirty seven cyclists participated in this years event with Steve Connor of Dedham finishing first in a time of 1:03:11. He was closely followed by last year’s race winner Thad LaVallee of Sharon, Mass. in 1:03:39.
Verla Brooks of Lisbon was first for the women in a time of 1:39:06, with Kelsey Towle Elliott of Portland finishing second in 1:42:47.
Other divisional winners included: Sarah Beaulieu (13-15 female), Kelsey Towle Elliott (16-29 female), Lisa Maguire (30-49 female), Brooks (50-and-over female), Brendan McLaughlin (16-29 male), Mike Smith (30-39 male), Connor (40-49 male), Von Perry (50-59 male) and Dennis Arpin (60-and-over male).
The Spud Challenge Triathlon consisted of the combined times from the 5-Miler, the Regatta on the Aroostook and the Spud Cycle Classic Bike Race.
This year’s overall winner was Craig Dubay of Connor in a combined time of 3:00:51, followed by Zachary Lasater in a time of 3:04:34. Kelsey Towle Elliott was the first-place finisher for the women with a combined time of 3:27:16.
