Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – The Owls screeched above their competition over Homecoming Weekend proving their dominance on home turf. The University of Maine at Presque Isle cross country, volleyball and soccer teams met against Southern Vermont College and Maine Maritime Academy to kick up the school spirit in current and returning Owls during Homecoming events.
Staff photo/Meridith Paterson OWL Trevor Hews of Van Buren dribbles the ball towards the goal in the homecoming match against Southern Vermont College.
Campus and community spectators braved Saturday’s strong winds to watch the commencement of festivities begin at the blow horn start of the women’s 5K cross country race. UMPI’s Brittany Proulx (23:02), Leah Joy (23:20) and Michelle Phillips (23:40) placed themselves early in the race in the top three spots and held the standings through to the finish. After a Maine Maritime runner, Lady Owl Hannah Smith (25:35), Linda Gover (25:45) and Christine Roy (26:20) flew across the finish. Julie Rugg (28:19) and Heather Dionne (35:06) finished at tenth and 12th.
Senior Proulx called to teammates to sprint in after her top finish. “It means a lot to me to win for Homecoming and beat my time from last year,” said Proulx.
The women finished with a 15 over Southern Vermont’s 49. Maine Maritime had no score.
The men followed on the extended 8K course with Kirk Robinson making an early lead for the UMPI runners. They had a close run with Maine Maritime but lost 25-31.
Emerson Wright (32:11) finished first for UMPI and fourth overall speeding ahead of Robinson (32:33). Aaron Schmersal (33:02) and Scott Graham (33:11) put two more Owl runners before the next Academy at sixth and seventh. Christian Rines (35:42) and Andrew Ciszewski (36:01) came in at nine and ten. Michael LeClair finished with a time of 40:27 in 12th before the last Academy runner.
“It’s a very small race,” commented coach Chris Smith. “Good training before we go to Gordon College next week.”
On the neighboring soccer field, both teams played against the Southern Vermont Mountaineers. The men dominated in the Mountaineer half of the field and came up with a 7-0 win making their record 3-4-1. Matt Carrington played up to his Englishman standards and netted two goals with teammates Josh Peaslee, Jared Griffiths, Matt Petrie, Joe Pinault and Corey Fournier scoring one each. Carrington, Peaslee, Griffiths and Petrie all made assists on the day.
“We play a good defense and offense with intensity and pressure on the ball,” said coach Alan Gordon. “They’re a good mixture of old with young guys.”
The Lady Owls pushed the Mountaineers back to their goal as well with 44 shots at their net. They tallied up another Homecoming win with a final score of 14-0 putting their record at 2-4. Chelsea Boudreau and Joanna Bubar both made three successful kicks. Jessica Kinney, Erin Pelletier and Anna Delong netted two each. Makayla Gahagan and Mindy Dolley scored one each. Kinney and Pelletier also assisted four goals combined.
“We have a lot of freshmen on the team, so they don’t know what to expect,” commented coach Tammy Krul before the match. But after Saturday’s win the women show improvement. “We started with only eight players and had to do a lot of recruiting. I think our season is going to start picking up,” said Krul.
Back indoors, the Lady Owls lost on the volleyball courts to the Mountaineers 3-1 bringing their record to 3-7. This weekend the women will travel to University of Maine at Machias for a tournament with Lyndon State, Paul Smith and Unity College.
On Sunday, the current teams met up against the wiser Owls in the annual alumni games.
“Alumni take it a little more seriously than the young guys,” said Gordon, an alumnus himself. “It’s more experience for the younger players … and it’s fun for alum to come back and challenge the younger generation.”
In the men’s match, age defeated youth with alumni winning 2-1. The Lady Owl’s outscored the alumni for a 1-0 victory.
Staff photo/Meridith Paterson LEAH JOY races on home course at UMPI.
