From ice fishing to basketball to impressive paddling, 2025 gave The County some sports milestones. Join us as we take a look back at some highlights from the past year. This first installment covers January through June.
January
Long Lake hosted its 20th annual ice fishing derby under clear winter skies. There were a few family gatherings and reunions of old friends. There were new and veteran fishermen, all trying for the more than $70,000 in prizes the derby offered. The derby ended up shattering attendance records.
Evangeline Chalou and Nick Hopkins, both of Easton, and Jackson Holdsworth of Caribou were Aroostook County youth capturing Northern District titles at the Elks Hoop Shoot foul shooting competition Jan. 5 at the James F. Doughty School.
More than 400 participants and spectators turned out for the New England XCountry snowmobile races and the inaugural NorState Federal Credit Union Star City 100, hosted by North Star Motorsports atArnold Brook Lake in Presque Isle.
February
The top-seeded Caribou Vikings girls ended a 40-year drought with a 61-46 victory over Erskine Academy of South China in the Class B North championship game at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
The Central Aroostook Panthers clocked a come-from-behind 43- 40 win over the fourth-seeded Schenck Wolverines in the girls Class D North championship.
Senior forward Tristen Robbins exploded in the fourth quarter to help the top-seeded Caribou Vikings boys secure the Class B North championship over the Orono Red Riots.
March
For the first time ever, the Caribou Vikings girls and boys brought home state championships together. The girls shocked Biddeford and the entire stadium with a 49-48 win in overtime. The boys team put away the York Wildcats 65-44 to claim the gold basketball.
Enthusiasm was high for the return of the Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Races, which were canceled in 2024 due to lack of snow. Michel Bernier of Saint Anselme, Quebec, took first place in the 30-mile race with a time of 2:46:28. The first team over the finish line was Alexander Therriault of Oxford, Maine, who crossed at 12:21:07 pm. Florence Shaw, 19, of Fermont, Quebec, won the Can-Am 100 on March 1 with a time of 09:03:38.
April
NorState Federal Credit Union announced it would carry on the tradition of the prestigious Cloukey Challenge, a golf tournament that has been raising funds for Special Olympics Maine to directly benefit the athletes of Aroostook County for the past 35 years.
May
Paddlers from as far away as New Hampshire joined in the inaugural Tylor Kelly Allagash Dash, a 15-mile canoe race in Allagash. Created by Jake and Lisa Feener in Kelly’s memory, the race was No. 11 in the 2025 Maine Canoe & Kayak Racing Organization’s downriver points series and the first canoe race in the Allagash area in nearly two decades.
At the other end of The County, seasoned racers J.D. Burke and Brady Burke, in their 1985 Wenonah Kevlar canoe, were the first paddlers to cross the finish line in the eight-mile, staggered-start Meduxnekeag Canoe Race in Houlton. The race drew several Maine legends like Terry Wescott, Bob Martin and Clint Cushman, most of whom have been paddling for more than half a century.
June
Several players on the Northern Maine Moose boys lacrosse team received postseason honors from the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference. Isaiah Ervin, a senior, was chosen for the all-conference first team and nominated as the Class C Player of the Year. Junior Colton Simoes and senior Payton Powell were selected for the second team. Carter Smith, Gage Folsom and Ryker Forbush received honorable mention.
