The following is a look back at some of the more poignant sports stories of 2015 from July to December.
July
A new softball champion was crowned for the Houlton Area Little League as top-ranked Barry Lorom Trucking outlasted F.A. Peabody Company to claim the league crown. Members of BLT include Olivia Henderson, Madison Marino, Samantha Johnson, Emma Swallow, Breanne Barton, Drew Warman, Natalie Delucca, Hannah Foster, Camille Callnan, Zoe Austin, Calli Sylvia, Haley Grant and Mikayla Kimball. Brian Swallow, B.J. Barton and Clyde Warman coach the team.
The Houlton Rotary team captured the Houlton Area Little League Majors Division title over Houlton Farms Dairy. Members of Rotary were Drew Foley, Jed Gilpatrick, Silas Graham, Austin Winslow, Nolan Hodgkins, Braden Dow, Justin Cook, Logan Tapley, Cody Johnston, Devon Folsom, Sebastian Torrey and Nick Green. The team was coached by Montie Graham and assisted by Seth Hodgkins and Andrew Tapley.
The Hodgdon varsity softball team won the Class D Sportsmanship Award from the Maine Principals’ Association.
The track and field program at Houlton High School flourished from its first year of two participants into a group of 23 competitors, including three individuals from Hodgdon.
The Louisiana Pacific Miracle Mile “Makenna and Maggie’s Race” was held in Houlton, with its largest turnout yet as 90 people pre-registered and another 130 showed up on race day to support the cause. The overall race winner was Justin Fereshetian of Mars Hill in a time of 4:33.1.
The Houlton 10-11-year-old all-stars were runners-up in the District 3 Little League Tournament held in Houlton.
August
The third annual Aaron Henderson Memorial Softball Tournament and inaugural 5K run/walk was held raising nearly $6,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project.
Olivia Cyr of Houlton was the recipient of the Andrew Gray Memorial Sportsmanship Tennis Award through the Houlton Parks and Recreation Department’s summer tennis program. The award is presented to a tennis student that shows good sportsmanship, love for the game and is an overall good child.
September
A new, yet familiar face was guiding the Katahdin boys soccer team this season as Phil Faulkner agreed to take over the reins. Faulkner, who previously served as athletic director at Katahdin Area High School, has a long history of coaching a variety of sports at the school.
Golfers from Hodgdon, Central Aroostook, Southern Aroostook and Fort Fairfield competed in the Aroostook County Class “C” Golf Championship at the VaJoWa golf course. Fort Fairfield won the team title with a low round of 409, followed by Hodgdon, 422; Central Aroostook, 471; and Southern Aroostook, 514. The top two teams – Fort Fairfield and Hodgdon – earned the right to compete in the state team competition. Hodgdon golfers Ben Tuttle and Lexi Emerson also qualified to compete in the individual state championships.
The winning streak is over for the Houlton girls soccer team. After rattling off 26 regular-season victories, spanning back to Sept. 21, 2013, the Shires fell to Orono, 2-1 in a well-played road game.
October
Greater Houlton Christian Academy owned the day at the Aroostook League’s Middle School Cross Country Championships, held at Woodland Consolidated School. The Eagles featured the top two individuals in both the girls’ and boys’ races and also were the team champion for both genders. In the girls’ competition, GHCA’s Teagan Ewings was the overall winner in 14 minutes and 12.03 seconds, while Matthew Crane won the boys meet in 13:09.14.
The Houlton golf team placed fourth out of 12 squads in the Class C State Championship Saturday at Natanis Golf Course. Houlton’s Ryan Dee tied with St. Dominics’ Brandon Donovan for low score in the Class C competition with a 77. At state’s Dee finished second with a 78 over the 18-hole course.
November
The Houlton girls soccer team was bounced from the playoffs with a stunning 1-0 upset loss in the semifinals to Bucksport. Houlton was the No. 2 seed while Bucksport was sixth.
Houlton’s Isaiah Brown finished an impressive 10th in the Class C boys cross country state competition with a time of 17 minutes, 47.54 seconds. Grace Graham of GHCA was the top local female runner finishing 14th with a time of 22:02.33.
The Maine Principals’ Association announced its 36-year relationship with the Maine Public Broadcasting Network was over as the MPA was seeking bidders to broadcast high school tournament basketball games.
Making the postseason in just the team’s second year of eligibility, the Houlton football team fell to Mt. View of Thorndike, 43-6, in the quarterfinals.
New classifications to basketball by the Maine Principals’ Association meant some local squads were competing in different divisions. Gone were the traditional East and West regions, replaced by North and South divisions. Houlton moved up to the Class B North region, while Hodgdon moved up to Class C North. Southern Aroostook, East Grand and Katahdin remained in the Class D division.
December
Southern Aroostook boys basketball coach Bill McAvoy had his team off to a 3-0 start this season, with one of those victories enabling him to reach a significant milestone. McAvoy earned his 400th coaching win of his long, storied career.
The Houlton-Hodgdon Blackhawks hockey team added Southern Aroostook and Katahdin to their fold to form a cooperative hockey team.
Angela Ewings of Littleton was named Aroostook Musterds Runner of the Year for 2015, an award given annually to the Musterds club member exemplifying dedication to the sport through participation, coaching, race directing and giving back to their communities.
Editor’s note: The review on January to June appeared in last week’s edition.
