Three to be inducted into University of Maine at Presque Isle Athletic Hall of Fame

    PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The University of Maine at Presque Isle has announced its induction class for the Athletic Hall of Fame.
Steve Babineau (Class of 1999), Shawn Manter (1993) and Erica Davis (1999) will be honored at a ceremony to be held Sept. 20 and coinciding with the university’s Homecoming festivities.
Babineau graduated with a bachelor’s degree in therapeutic recreation and played soccer for four years for coach Alan Gordon. After starting as a defensive back at the sweeper position his freshman year, he was moved up to offense for the final three and became one of the top scorers in school history.
Babineau amassed 29 goals and seven assists, which puts him 11th on the all-time scoring list. He helped lead the Owls to 37 victories during his four seasons, including 12 his junior year as the team qualified for the NAIA Northeast Regional playoffs.
He was honored numerous times as Maine Athletic Conference player of the week, earned a berth on the All-Northeast Region Team and was twice selected as a MAC all-conference selection. He also made All-New England honorable mention as an underclassmen before being selected as an NAIA All-New England First Team choice as a senior.
Following his stellar collegiate career, he was invited to a tryout with the Connecticut Wolves professional A-League soccer team.
Manter played basketball for three seasons under coach Karl Henrikson after transferring from St. Joseph’s College. He scored more than 1,000 points with the Owls, who competed for the conference championship every year Manter played.
An all-conference selection, Manter was a respected leader on and off the court while leading UMPI in scoring and rebounding. He was also known as a fierce competitor who hated to lose.
Manter played at Fort Fairfield High School and is one of the school’s only 1,000-point scorers. Following his collegiate career, Manter was an assistant coach for the Tiger boys for six years and the head coach for five. He now serves as the JV boys’ basketball coach at Caribou High School.
He was one of the founders of the Aroostook Youth Basketball League, which began with a handful of teams a decade ago and has since evolved into a full-fledged league with teams from throughout the County competing from grades 3-8.
Davis was one of the top all-around female athletes ever to compete for the Owls.
She played volleyball, softball and basketball at UMPI and was a standout in all three sports, as evidenced by her being named Female Athlete of the Year both in 2008 and 2009.
In volleyball, she made the NCAA AD3 Independent Northeast All-Tournament Team as a sophomore and was the NAIA Sunrise Player of the Year both her junior and senior seasons. She received AVCA All-America honorable mention status her junior year and made the NCAA AD3 Independent all-conference first team as a senior, as well as the NAIA Sunrise all-conference team.
In basketball, she was an NCAA AD3I All-Independent third-team choice as a junior, while also making the all-tournament team on three occasions during the season. Her senior year, she was an NAIA Div. II National Player of the Week, made the Sunrise all-conference first team, was a four-time Sunrise Conference player of the week and was named NCAA AD3 Independent conference co-player of the year. She made the all-conference first team, was a MWBCA All-State second-team selection and was a MWBCA player of the week three times. She joined the 1,000-point club late in her senior season.
On the softball diamond, Davis made the NAIA Sunrise All-Conference team.