Caribou can’t contain excitement over Viking victory

Austin Findlen of the Caribou boys basketball team carries the gold ball into the Caribou High School gymnasium as the team receives a standing ovation for winning the state championship for the first time in 50 years. (Chris Bouchard)

CARIBOU, Maine — For the first time in 50 years, the Caribou boys basketball team brought home the gold ball after winning the state championship on Saturday. School officials planned a reception for the team on Sunday, and the resulting crowd could not contain its excitement and pride. 

As the team and coach walked into the gym with the gold ball, escorted by local police, the crowd roared for well over a minute, clapping and shouting while giving the first of over a dozen standing ovations during the hour long event.

Members of teams throughout Caribou High School basketball history gave speeches during the reception, much like they did during a rally held a few days before the state game.

Caribou High School Athletic Administrator David Wakana opened up the ceremony by sharing an anecdote about being contacted by a journalist from MPBN, who asked him about the best people to interview during the game. He replied that they should try to interview Mike Thurston, who made a last second shot from beyond half court in 1969 to winning the state championship 50 years ago, and U.S. senator and Caribou native Susan Collins, who was a sophomore at CHS at that time.

A crowd of hundreds showered the Caribou boys basketball team with support, cheers, and over a dozen standing ovations during a March 3 reception honoring their victory in the 2019 state championship. (Chris Bouchard)

“Now you know basketball is a big deal in Caribou,” Wakana said, “when an interviewer opens with, ‘I’m here with the most famous person from Caribou, and Susan Collins.”

Before introducing Bob Stedt, a member of the 1969 team, Wakana thanked the team, coaches, and community for having his back and their overwhelming support.

Stedt told the team that they have “made everyone from Caribou and Aroostook County very proud for the way you competed with desire, heart, and true sportsmanship.”

“You’ve been able to accomplish something few athletes will ever be able to realize — winning the state championship,” he said. “In doing so, you’ve become part of a story that began 50 years ago this week. Your phenomenal run through the playoffs was capped with a game that will be talked about the same way. You definitely made it yours; you did it your way.”

Sam Collins, a member of the 1975 team that won a regional championship, commented on the sheer volume of basketball fans cheering on Caribou at the game on Saturday.

“As my sister Susan, who travels across the state, said, ‘98 percent of the people in the state of Maine are rooting for Caribou,” Sam Collins said, eliciting massive applause and a standing ovation from the crowd.

Collins added that it is important to give credit to the parents of the team members, as they are the “classiest group of kids that I’ve seen play basketball,” and that they are “the most fearless group of athletes, taking on a team regardless of their size.”

Dwight Hunter, former Caribou High School Athletic Director who presided over both the 1983 regional champions and 1969 state champions, praised Wakana, the current head of the athletic department, who put in long hours throughout the tournament.

“You people certainly have done Caribou proud,” he said. “This is something you will remember for the rest of your life.”

Austin Findlen of the 2019 team said a few brief words, pointing out that he nearly lost his voice “screaming in the parade.”

“I just want to thank my teammates, coaches, and all members of the community for a great season,” he said. “There’s no better way to end my career here at Caribou High School than by winning the gold ball. There’s no team that deserves the gold ball more than this team and no community that deserves the gold ball more than this community.”

Coach Kyle Corrigan not only complimented his team, but the community for going above and beyond in supporting the Vikings,, adding that there were so many Caribou fans in the crowd on Saturday that it “felt like we were at a home game.”

“It has been said time and time again,” Corrigan continued, “but this is one of the most unselfish and classiest groups we’ve ever seen. I had multiple people stop me at the hotel and say, ‘You guys deserved that win,” and, “They won the right way.’”

Scott Hunter of the 1983 regional championship team shared an anecdote about how, despite losing the state championship, his team was welcomed back to Caribou with an incredible reception and subsequently made T-shirts which read, “Nowhere else but Caribou.”

Even as he got older, moved away for school, lived other places, and traveled,” Hunter said he thought about that slogan.

“We have 40 feet of snow, a dwindling population, and I thought, is that really true? Well, this year I realized that slogan wasn’t about a place, or buildings, it was about people, spirit, heart, and it was about a feeling,” he said. “Where else but Caribou would the entire community travel over 300 miles to Portland to support their boys?”

“Where else but Caribou,” he continued, “would we have the reception we had last week and again today? Where else but Caribou could a basketball team bring a community together with such class, dignity, heart and soul? So I’ll say the same words today as I did 36 years ago, and probably at the same podium: there truly is nowhere else but Caribou.”