Orono’s Chris Libby has been named the state’s U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association high school coach of the year for girls’ outdoor track and field.
Libby was selected for the state honor after leading the Red Riots’ girls squad to its fourth consecutive Class C state championship.
Orono dominated the state meet, amassing 132.7 points compared with 51.7 points for runner-up Traip Academy of Kittery.
Libby, a Brewer High School and University of Maine graduate who teaches math at Orono High School, also guided the Orono boys outdoor track and field team to its first Class C state championship since 1997 this spring.
Both teams also won 2015 Penobscot Valley Conference championships and were recipients of the Maine Principals’ Association sportsmanship banners for Class C boys and girls outdoor track.
This marks Libby’s 11th coach of the year award, which includes Eastern Maine Indoor Track League and PVC outdoor track and field honors.
One boys coach and one girls coach from each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia were recognized for their successes during the 2015 track and field season, as selected by a committee of experts from around the nation.
Among the factors taken into consideration were team score and placement at the state championships, the number of different events in which student-athletes were qualified, individual championships, and how their teams’ performances stacked up to previous years.
Paul Soracco, who guided Lewiston High School to the Class A boys outdoor track and field state title last spring, was recognized by the USTFCCCA as Maine’s coach of the year in that sport.
Libby was the second Orono High School coach to be recognized by the USTFCCCA during the 2014-15 school year. Red Riots’ cross-country coach Lin White was similarly honored last fall.
Old Town’s Graffam wins 100th
Old Town High School boys soccer coach Mark Graffam has reached a milestone.
Graffam earned his 100th career varsity coaching victory Tuesday when the Coyotes edged Mount Desert Island of Bar Harbor 2-1 at Bar Harbor.
That marked the first win of the season for Old Town, which is 1-2 after a 1-0 loss to defending Class B North champion Ellsworth on Thursday. The Coyotes return to action Saturday at Caribou.
Graffam, who first took the Old Town coaching reins in 2001, has guided the Coyotes to top-six finishes in the final Heal point ratings in five of the last six seasons, including a fifth-place effort last fall when he led his team to an 8-5-2 record before being ousted in the Class B preliminary round by Medomak Valley of Waldoboro on penalty kicks.
