Editor’s Note: The following is the first of a two-part series highlighting some of the top sports moments from the year 2016. This article covers January through June. The second installment will appear in the Jan. 11 edition.
The first six months of 2016 were filled with a number of memorable sports stories. From Washburn’s Carsyn Koch establishing a national record and getting an Olympic Trials berth to Presque Isle hockey player Jillian Flynn announcing she would be playing at the Div. I level with the University of Maine, there were plenty of exciting moments in the world of local sports. A look at a few of them follows:
January
Presque Isle High School welcomed five individuals into its athletic hall of fame at a ceremony held at the Northeastland Hotel. The new induction class included hockey supporter Jack Belden, baseball and basketball player John Dean, three-sport athlete Natasha Deschene, soccer and basketball coach Dana Hews and, inducted posthumously, baseball player Don Kilpatrick.
The Presque Isle hockey team broke a seven-game losing streak to begin the season with a 3-1 victory over Houlton/Hodgdon. Freshman Riley Kinney scored his first career goal, while classmates Jake Stevens and Thomas Patenaude had the other goals.
Presque Isle won the Aroostook League varsity cheering championship, held at Caribou High School. The Wildcats’ 66.8 points were good enough for the win, while Houlton was second and Caribou third. At the middle school competition held in Mars Hill, the host Central Aroostook Panthers finished ahead of runner-up Houlton and third-place Presque Isle White, along with two other teams.
Colby Burlock of Mars Hill, Madelyn Johnson of Washburn and Faith Sjoberg of Presque Isle advanced to the state finals in the Elks Hoop Shoot foul shooting competition by placing first in their respective age divisions at the districts held in Bangor.
Chase Vicaire, a senior from Mattawamkeag, became the newest member of the 1,000-point club for the University of Maine at Presque Isle men’s basketball team. He hit the mark during a 78-54 victory over the University of Maine at Augusta.
The Fort Fairfield Tigers capped a 10-game winning streak with a 66-57 victory over Washburn behind 23 points from sophomore forward Isaac Cyr.
Washburn District High School senior Jarrett Olson reached the 1,000-point plateau during his team’s home win over Central Aroostook.
February
The Nordic Heritage Center hosted another successful major biathlon competition as a World Cup was held at the Presque Isle venue. Biathletes from nearly 30 countries participated and over 100 billion television viewers from around the world took in the event.
Carlisle completed its first season as a cooperative swimming team. Carlisle has athletes from Caribou, LCS/MSSM and Presque Isle and sophomore Maddie Wing of PI placed ninth in the 200 freestyle at the state meet, held in Orono.
Central Aroostook captured its third consecutive Class D state championship in cheerleading and 12th in the school history, tallying 61.8 points to hold off second-place Penobscot Valley of Howland and third-place Bangor Christian. The team is coached by Sami Allen and the senior squad members are Sheratin Kelly, Dayna Collins, Victoria Brewer, Elizabeth Gillen and Noelle Bailey.
Max Bartley won the Aroostook League Nordic freestyle title at Fort Kent, while the Presque Isle girls, led by Isabelle Jackson and Tori Koch, took the classical team championship and the Presque Isle boys, behind Bryce Smith and Nick Bartlett, captured the giant slalom crown. The Presque Isle Wildcat boys went on to place fourth at the state meet in alpine and the girls were sixth overall
The Easton boys won its first regional basketball championship in 36 years by topping Southern Aroostook in overtime in the Class D North finals. Under first-year coach Manny Martinez, the Bears advanced to the state finals but were beaten by Valley of Bingham in a game held in Augusta.
The Central Aroostook girls made it all the way to the Class D North regional title game, but were beaten by Shead, 44-37. The Washburn girls saw their streak of five consecutive gold balls come to an end as they were beaten by Shead in the semifinals. The Beaver boys were also beaten in the semifinals by Easton, while the Presque Isle girls lost in the same round to Hermon and the Fort Fairfield girls lost to PVHS in the semifinals.
March
Wildcat junior guard Emily Wheaton made the Big East first team all-conference team, while Kayla Giberson of Fort Fairfield and Jarrett Olson and Noah Caron, both of Washburn, were selected to compete in the McDonald’s Senior All-Star Basketball Games. Larry Gardner of Fort Fairfield was chosen as one of the coaches at the event.
The Presque Isle grades 5-6 boys’ recreation department basketball team defeated Mars Hill in the finals to win the Aroostook County championship.
Carsyn Koch set a national record in the 800-meter run at the Div. II Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships held in Pittsburg, Kan. Koch, a sophomore at Cedarville University in Ohio and a 2014 graduate of Washburn District High School, had a time of 2:15.12 to take first in the event. She is the daughter of Peter and Liane Koch of Wade.
The Presque Isle girls and boys and the Washburn boys volleyball teams won their respective divisions in the Aroostook League volleyball championship tournament.
The Aroostook County Snowdogs entered three teams in different divisions of the Special Olympics state basketball tournament and one of them captured a gold medal. Brian Hamel is the coach of the Snowdogs.
Dawson Beaulieu of Presque Isle and Amber Chasse of Ashland claimed state titles in the MRPA/Maine Red Claws Hot Shot Competition held at the Portland Expo.
April
Fort Fairfield’s Amanda Hotham and Sydney Churchill were among the UMPI women’s basketball players honored by the Association of Division III Independents. Hotham was named to the first team and Churchill to the second team.
P.J. Gorneault won the overall title at the UMPI Spring Runoff 5K Road Race held at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. Gorneault had a time of 16 minutes and 52 seconds to come out on top, while Grace Graham of Houlton was the female champion.
Randy Norsworthy resigned as coach of the Washburn boys’ varsity team after nine seasons. Norsworthy’s Beaver teams won at least 14 games in each of his final six seasons and reached the regional championship game in 2015.
Lance McKenney and Sarah Beaulieu of Fort Fairfield capped off the skiing season at the Eastern HIgh School Championships in Ripton, Vt. McKenney also skied in the United States Ski Association’s Cross Country Junior Nationals in Cable, Wisc.
Sixth-grader Faith Sjoberg of Presque Isle placed fifth nationally in the 10-11 age division in the Elks Hoop Shoot free throw shooting competition held in Chicago. She had advanced by winning five rounds of competition, beginning at the school level and continuing through the central Aroostook, district, state and New England levels.
May
Carsyn Koch of Washburn, a sophomore at Cedarville University in Ohio, qualified for the U.S. Women’s Olympic Trials thanks to the fastest 800-meter time (2:02.39) in NCAA Div. II women’s outdoor track and field history.
Jillian Flynn, who played four years of hockey at Presque Isle High School as a goaltender, signed a letter of commitment to continue her playing career at Div. I University of Maine at Orono.
Freshman Jonah Daigle of Fort Fairfield won the Emery Plourde Award for being the top scoring male athlete and Tori Koch, a junior at Presque Isle High School, won the Howard Lello Award as the top scoring female in the Aroostook League championship track and field competition.
Softball player Sara Packard and basketball player Chase Vicaire were named female and male athletes of the year at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.
Presque Isle junior Denny Young competed in the state singles tennis tournament held in Portland. Conner Spencer, Ashley Matlock, Alec Cyr and Ethan Plourde were other Viking players who had qualified for the event.
June
Diana Trams stepped down after four seasons as head coach of the Washburn girls’ varsity basketball team. The Beavers won state titles in each of her first three seasons at the helm.
Carsyn Koch won the 800-meter run at the NCAA Div. II Outdoor Track and Field Championships held in Bradenton, Fla. Her time was 2:03.48.
Sam Gray and Jillian Flynn were named athletes of the year at Presque Isle High School. The announcement was made during Class Day at PIHS.
Jovanni Taveras of Washburn threw the javelin 153 feet, 2 inches to take first place at the Class C state track and field championships held at Dover-Foxcroft. Jonah Daigle of Fort Fairfield had a strong meet by placing in four different events.
Fort Fairfield was beaten by Penobscot Valley High School in the Class D North regional championship baseball game by a score of 3-2. The Tigers, coached by John Ala, had beaten Bangor Christian and Hodgdon to reach the title game.
Cody Tompkins was named as the replacement for Ryan Guerrette for the athletic director position at Central Aroostook Junior-Senior High School. Fort Fairfield soccer coach Tom Towle, cross country ski coach Paul Lamoreau and cheering coach Rachel Emery all stepped down from their positions.
