Eleven of the top student-athletes and coaches in Ellsworth High School history, including the current bench coach of the New York Mets, a national pentathlon champion, two collegiate All-American track and field athletes and the winningest high school soccer coach in state history, comprise the inaugural class to be inducted into the school’s athletic hall of fame this weekend.
The Class of 2017 — Jamie Dunn, John Edes, Brian Higgins, Charlie Katsiaficas, Becky Lock, Louis Luchini, Rob Pendergist, Dick Scott, Jack Scott, Tim Scott and Stuart Taylor — will be introduced during halftime of Friday night’s home football game against Orono.
An induction dinner will follow from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday at the school. Tickets are $12 and may be purchased at the door, but those interested are urged to call the school at 667-4722 for reservations.
Dick Scott recently finished his second year as bench coach for the New York Mets, but before embarking on a long career in professional baseball as a player and coach he starred in soccer, basketball and baseball at Ellsworth High School. Scott was a three-time All-Maine selection in soccer and a two-time All-Maine choice in basketball who was drafted in baseball out of high school in 1981 by the New York Yankees.
He is one of three members of the Scott family who are part of the Ellsworth first hall of fame induction class.
Dick’s father, Jack Scott, is considered one of the best athletes ever to play Maine high school sports, competing in football, basketball and baseball. He was part of the Eagles’ undefeated 1953 and 1954 state championship basketball teams that participated in the New England championships. Jack Scott finished his high school basketball career with 1,057 points and was named All-Maine and All-New England in 1953 and 1954. He was also a member of the All-North team his senior year, an honor comparable to the McDonald’s All-American team.
Tim Scott, Jack’s son and Dick’s brother, was named Maine’s male high school athlete of the year as a senior at Ellsworth in 1988 for his accomplishments in soccer, basketball and baseball. He went on to play at the University of Maine for two years in the Colorado Rockies system but most of his documented awards came from basketball. Scott finished his playing career in that sport with a school-record 1,831 points after leading Ellsworth to the 1988 Eastern Maine championship. He subsequently was named the state’s first Mr. Basketball as well as a Converse All-Star All-American, USA Today All-American and Bangor Daily News All-Maine first team honoree.
Higgins is the winningest soccer coach in the state of Maine high school history, compiling a 566-103-45 record over 42 years while leading the Eagles’ boys squad to four state championships and 18 Eastern Maine titles. Every player who went through his program played in at least one Eastern Maine final. Higgins also has been one of the state’s top tennis coaches and in 2017 was named the National High School Coaches Association’s Girls Tennis Coach of the Year. His boys and girls tennis teams have won a combined 14 Eastern Maine championships and one state title.
Katsiaficas coached at Ellsworth for just five years but during that time guided storied Ellsworth basketball teams to Eastern Maine and state championships in 1953 and 1954, with the 1954 team advancing to the semifinals of the New England championships held at Boston Garden. Katsiaficas later became a successful basketball official at the high school and college levels and the Ellsworth High School gymnasium is named in his honor.
Pendergist graduated in 1989 after becoming the high school national champion in the pentathlon as well as winning state championships in the long jump, high jump, high hurdles and javelin. He still holds several state track records, outdoors in the javelin (210-9) and the 110 high hurdles (14.5) and indoors in the high jump (6-7) and long jump (22-7). Pendergist went on to earn All-American honors in the decathlon at Mount St. Mary’s College and was a four-time IC4A pentathlon champion who competed at the 1992 U.S. Olympic Trials.
Luchini ranks among the most decorated athletes to graduate from Ellsworth High School. He won cross country state championships in 1997 and 1998, captured the New England title in 1998 and finished second at the national championships as a senior. He helped the Eagles win multiple team state championships, and still holds many course records in Maine. Luchini went on to become an All-American runner at Stanford University and competed in the 2004 and 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials. Now a fourth-term state representative serving the Ellsworth area, Luchini also coaches cross country back at his alma mater.
Dunn was one of the first elite cross country and track and field runners for the Eagles. She was a Penobscot Valley Conference champion is 1977 and 1978, an Eastern Maine champion in 1978, and she captured state titles in both 1977 and 1978. She went on to compete in the 1978 Junior Olympic National Championships.
Edes played varsity basketball from 1950 to 1954 and helped Ellsworth win consecutive Eastern Maine and state championships in 1953 and 1954. He was a three-time All-Maine selection and was named to the All-New England team in 1954 after scoring 27 points when the Eagles fell 54-53 to powerful Hillhouse High School of New Haven, Connecticut, at that year’s New England championships. Edes also earned honorable mention status on the 1954 North-South All-American team, and finished his high school career with 1,285 points before going on to star at Colby College in Waterville.
Lock was part of the Ellsworth girls’ soccer team that won back-to-back Eastern Maine championships in 1998 and 1999 and concluded her career as the leading goal scorer in the program’s history. Lock also was a successful track athlete, winning a state title in the long jump and competing at a regional championship meet in Boston, Massachusetts.
Taylor was the boys’ basketball coach for Ellsworth’s 1964 and 1966 state championship seasons. He had a 30-year career in education, with most of that time in the Ellsworth School Department including stints as junior high school principal, assistant high school principal and athletic director, and as high school principal from 1983 until his retirement in 1987. The Ellsworth Middle/Elementary School gymnasium is named in his honor.
