The honor of being inducted into the Maine Sports Legends Hall of Honors is presented to men and women for their extraordinary commitment and work behind the scenes to help students both academically and athletically.
Representing the Northern Division and being inducted at the annual banquet Oct. 12 in Waterville are Jim Carter of Presque Isle, Philip Caverhill of Caribou and Larry Murphy of Fort Kent.
Jim Carter
Carter played sports at Presque Isle High School, graduating in 1964, and later served as a teacher and coach in the Caribou school system.
He served as the business technology department chairman for seven years as part of his 25-year tenure at Caribou High School. He coached for 21 seasons — five years as an eighth-grade boys’ basketball coach at Caribou Junior High School, 12 as an assistant varsity boys’ coach and the final four as the varsity boys’ head coach.
“Two words that immediately come to mind when I think about Coach Carter are ‘demanding’ and ‘fair,” said one of his former players, Ryan Soucie. “He demanded our best effort and attitude every day at the same time being extremely fair. If you earned playing time in practice, you were given an opportunity during a game. He instilled in us a belief we could be successful if we were willing to work. I was able to learn some valuable lessons, both as a player and a person.”
He was named Big East Conference Coach of the Year during the 1997-98 season
He also coached baseball in Caribou for 10 years and was the girls’ varsity cross country coach for six. In cross country, his team won three Class A regional championships as well a state title. He was named Bangor Daily News Coach of the Year in 1989.
Former CHS Athletic Director Dwight Hunter said Carter brought a passion to the Viking teams he coached.
“Jim was the type of coach who worked on his own to improve his coaching skill,” Hunter said. “He talked with veteran coaches and attended many clinics over his career to become a more knowledgeable coach. His love for the sport and for young athletes, along with his organizational skills, made him the type of coach an athletic director would love to have on his staff.”
Since his retirement from teaching and coaching, Carter has written and published a book entitled “Six Decades of Wildcat Basketball,” a retrospective of Presque Isle High School’s basketball program. He has also researched and written several articles on some of the top athletes in Aroostook County.
Carter has been involved in the broadcasting of high school basketball games for nearly a decade, beginning with Time Warner Cable’s public access channel and now with WEGP 1390 AM.
He is the co-founder of the Presque Isle High School Athletic Hall of Fame and was himself inducted three years ago. He was the accreditation chair for the Junior World Championships and the World Cup for biathlon, has served on the Husson University alumni board and was a basketball statistician for the Big East Conference.
He and his wife, Robin, reside in Presque Isle. He has a daughter, Heather Libby, and a step-son, Seth Cronkite, as well as two grandchildren.
Philip Caverhill
Caverhill enjoyed a lengthy career as a principal, educator and coach at Woodland Consolidated Elementary School, just north of Caribou. He was a huge advocate of sports, being credited with instituting an athletic department at the school.
“Not only did he institute the athletic program, but ran it in a fashion that cost the school nothing by raising funds through suppers and other events that would raise money needed,” said Union 122 Superintendent John Hedman. “He understood that when kids become involved with something they were interested in, they performed better as students and citizens.”
He is also credited for starting up physical education, special education, a music program and health class at the small school.
“Working in Woodland schools gave Phil the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of hundreds of young people he came in contact with over the years,” said Hunter, who coached Caverhill when he was a student at Caribou High School. “It also gave him the opportunity to do something he loved and was born to do—to be an educator. His students held a high level of respect and esteem for Caverhill and spoke highly of him.
“Phil always had the best interests of all of his students they were the primary focus of everything he did in educating them. He did it the right way, with a smile, and with humility and respect for all,” Hunter added.
Caverhill played baseball at CHS and went on to play at Aroostook State Teacher’s College (now the University of Maine at Presque Isle). He still loves to compete and plays in a men’s basketball league and bowls. He played slo-pitch softball for years in the Caribou league.
“He is an athletic wonder,” said Kevin Sjoberg, a softball teammate of Caverhill’s for several years. “He makes activities fun, not just for himself but for those who are competing with him.”
Caverhill is an Army veteran, receiving training for military intelligence and going on to receive several medals honoring his service. He owns a master’s degree in guidance and counseling and a certificate of advanced studies in admininstration from the University of Maine and in his retirement works as a guidance counselor at Connor School one day a week.
Caverhill umpires Little League baseball every year and has received the President’s Award for service to the Caribou league. He was on the Caribou Parks and Recreation Department board of directors for several years. He is a life member of the VFW and is also a member of the American Legion. He and his wife, Darlene, reside in Caribou. They have a son, Troy, and four grandchildren.
Larry Murphy
Murphy is a 1969 graduate of Caribou High School and was a member of the Vikings’ state championship basketball team and also played soccer and baseball at the varsity level. He went on to play soccer collegiately at the University of Maine at Fort Kent and was an All-New England selection and conference MVP for three years.
After beginning his teaching and coaching career at Caribou in 1977, he made his way to the St. John Valley where he has been ever since.
He coached at Allagash, then became the athletic director and men’s soccer and basketball coach at UMFK for seven years before returning to the public school system and becoming athletic director/principal at Fort Kent Elementary School before closing out his admininstrative career as principal at Eagle Lake, retiring in 2009.
He coached at all levels in numerous sports and had a positive impact on the athletes he worked with.
“He strikes a balance between the importance of the game, the team and the individual. He builds lasting relationships with his players while teaching them lessons about the game and life in general,” said Gary Stevens, who worked alongside Murphy in the Fort Kent school system. “Larry devoted himself to understanding each sport, talking to others about the sport and being the best coach he could be. When he interacted as a coach, teacher or administrator with students, athletes and adults, it was evident that he was interested in them as people.”
One of the things Murphy did to prove his devotion to the teams he coached was spearheading a fundraiser one year which involved him bicycling from Fort Kent to Bangor to buy new uniforms for the girls’ varsity basketball team at Fort Kent.
He received many awards and achievements for his coaching, including NAIA District V Coach of the Year in men’s basketball at UMFK and Sunrise Conference Coach of the Year in men’s soccer. While at Allagash, he coached the boys’ basketball team to an Eastern Maine title and guided the girls’ team into the EM finals two straight years.
Northern Maine Community College athletic director Bill Casavant said Murphy used to work at the Aroostook Basketball Camp in Presque Isle, directed by Casavant, in the 1980s. He was always impressed with the energy Murphy provided as a coach.
“He always gave his best effort during the drill stations we had set up,” Casavant said. “When the young athletes saw how hard he was working, they wanted to work just as hard. He was their role model to follow.”
Murphy was inducted into UMFK’s inaugural athletic hall of fame class in 2008.
In his retirement, Murphy became interested in sled dog racing and raised dogs, trained them and competed in 10 Can Am 250-mile races. Although he no longer competes, he still serves as a race volunteer. He coaches soccer in the Fort Kent recreation pee wee league.
He and his wife, Irene, live in Fort Kent and have two daughters, Kim and Erica, and a son, Ben, along with five grandchildren.
