Sports Reporter
LIMESTONE – Evan Graves brings a couple years of coaching experience and many more as a successful competitive runner into his new position of track and field coach for the Limestone-MSSM Eagles. Graves is a physical education teacher at Caribou High School and was a volunteer assistant coach for the Vikings’ varsity cross country team this past fall. He also has been an assistant track and field coach at Presque Isle for two years.
In addition, Graves is known as one of the top runners in the state. He has performed well in a number of marathons throughout the country and has been an established runner in the road racing circuit both in-County and statewide. He starred as a high school student at Mount Desert Island before taking his talents to the University of Maine at Presque Isle, where he qualified for the NAIA National Cross Country Meet four times in the mid- to late-1990s.
“I learned a lot about running, coaching, the principles of training and the many qualities of athletes,” Graves said. “[With this group at Limestone], I know they are very hard workers and they have set some realistic goals that they will undoubtedly meet and surpass throughout the season.
“They are improving day in and day out, having fun, getting exercise and learning a variety of things through track and field that will stay with them for a lifetime.”
Out of the 18 current athletes on the team, a majority are from the Maine School of Science and Mathematics. Most do not have a lot of experience in the sport.
“We have a solid group of kids who are interested in the distance events, so the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 will have a lot of kids,” Graves said. “They are interested in learning some new events and I have worked with them to try some new things and they are very open to that.”
The Eagle roster includes, for boys, seniors Patrick Brown, Robert Mushrall and Chris Lemay; juniors Ethan McGuire, James Lee, Peter Taddeo, Devin Ward, Chris Gaskell and Jack Seguin; sophomore James Jelin and freshmen Anders Benton and Nate Tucker.
On the girls’ side, team members include seniors Shaylyn Adams, Suzi Burke and Katherine Spring; sophomores Helen Roberts and Brittney Shields and freshman Lucy Wilcox.
“I have big expectations for this group,” Graves said. “When I talk about success, I feel that it is relative to where they are beginning and where they will end up. This overall is a young group who will get a good base and understanding about track and field and will get off to a good start for their high school career.”
