Twenty Maine student-athletes are in the running to be the state winner of the 2010 Wendy’s High School Heisman Award.
Created in 1994 by Wendy’s and the Heisman Memorial Trust, the Wendy’s High School Heisman Award recognizes high school seniors nationwide who excel in athletics, academics and in the community. Students may nominate themselves or be recommended by principals, teachers, guidance counselors and coaches, and top candidates then are selected to advance through extensive judging processes conducted at both the state and national levels.
Finalists to be the state winner in Maine are Aaron Guimond of Bangor Christian, David Lord of Central of Corinth, Andrew Austin of Ellsworth, Rebecca Paradee and Dalton Eldridge of Gardiner, Sarah Milliken of Jonesport-Beals, Joseph Sullivan of Lewiston, Holden Parker of Livermore Falls, Krysta Moulton of Madison, and Emily Clark of Messalonskee of Oakland.
Also, Andrea Cashon and Christopher Gilman of Old Town, Kristin Pollard of Deering of Portland, Allison Hammond of Rangeley, Lucas Wenzel of Maranacook of Readfield, Kymberly Couch of Mountain Valley of Rumford, Krystal Paradis of Wisdom of Saint Agatha, Zachary Mehuren of Mount View of Thorndike, Kyle Huston of Washburn and Emily Farrell of Winslow.
One male and one female will be named Maine’s state winners on Nov. 5, and 12 of the state winners nationwide will be chosen as national finalists and go on to compete for the national award in New York City on Dec. 10. National finalists will be featured during a televised ceremony on an ESPN channel and will receive a gold medal and a $2,000 award for their high schools. One male and one female national winner will receive a Wendy’s High School Heisman trophy, and Wendy’s will donate $10,000 to each winner’s high school.
For more information about the program and to view all the state finalists, visit www.WendysHeisman.com.
Frost’s consistency sparks Rams
The pressure might have been on Phil Frost to increase his offensive production this fall after seven senior starters graduated from a 2009 Bangor boys soccer team that finished 16-1 after falling to Brunswick in a double-overtime Eastern Maine Class A final.
But Frost certainly hasn’t been fazed — he’s been one of Class A’s top scorers this fall in leading the Rams back to the regional title game.
Frost, who was the leading returning scorer from the ’09 squad with 15 goals, has amassed 23 goals so far this year for top-ranked Bangor, which will try to avenge its only loss last fall at 6 p.m. Wednesday when it again hosts Brunswick in the Eastern Maine Class A championship game.
And while some of Frost’s goals have been spectacular, that flair for the dramatic has been at least equaled by his consistency, based on the statistics. For example, he scored in 12 of Bangor’s 14 regular-season games — the lone exceptions were two contests against Lawrence of Fairfield, including a 2-2 tie on Sept. 20 that represents the only blemish on the Rams’ 15-0-1 record.
Frost also has scored in each of Bangor’s regional playoff games to date, including his second three-goal game of the season in Saturday’s 5-0 semifinal victory over Morse.
And that most recent performance showed off the versatility in Frost’s game, as he scored one goal by outleaping Morse goalie Grady Madden to head a loose ball into the net, a second goal by working in tandem with fellow striker Luke Hetterman on a sudden counterattack, and the third by outhustling two Morse defenders to a free ball with the game already decided.
“Phil’s deadly,” said Bangor coach David Patterson. “He’s pretty special as a player, and what you’ve got to understand is that every team we play has at least one guy on him all the time and he still manages to be productive.”
Frost’s presence at the offensive end also creates opportunities for his teammates, both indirectly and directly. He ranks second on the team with seven assists — to Adam King’s 13 — and his ability to draw the defense’s attention has helped enable Hetterman to score 20 goals over the last two seasons.
“He’s not one-dimensional,” said Patterson. “Phil’s not just a goal scorer, he’s a provider as well. You look at the stats and he’s got a bunch of assists as well, but having a player like that up front makes a big difference.”
Fletcher takes Dirigo reins
Rebecca Fletcher, a Dirigo of Dixfield alumna and longtime assistant coach for the school’s girls basketball team under Gavin Kane, has been named the Cougars’ new boys varsity coach.
Fletcher, a teacher at the school, replaces Dave Gerrish, who coached the team last season to its second straight Western Maine Class C championship. The Cougars lost to Washington Academy of East Machias in the state final.
Fletcher played guard for the 1996 Dirigo girls basketball team that won the Class C state title, then went on to play at the University of Maine at Farmington. She coached at Dirigo as part of Kane’s staff for a decade before Kane left last year to become an assistant women’s basketball coach at the University of Maine.
Fletcher is one of the few women to coach a boys varsity basketball team in Maine. Perhaps the most recent such case was when Joanna Hamilton coached at Woodland for four seasons from 1995 to 1999.
Fletcher will face a rebuilding effort of sorts at Dirigo, which graduated all five starters from last year’s 18-4 team.