Local athletes accomplished many goals in the last year. The Year In Review touches upon some of those achievements.
The Houlton Savings Bank of Maine became a major sponsor of the Houlton Little League Field of Dreams project, donating $20,000 for the first field.
For the third straight year in a row, both the Greater Houlton Christian Academy girls and boys basketball teams garnered the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials (IAABO) No. 150 of Aroostook County’s Sportsmanship Award.
The Houlton Rotary Club kick started the Houlton Recreation Department Community Park playground improvement with a $7,000 donation.
The Houlton High School boy’s and girl’s intramural volleyball teams competed in the Division I Aroostook League Volleyball Championships at Caribou. In the girl’s division, the Houlton team came in fifth with a 2-6 record. The Division II Aroostook League Volleyball Championships featured 11 teams. The tournament was split into two pools, with each team playing everyone in their division twice. In Pool A were Fort Fairfield (8-0), Ashland (6-2), Easton (4-4), Washburn (2-6) and Hodgdon (0-8), while Pool B consisted of Katahdin (10-0), Wisdom (7-3), Limestone (5-5), Central Aroostook (4-6), Greater Houlton Christian Academy (4-6) and Van Buren (0-10).
Named to the Division II All-Star teams were Chad Duff (GHCA), Jamie Ryan (HOD), Ethan Qualey (K), Jen Garza (H), Kayla Stevens (K) and Sarah Riopel (GHCA).
Houlton’s Kyle Bouchard was a member of the UMPI fifth and sixth grade shoot out all tournament team.
The Houlton Aroostook Youth Basketball League (AYBL) grade 3-4 girl’s basketball team, coached by Marty Bouchard and Rob Moran, remained undefeated on the season, capturing the AYBL girls’ tournament championship. Team members were Jennah Carver, Kolleen Bouchard, Kristen Graham, Makayla McGuire, Amira Abouleish, Evelyn Pratt, Abby Schools, Megan Collett, Jillian Moran, Aspen Flewelling and Katie Condon.
Houlton’s Rachel Foster, daughter of Steve and Bonnie Foster, was selected to the 32nd All-Maine Second Team Schoolgirl Basketball Team.
Roger Morin tied for first place in the adult section of the Maine Chess Scholastic Tournament held in Orono. Houlton students Arno Wirta and Jacob McGuffin outperformed many of their rivals.
The Meduxnekeag River Pony Club hosted the regional Quiz Rally at Houlton Southside School, with the junior team of Emily Dee, Melissa Moody, Abby Moody and Lauren Eastham taking fifth place in their division and the senior team of Marina DiMarco, Kelsey Fitzpatrick, Kimberly Levesque and Leigh Shaw winning first place.
David Wilson presented the G. Ivan Wilson Commissioner’s Award to Kam Lincoln, son of Brent and Theresa Lincoln, while Atom players Payton Porter and Cameron Clark were the recipients of the Tom Matthews Spirit Award.
East Grand Students Abe Brittain with older brother Harvey Brittain were presented with the high school traveling trophy at the Machias River Canoe Race. The brothers set a high school division record finishing the 10.5-mile race in 1:46:23.
Bob Dyer of Sherman was a recipient of the MPA’s Service to Maine Youth Award. This award, which is given annually, recognizes individual adults who have made an outstanding contribution to the youth of Maine through education and/or the general welfare of Maine youth.
May
The Meduxnekeag River Canoe Race was run under sunny skies and perfect water conditions in Houlton. Eighty boats put in the river for the eight-mile course with Houlton’s Fred Ludwig clocking the best time overall, finishing in the K-1 Long category with a time of 1:03:48.
East Grand School High School winners Aaron Henn and Harvey Brittain brought back the traveling trophy to East Grand after winning the High School Division of the Meduxnekeag River Canoe Race with a time of 1:18:39. This is Brittain’s third spring race and he has taken first all three times in the High School Division.
The Aroostook Youth Basketball League third- and fourth-grade boys team played two games, one against Caribou West and the other against Caribou East, to claim the League championship at Houlton Southside School.
Two Maine guides, Mike Farrar and Larry Williams, formed the Maine Wilderness Camp Foundation, a non-profit organization, to reconnect youth with fun in the out-of-doors.
The East Grand Adventure race was held in the Danforth-Weston area with 18 students representing five high schools in attendance. Brothers Harvey and Abe Brittain of East Grand finished the 16-mile course first in a time of 2:25:00.
A new chess champion was crowned at Houlton High School. The last two players standing were 14-year-old Arno Wirta of Cary edging out 13-year-old Jacob McGuffin of Houlton with a score of 3-2.
Morgan Hall of the Houlton-Hodgdon Black Hawks hockey team has earned a spot on the Super Elite Maine Moose junior hockey squad.
June
Porter Gervais, son of Leslie and Marty Gervais of New Limerick, played in the New England Golf Championship at the elite Bretwood Golf Course in Keene, N.H.
The Southern Aroostook Warriors rode the able arm of sophomore right-hander Dakota Sleeper, who was backed by a flawless defense, through the Eastern Maine Class D semifinal in Ashland to a 14-2 victory.
Katahdin High School’s Tom Anderson hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to clinch an 11-10 victory over Deer Isle-Stonington in the semifinals.
The Katahdin Cougars captured the Class D regional title, defeating Southern Aroostook, 3-0. It was timely hitting behind the strong right arm of Katahdin’s Andy Kay that helped the Cougars capture their second regional title. Both pitchers — Kay and SACS’ Dakota Sleeper —were nothing less than spectacular, as Kay fired a one-hitter, striking out 15 and Southern Aroostook’s Sleeper fashioned a four-hitter, with 13 strikeouts, and each pitcher walked four through the contest.
Katahdin faced Western Maine champion Rangeley for the Class D state title at Mansfield Stadium, coming home runners-up with a 3-1 loss.
The Houlton Shiretowners lost to host Calais, 9-6 in the Class C quarterfinal game. The No. 2 Blue Devils held on for a 6-5 victory over the Lady Shires in semifinal action. The Lady Shires defeated Lee Academy, 5-3 in quarterfinal action.
The No. 5 Southern Aroostook Lady Warriors were defeated 11-2 in Class D quarterfinal action against host Woodland. In the preliminary round, the Lady Warriors overtook visiting Jonesport-Beals, 7-3.
The Hodgdon Lady Hawks pulled off a 19-16 slugfest against their preliminary opponent Washburn. But, Bangor Christian cut down the Lady Hawks, 23-0, in the Class D quarterfinals.
The Katahdin Valley Little League Championship was held in Sherman, with the No. 1 Oakfield Falcons capturing the title, defeating the second-seeded Island Falls Bulldogs, 10-5.
The Island Falls girls’ softball team was crowned the Katahdin Valley League Champions by handing Sherman a 9-5 loss.
A team of Aroostook County’s own young basketball players took their skills downstate, and brought back the 2008 AAU State Championship in the 11-years-old and under division. Dan Howe and Kyle Bouchard of Houlton played on the team.
Houlton Rifle and Pistol Club winners of the Winter Shoot were: Slow, Timed and Rapid Fire, first, Trueman Jones; second, Tom Brown and third, John Armour; Center Fire, first, Jones; second, Eric Richards and third, Brown; 22 Rim Fire Rifle, first, Paul Harrison; second, Curtis Harrison and third, Jones.
Kirk Ward, Tonya Alexander and Elissa Skehan Madore, three employees of Houlton’s County Physical Therapy, participated in the three day, 180-mile Trek Across Maine.
The Northern Maine Soap Box Derby drew 51 participants in its double elimination race at Derby Hill in Houlton Community Park. The winners advanced to the All-American Race in Akron, Ohio on July 21-26. In the stock division, Sara Heath, daughter of Joel and Sue Heath of Houlton, ‘Wow’ed the crowd, as she was winner of winners – WOW — by not losing a race the entire day. She went on to defeat veteran racer Jeramie Ledger in the championship round. In the super stock division, it was Lucas Grant, son of Wesley and Monique Grant of Houlton, winning the championship for the second year in row. The Houlton Little League town championship for the 9-10-year-olds was held at Houlton Community Park, with Houlton Wal-Mart team defeating Rotary Club, 11-7.
The 2008 spring All-Aroostook honorees were announced: In Class B/C baseball and softball: from Houlton, Hunter Caron, Porter Gervais, Ryan Hill, Nikki Eastman, Lainey Herring, Erika Lackey and Vanessa Sanderson. In Class D baseball and softball : from Greater Houlton Christian Academy, Mackenzie Burns, Chad Duff and Kasi Parker ; from Katahdin, Andy Kay, Evan McCarthy Melissa Duffy, Jasmine Pelletier and Kayla Stevens; from Southern Aroostook, Tyler Robinson, Dakota Sleeper and Brittany Charette and from Hodgdon, Taylor Hovey. In boys’ and girls’ doubles tennis: from Houlton, Lowell Matthews and Elliott Mooers, along with Tasha Ponder and Kelsey Fitzpatrick.
July
The Houlton Town Championship in the 11-12-year-old division of the Houlton Little League wasn’t decided until the last inning in the Stephen Porter Field at Community Park when Houlton Farms Dairy came away with a 6-5 victory over Machias Savings Bank.
In the first time Houlton State Agricultural Fair Fireman’s Derby Challenge, it was Tim Williams bringing home the traveling trophy for the Linneus Fire Department. Placing second was Bud Nason of Island Falls and third, Dean Porter of Hodgdon.
The Houlton Parks and Recreation Department had 17 youngsters participate in the state Hershey Track and Field meet on July 2 in Brewer.
The Houlton Water Company All-star 11-12-year-old baseball team was eliminated from the District 3 Little League tournament as Holbrook took an 11-8 victory.
The Houlton 9-10 All-stars’ magical run ended with (5-0) Bangor East defeating Houlton 10-0 in four innings to win the District Three Championship. Houlton finished the tournament with a record of 6-2.
Eight players faced each other Saturday at the First Congregational Church for the first official chess tournament. Todd Snyder of Houlton won all four games and defeated former Maine Champion Roger Morin, also of Houlton, in round three to take first place of the first chess tournament in Houlton. Morin took second while Ezra and Alba Briggs, both of Lubec; Jacob McDuffin, of Houlton and Arno Wirta, of Cary, all tied for third. Audrey Zimmerman of Cary and 9-year-old Charles Purham of Amity rounded out the pack.
The junior golf tournament was held at the Houlton Community Country Club. In the 15-17 year old division, David Dubois, of Island Falls, edged out a close win. Ian ended up in second place. In the 18 year-old division, Dylan Flewelling, of Houlton, edged out his Houlton High School golf teammate Porter Gervais to take the win.
Lucas Grant of Houlton finished eighth in the 71st All-American Soap Box Derby Race in Akron, Ohio.
Several local equestrians competed in Skowhegan for the coveted positions on the Maine 4-H Equestrian Team. Riders representing Maine at the Big E in Springfield, Mass. in September were: Desiree Foster of Linneus, Wild Mustangs; Brianna Hanington of Bancroft, Wild Mustangs; Alyssa Kilcollins of Fort Fairfield, Maine Eventers; Callie Foster of Linneus, Wild Mustangs and Kimberly Levesque of Linneus, Wild Mustangs.
August
Terry Cummings left the Greater Houlton Christian Academy to take a job at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.
Winners of the Island Falls Summerfest Race were Alfred Hanscom of Limestone and Angela Ewings of Littleton. In the 4K walk, Gabrielle DeCrescenzo of Cherry Hill, NJ won by one second over Candace Rupley of Island Falls and just two seconds over Tracy Willigar of Bangor.
Winners of the Island Falls Lake Association Recreational Canoe and Kayak Race were, Margaret Chabot, female kayak; Nicholas Haggan, student-kayak; Clint Cushman and granddaughter Crystal Nason, first in racing canoe; Peter Blood and Ena Phipps, mixed recreational canoe/century class; Jim Pettyjohn, adult male kayak; Amy Guerette and her father Bob Guerette, two-person double kayak. The race raised $270 for the Southern Aroostook Community School Dollars for Scholars chapter.
Hundreds of pony clubbers from across the nation competed in the United States Pony Club Championships East in Lexington, Va. Riders competed in Olympic disciplines of dressage, show jumping, and eventing, as well as tetrathelon, games and quiz.Among those competing were Marina DiMarco and Kimberly Levesque, both of the local Meduxnekeag River Pony Club. Levesque, daughter of Rudy and Anita Levesque, competed as a D2 on a Senior D level Quiz team, and DiMarco, daughter of Steve and Mary Beth DiMarco, rode as a C1 on a Training Level Dressage team.
Women competing in the Houlton Community Country Club Women’s Club Championship were Ashley Cleary, Lori Holmes, C Division winner; Traci Peabody, Janice Kelley, B Division winner; Marilyn Ellis, Theresa Wood, Lou Ann Dwyer, Nikki Eastman and Linda Holmes, A Division winner.
