Four gain induction into PIHS Athletic Hall of Fame
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Frank Cunningham planted a seed with his unwavering support of athletics as a building principal, Frank Keenan continued it with his upgrades to the program during his tenure as athletic director and Eric Wieder and Richard Drummond were athletes who benefited and wore the Wildcat uniform with pride while excelling in their sport.
All four men were honored Jan. 16 with their induction into the Presque Isle High School Athletic Hall of Fame during a banquet and ceremony held at the Northeastland Hotel.
They made up fifth induction class of the hall and joined the 24 previously-inducted members since the shrine was established in 2011.
Cunningham served as Presque Isle High School’s principal from 1923-65 and is remembered for his diligence to the athletic program. He attended as many contests as he could and often checked in on practices as well.
Jim Carter was a student at PIHS as Cunningham was wrapping up his professional career and can testify to the longtime principal’s support for his student-athletes.
“He lived across the street from the school and if as a student you wanted to play, he’d give you a key as long as you didn’t wander outside the gym,” Carter recalled. “He loved athletics and it showed once during a cross country meet which was run in the snow. Only one person attended, and that was Mr. Cunningham.”
Dave Maxcy served as a teacher under Cunningham and remembers the principal’s excitement toward the construction of the gymnasium, which is now the current PIHS lower gym.
“He said that it was going to be the best gym in the state of Maine,” Maxcy said. “It was something he took a lot of pride in.”
Maxcy said Cunningham was the best recruiter of athletes to school teams. Maxcy was hired as the cross country coach and remembers Cunningham always pushing students with any type of athletic ability to run as it was the only fall sport offered at the time at PIHS.
Tracy LaPointe, a teacher at Monmouth Academy, attended Friday’s event and accepted the award on behalf of her grandfather, who passed away in 1977. She had spent many summers in Presque Isle during her childhood years and fondly recalled that he loved the community and that “it was his home and the people who lived here were his family.”
“I know he gave the high school sports program the high standards it enjoys,” LaPointe said. “There was no doubt he was Presque Isle High School’s number-one fan and if he were still alive, he’d be at the gym tomorrow yelling ‘go, Wildcats!’”
The former high school, which later became the junior high school, was named after Cunningham.
Former basketball coach Tim Prescott said Keenan “left a large fingerprint on a staggering number of programs offered at PIHS” while serving as athletic director from 1983-91.
“He was one of the key people who helped form the Big East Conference, which still exists today,” said Prescott, adding that move was crucial as many of the Aroostook League schools were in the process of dropping Class A Presque Isle from their schedules around the time Keenan was hired.
Keenan was responsible for hiring a crop of new coaches, which included Prescott, who said Keenan was revered by the entire coaching staff.
“No one who ever worked for Frank Keenan ever wanted to disappoint him,” Prescott said. “He had an uncanny ability to know what was best for you, even if you didn’t. He was firm and fair to everyone.”
Ralph Michaud coached at the sub-varsity level then under Keenan and talked about an undefeated JV girls’ basketball team he was coaching that wasn’t focused for a particular game and promptly lost to Caribou. Michaud said Keenan pulled him aside and advised him to never put a team on the court that isn’t prepared to play. It’s a lesson Michaud has never forgotten.
“We may not have won every game I’ve coached, but I can say that we are always prepared,” said Michaud, who is now the girls’ varsity soccer head coach and an assistant with the girls’ varsity basketball team.
During his acceptance speech, Keenan took the time to thank many individuals who were important to him along the way, including Superintendent Gehrig T. Johnson (“everything he did was top shelf and there is no one I respect more,” Keenan said) and longtime Caribou High School athletic director Dwight Hunter (“when he ran a program, he did it the right way.”)
He was thankful for the mentoring done by the building principal, Aaron Nelson, during his time as AD, as well as the good coaches he hired such as Prescott, boys’ soccer coach Dick Gardiner, track and cross country coaches Sue Lougee and Maxcy, baseball coach Tim Olore and girls’ basketball coach Dick Barstow, who captured two state championships during his eight years at the helm.
“It was a matter of getting the right people to do it the right way,” Keenan said.
He also lauded other supports from outside the school system such as Dr. Merrill Hersey, Mike and Sheila Thompson of the booster’s program, Owen Estey for his volunteerism with the baseball team and the four-person crew led by Jack Belden who were responsible for establishing varsity hockey as a sport.
“I couldn’t have been more proud to have the job as athletic director at Presque Isle High School,” Keenan said. “It was the best time of my life.”
Wieder was presented by another former Wildcat basketball standout, Steve Condon, who said Wieder was “a boy in a man’s body.”
“He had all the tools which made him a force,” Condon said. “He was 6-foot-5 and could jump and he rewrote the record books here.”
Wieder said “there was nothing like playing for the Wildcats” and said the adrenaline he received from the fan support was unmatched.
“I loved the game so much, the school so much and the coaches so much,” he said. “It was great to be a part of.”
He recalled his disappointment of not winning a championship for his coach, Bob Beaulieu, who stepped down in 1978 following his junior season and had spent a lot of time during Wieder’s youth helping work on his rebounding and dribbling skills.
“I wish he could be here tonight,” Wieder said. “He put a lot of his own time seeing something in me and helping me develop it.”
Wieder did end up leading the Wildcats to an Eastern Maine title his senior year, finishing as a 1,000-point scorer and setting marks for rebounds in a season and in a game and field goals and free throws made in a season. He was named all-state both his junior and senior seasons and was National High School Boys Basketball All-America honorable mention as a senior.
He recounted a story from the championship season regarding Dan Bouchard, a teammate and best friend during his high school years. Wieder said Bouchard had a goal of becoming a starter for at least one game during their senior year “so he could make his parents proud.” During the off-season, Wieder and Bouchard spent countless hours playing together “through all kinds of weather” on the outdoor courts.
“At about the midway point of the following season, he started his first game,” Wieder said, “and he did so well, he remained a starter for the rest of the season.”
Following the school year, Bouchard’s parents sent Wieder a card that he still pulls out and reads from time to time that expressed their appreciation for being a great friend to their son. He read the words from the card to Friday’s audience and relayed how much it meant to him.
“Dan lives in Massachusetts and we still stay in touch. He called me on my cell phone before tonight’s ceremony to tell me that he wished he could have been there and wanted to live the moment with me,” Wieder said.
Drummond had a flair for the dramatic and helped lead the Wildcat basketball teams into the Eastern Maine finals both his junior and senior years.
Michaud, who was a Wildcat assistant coach at the time, told of an Eastern Maine semifinal game against Cony his junior season that exemplified Drummond’s clutch play and his ability as a leader who always made his teammates better.
“We were down 21 points in the third quarter, but what followed was something we now call ‘Richard time,’” Michaud recalled. “He started hitting everything and with four minutes to go in the game, we found ourselves tied.
“He was injured on a play and had a hyperextended knee which took him off the court for a few minutes and we fell behind by four,” he added. “He came back in, we got close and he hit the game-winning shot from 21 feet away right in front of our bench with time running out.”
Drummond averaged 22 points per game in his six tournament appearances. He was a 1,000-point scorer and made the all-state second team as a senior as well as the all-tournament team in each of his final two seasons.
He also excelled on the soccer field, where he was a talented scorer who helped PI to a 25-5-2 combined record his sophomore and junior seasons under Gardiner.
“Everyone deserves the opportunity to coach someone like Richard Drummond,” said Prescott, his head basketball coach. “He dearly loved the game, loved practicing and just being around his teammates. He had a unique way of making basketball a shared experience around the school and the community.”
Drummond, who currently serves as the athletic director for RSU 14 in Windham, said the induction was a great honor and thanked his coaches who “worked to better us as both players and people and I truly appreciate what they did for me.”
Among others, he thanked his teammates, with whom he shared “a lot of tears, frustrations and laughs” and his teachers “for never giving up on me.”
“There has always been a sense of pride at Presque Isle High School and I’ve tried to bring that with me at the schools I have worked in over the years,” Drummond said. “That starts from the top down as they have always provided excellent facilities and people to work with.”
“I always think of two words — class and respect — which are a big part of the tradition at the school,” he said. “When I look back at my athletic contributions, I always consider the people who provided discipline and all the opportunities that I had.”
