Four set for induction into PIHS Hall of Fame
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The Presque Isle High School Athletic Hall of Fame will induct four new members during a ceremony to be held at the Northeastland Hotel Friday, Jan. 16, 2015.
Social hour begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by a buffet dinner at 6:15 p.m. and the induction ceremony at 7 p.m. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased at the PIHS athletics office or Star City IGA.
Making up the fifth induction class are longtime principal Frank Cunningham, former athletic director Frank Keenan and basketball stars Eric Wieder (Class of 1979) and Richard Drummond (1989).
Frank Cunningham
Cunningham’s induction was a result of his behind-the-scenes support of athletics during his tenure as high school principal from 1923-65.
Cunningham attended Patten Academy and later went on to Bates College, where he received both a bachelor’s and master’s degree. He served as principal at Mapleton High School for four years before beginning his lengthy tenure at PIHS, where he had a profound impact on student-athletes.
He served in numerous capacities, including math teacher, guidance counselor and athletic director. He promoted athletic excellence by developing challenging schedules that included downstate powers Bangor, Cony of Augusta, Deering of Portland, Westbrook and University of Maine freshman teams.
No one was a bigger sports fan than Cunningham, who firmly believed in the old adage that sports builds character. He rarely missed a local basketball game and went out of his way to attend Wildcat games when the teams were playing in tournaments away. After each home game, he was known for giving each player a quarter, which went a long ways in those days.
Cunningham was the administrator when the boys basketball team captured its only state championship in 1932.
He was very active in the community. He was the first honorary member of the Presque Isle Rotary Club and received a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International. Cunningham was presented the Outstanding Citizen Award by the Presque Isle Chamber of Commerce in 1966. He served as treasurer of the Northern Maine Fair for 25 years and was president of the Aroostook Teachers Association and the Maine Principals’ Association. He was on the Maine Basketball Committee for nine years
Cunningham died in 1977 at age 82. In 2004, he was inducted posthumously into the Maine Sports Legends Hall of Honors.
Frank Keenan
Keenan was the SAD 1 athletic administrator from 1983-91 and made a huge impact by upgrading the school’s athletic program during his tenure.
Keenan developed the basketball teams’ schedule after four Aroostook League schools dropped the Wildcats from their schedules. He was a force behind the development of the Eastern Seven League, which included Presque Isle, Caribou, Old Town, Brewer, Hampden Academy, Nokomis and Stearns and was eventually expanded to include all sports. The league developed into what is now the Big East Conference.
The creation of the successful Wildcat hockey program also came during his years on the job.
Keenan helped oversee the construction of what is now the Dr. Gehrig T. Johnson Athletic Complex, a facility that houses two grass and one turf soccer fields, a track and baseball and softball fields. The complex was completed in 1991 — Keenan’s final year as athletic administrator.
Along the way, Keenan upgraded all the teams’ uniforms, worked with coaches to improve the competitiveness of each athletic team, helped make improvements to the Athletic Boosters Club and got involved in numerous Maine Principals’ Association committees to make sure PIHS and other schools were treated fairly in decisions affecting athletic programs.
He served on the MPA’s interscholastic management, basketball, classification, golf, ad hoc sportsmanship and professional management committees and was the chairperson of several of them.
Keenan also was on the Maine Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association executive committee.
He was honored with the Big East Service Award for his contributions made to the league. He was also inducted into the Maine Sports Legends Hall of Honors.
Keenan went on to become assistant principal and principal at PIHS, then served several years as superintendent of schools in Easton before retiring.
Wieder was one of the more dominant basketball players in the state in the late 1970s and led the Wildcats to an Eastern Maine Class A title as a senior in 1979.
Wieder was an intimidating frontcourt player, especially during his junior and senior seasons. He was the Aroostook County MVP and was a Bangor Daily News all-state performer both years, making the second team as a junior and elevating to the first team as a senior. He also made the BDN all-tourney first team his senior year.
He finished with 1,056 career points, including 428 in his final season which established a school record at the time. He also set marks for most rebounds in a season (279), most rebounds in a game (22), most field goals in a season (174) and most free throws in a season (80).
Wieder earned honorable mention as a National High School Boys Basketball All-America Team.
After high school, he went on to a Hall of Fame career at the University of Maine at Farmington. He played all four years, from 1979-83, and made the All-Maine Collegiate second team on two occasions. As a sophomore, Wieder was named to the Maine College Coaches and Writers All-Maine Team. He was team MVP his final three years and led the Beavers in rebounding all four years.
He completed his career fourth in points (1,442), fourth in field goals (605) and ninth in rebounds (751).
After graduation, Wieder was invited to NBA Summer Camp by the Washington Bullets and New Jersey Nets.
He currently resides in Bangor and is employed by RJ Reynolds Company.
Drummond was an exceptional Wildcat athlete during the late 1980s, playing four years of varsity soccer and three years of varsity basketball.
He was renowned for his skills on the basketball court. As a junior, he was a key member of the Presque Isle basketball team that made an improbable run as a No. 8 seed to advance all the way to the Eastern Maine Class A championship game. That season, he made the Bangor Daily News all-tournament team, was voted co-MVP of Aroostook County, made the Big East all-conference team and was a Bangor Daily News all-state honorable mention choice.
Drummond eclipsed the 1,000-point mark as a senior and the post-season accolades kept coming as his team once again reached the regional finals. He was an Aroostook County all-star, made the Maine McDonald’s Senior All-Star Team, was again a BDN all-tourney selection and Big East all-conference player and was voted to the BDN all-state second team.
In soccer, Drummond helped his Wildcats to a combined record of 25-5-2 his sophomore and junior seasons. A talented midfielder, he finished in the top three in the career scoring list at PIHS and was an All-Aroostook first team selection.
Drummond was named PIHS’s male athlete of the year to culminate his successful career.
He went on to play basketball for two seasons at the University of Maine at Presque Isle and after earning his bachelor’s degree in physical education and health, coached several sub-varsity teams in Presque Isle before embarking on a teaching, coaching and administrative career that included stops at Penquis Valley Middle School, Noble Middle School, Noble High School and Portland High School.
Drummond currently serves as athletic director for RSU 14, which serves the communities of Windham and Raymond.
For more information on the ceremony, contact either Jim Carter by phone at 551-3452 or by email at JCarter001@maine.rr.com or Mark White at 764-6507 or Mark.White@sad1.org.
