#CollegeAthleteConversation

Belfast native Kelci Faulkingham reflects on stellar athletic career at Thomas
Sat, 05/02/2020 - 3:00pm

WATERVILLE — Kelci Faulkingham, a 2015 alumna of Belfast Area High School, concluded a remarkable four years as a member of the Thomas College field hockey program this fall, and even dabbled for a little more than a season as a member of the women’s basketball team. Faulkingham, who lists one of favorite sports memories as scoring her first varsity goal in Belfast, developed ties at a young age to the collegiate field hockey team for which she would eventually play. “When I was younger, I went...
‘I feel extremely fortunate to be at Wellesley’
Eliza Roy on the ‘best of both worlds’: Playing collegiate soccer and studying at Wellesley
Mon, 11/18/2019 - 8:30am

WELLESLEY, Mass. — After winning three state championships as a girls soccer player at Camden Hills Regional High School, Camden native Eliza Roy is now toiling on the pitch at Wellesley College, which plays NCAA Division III women’s soccer. Roy, who was a captain of the Camden Hills soccer team and graduated in 2019, opted to attend the Massachusetts school for the academic opportunities the school presented and the community environment, including the school’s professional networking...
NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer
Former Windjammer Isabelle Lang flourishes as Thomas College goalkeeper
Mon, 11/11/2019 - 7:15pm

WATERVILLE — After a successful four years of guarding soccer nets for the Camden Hills varsity girls soccer team, Lincolnville native Isabelle “Izzy” Lang is shining as a freshman goalkeeper for the Thomas College women’s soccer team, which plays at the NCAA Division III level, in Waterville. The five-foot-three Lang was attracted to Thomas College’s small school atmosphere where everyone is able to know each other well, something she said she loved about the school. “The coaching staff and...
‘I worked hard to gain the physical ability that I have today’
Through perseverance, Aubrey Schaeffer continues to be a force on soccer pitch
Thu, 10/31/2019 - 8:00pm

WATERVILLE — Aubrey Schaeffer, a 2019 graduate of Medomak Valley High School in Waldoboro, was a force on the soccer pitch in high school, and with a notable campaign as a freshman at Thomas College, a NCAA Division III program in Waterville, she continues to prove she is a top player. However, if it was not for her perseverance and strong work ethic in life, Schaeffer likely would not have ever been able to stand on a soccer field, let alone run up and down one. Schaeffer played four years of...
Davis, King, Tomlin on playing soccer for Maine Maritime Academy
Wed, 10/23/2019 - 11:30pm

CASTINE — A trio of former Midcoast soccer players are now battling on the pitch as members of the Maine Maritime Academy men’s soccer team, which plays collegiate soccer as a NCAA Division III program. On the team are Midcoast natives Jack Davis, of Belfast; Andrew King, of Thomaston; and Maxwell Tomlin, of Monroe. Davis, a 2010 Belfast Area High School graduate, and King, a 2016 Oceanside High School graduate, are majoring in international business and logistics. Tomlin, meanwhile, is a 2018...
‘I really want to become an overall stronger athlete, and also to grow as a leader’
Oceanside graduate Shannon Ripley continues field hockey career at Husson
Tue, 10/01/2019 - 1:30pm

BANGOR — After having a successful high school field hockey career for Oceanside High School in Rockland, Shannon Ripley is continuing her field hockey career at Husson University, a NCAA Division III program. Ripley, who graduated from Oceanside in 2016, opted to continue her field hockey career at the Bangor-based university since she loved the competitive nature of sports and how sports helps her form a routine. In fact, the Owls Head native was drawn to collegiate field hockey due to the...
‘having this motivation helped me find my passion for both goalkeeping and soccer’
Searsport High graduate Benjamin Powell holds the net as a Husson goalkeeper
Mon, 09/30/2019 - 8:45am

BANGOR — Growing up, 2018 Searsport District High School graduate Benjamin Powell received instruction from Husson University soccer coaches and thought highly of a star Husson goalkeeper from a young age. Now, as a member of the Husson University men’s soccer team, he not only reunited with a pair of former coaches from his younger days, but he also is coached by a goalkeeper he has long admired. Powell creds the history of the Husson men’s soccer team and its coaching staff as the reasons he...
‘Lacrosse to me has become my safe-haven, it’s a place that helps me clear my head’
Nicole Schofield leaves unique mark on UMF lacrosse program
Thu, 05/09/2019 - 8:30pm

FARMINGTON — Things were not supposed to go the way they went athletically for Nicole Schofield. The University of Maine at Farmington senior’s daily schedule was not supposed to be this full for the past four years. She was not supposed to be wearing an athletic uniform while at the university and she certainly was not supposed to be on the school’s lacrosse team, a sport she never played before moving to Farmington. How did everything change for the Troy native who had all her college plans...
‘I want to leave knowing that I helped contribute to making this team better’
Love of soccer, lacrosse continues for Jack Gallagher at Thomas College
Mon, 04/29/2019 - 2:45am

WATERVILLE — For Camden Hills Regional High School graduate and Camden native Jack Gallagher, soccer and lacrosse has been a huge aspect of his life. His love for the sport and how it has impacted him remains prevalent as he concludes his junior year at Thomas College and aims to better not only himself, but also the soccer and lacrosse programs at the NCAA Division III institution in Waterville. Gallagher began playing soccer thanks to his mother’s love for soccer and her desire that her son...
‘I still have a long way to go but I can’t help but be a little proud of how far I’ve come’
Linguistics, ice hockey, music shapes life for Grayson Szumilas
Mon, 02/18/2019 - 10:15am

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. — The sport of ice hockey has been a huge aspect of life for Camden native Grayson Szumilas, a 2014 graduate of Camden Hills Regional High School, no matter what part of the world he has lived in. Szumilas, like many ice hockey players in the Midcoast, grabbed hockey sticks at a young age. “I was so young when I started playing,” he said. “I seem to remember seeing it on TV and wanting to play because of the speed. However, my parents will tell me that they placed me in...
From Camden to Tokyo
Creating his own path, Chase Matteo living his ice hockey dream in Japan
Mon, 12/31/2018 - 4:30am

TOKYO — For nearly as long as he can remember, Camden native Chase Matteo has been fascinated by the Japanese culture since devoting hours into learning about ice hockey’s presence across the world. Upon further research with his friend group, Matteo fell more in love with the prospect of living in Japan and dove even further into his research on how to study and play ice hockey in the East Asian country. Through his extensive ice hockey research a few years before his high school graduation,...
‘Once I got the hang of skating and could keep up with everyone else, I was hooked’
Jack Orne skates to success with NYU ice hockey
Wed, 12/26/2018 - 12:30pm

NEW YORK, N.Y. — After dominating the ice in Maine as a member of the Camden Hills Regional High School ice hockey program, Jack Orne now skates his way around the competition at the collegiate level as a member of the New York University ice hockey team. The 2014 graduate of Camden Hills spent one post-graduate year at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire before enrolling at NYU as an economics major. Through his first three seasons as a member of the Violets ice hockey team, which plays...
Produced remarkable numbers in freshman campaign at Colby Sawyer
Lucas Boetsch prospers in standout freshman season
Mon, 12/24/2018 - 9:15am

NEW LONDON, N.H. — With the numbers Lucas Boetsch posted as the goalkeeper this season for the Colby Sawyer College NCAA Division III men’s soccer team one would assume Boetsch is a veteran goalkeeper likely nearing the end of his collegiate eligibility. Instead, Boetsch is just beginning his collegiate athletic career and posted remarkable numbers on the pitch during his freshman campaign in New London, New Hampshire. The four-year letter winner at Camden Hills Regional High School recorded 52...
Conversations with Collegiate Athletes
Brooke Dugan discusses life as a collegiate athlete
Tue, 12/18/2018 - 2:45pm

GORHAM — The last few years — since 2014, to be exact — have been akin to a roller coaster for Brooke Dugan, a member of the 2014 graduating class at Oceanside High School. After her days at the Rockland area school, Dugan started her college days playing field hockey for NCAA Division III Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, during the 2014 season, where she appeared in 14 contests and recorded one assist and one start. In her 2015 sophomore campaign, she started 15 of 17 contests and...
‘I know [school] may not be as fun as playing the sport that you love, but you won’t be able to play forever’
Former Midcoast athletes share advice on balancing academics, athletics, life
Tue, 12/18/2018 - 8:45am

Life as a high school student can be incredibly stressful and difficult between academics, social life, clubs, jobs, community service and, of course, sports. With only so many hours in a day — who decided on this 24 hours in a day nonsense, anyways? — schedules can turn hectic and lengthy to-do lists overwhelming. In an effort to assist student-athletes throughout the Midcoast, penbaypilot.com solicited advice from local high school graduates now playing collegiate athletics to provide advice...
A collegiate soccer team teaches life lessons; pushes one mentally and physically.’
Kaitlyn Shute, Lilah Chaar thriving academically, athletically for Maine Maritime women’s soccer
Mon, 10/22/2018 - 9:00am

CASTINE — Kaitlyn Shute and Lilah Chaar were both members of the Searsport girls soccer team in their high school years. Now, the 2015 high school graduates are teammates on the women’s soccer team Maine Maritime Academy in Castine and spoke to PenBayPilot.com for a series where former Midcoast athletes provide advice and insight on life as a collegiate student-athlete. Shute noted she was attracted to Maine Maritime because the women’s soccer program has a fantastic coaching staff and a family...
‘I was very much born into [soccer]’
Josiah Krul’s love for soccer continues at Bates College
Thu, 10/18/2018 - 7:15pm

LEWISTON — Soccer has been a longstanding aspect of Josiah’s Krul’s entire life, and he will be the first to admit as much. “I was very much born into the sport,” he said an interview for the PenBayPilot.com series of Midcoast collegiate athletes who talk about their experiences and provide advice to current Midcoast high school student-athletes. Krul was a key contributor on the Camden Hills boys soccer program and is now continuing his time as a soccer player at Bates College in Lewiston,...
‘she who has the will to win cannot be beat’
Dynamic Boulay sisters excelling as UNE field hockey players
Tue, 10/16/2018 - 7:30pm

BIDDEFORD — Kersey and Reanna Boulay excelled on the field hockey field as members of the Mount View Mustangs field hockey program and are continuing their excellence both on, and off, the field as members of the University of New England field hockey program. Kersey is a five-foot-five senior defender for the Nor’Easters, while Reanna is a five-foot-eight sophomore forward. The sisters, natives of Liberty, are nursing majors and plan to work as hospital nurses, though they differ on the...
‘What made me fall in love with the sport was the brotherhood that comes along with it’
Spear, Berger in midst of sophomore campaigns with Nor’easters
Fri, 10/05/2018 - 8:00am

BIDDEFORD — Brad Spear and Joe Berger both graduated from Knox County high schools in 2016. Spear from Camden Hills and Berger from Oceanside. Now, both are playing in the midst of their sophomore campaigns as respective members of the soccer and football teams at the University of New England in Biddeford. How exactly did these two Midcoast natives decide to continue their respective athletic careers with the Nor’Easters? “I have a great love for soccer,” said Spear, a sophomore defender on...
Conversations with Midcoast collegiate athletes
Belfast native Matt Smith reflects on college, and strong Husson baseball season
Mon, 07/23/2018 - 10:00pm

For Belfast native and Belfast Area High School 2015 graduate Matt P. Smith, joining the Husson University baseball team was a no-brainer. Smith opted to join the Eagles due to the university’s proximity to home, the major he wanted to pursue, and the fact that Nick Arthers, one of Smith’s former coaches, played collegiate ball at Husson. Now, Smith is opening up about his time at Husson and providing advice for the next group of Midcoast student-athletes hoping to extend their athletic careers...
‘You can’t have a million dollar dream on a minimum wage work ethic’
Local Maine Maritime Academy basketball players discuss college life, lend perspective
Tue, 05/22/2018 - 5:00pm

CASTINE — Three basketball players on the rosters at Maine Maritime Academy spent their high school careers in the Midcoast. Below are the interviews with each of the local alums — Nick Judge, Nicholas DePatsy and Melinda Ogden — who played basketball at Maine Maritime Academy. The purpose of these interviews was to see what each of them have learned, and what advice they might have for current Midcoast high school student-athletes. Judge is a six-foot senior forward who graduated from...
‘If you want it, work for it. It’s that simple’
Morgan Mercier: On being a dual-sport collegiate athlete
Thu, 03/29/2018 - 11:30pm

BOSTON — Being both a collegiate men’s soccer and men’s lacrosse player at Boston’s Emmanuel College, Morgan Mercier is a unique collegiate student athlete. That is because the majority of dual-sport collegiate athletes compete in more closely-linked sports, such as cross-country or indoor and outdoor track and field. But Mercier is not your average student athlete. He is attending an NCAA Division III institution that competes in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference, where is he maintaining...
Alex Flagg, Dalton Oakes, Krysta Porter, Jarrod Leonardi, Darrian Leonardi open up
Local Thomas College athletes discuss college life, lend perspective
Mon, 03/19/2018 - 11:15am

WATERVILLE — Every local student-athlete who has gone on to play collegiate athletics has a unique story. Many learned a great deal and are willing to share their stories, and advice, with the current group of Midcoast teens who play sports, and likely hope to continue their athletic endeavors at the collegiate levels. Below are the interviews with each of the local alums — Alex Flagg, Dalton Oakes, Krysta Porter, Jarrod Leonardi and Darrian Leonardi — who play baseball, softball or lacrosse at...
‘It’s not to prove others wrong, but to prove myself right’
Keenan Hendricks: Student, musician, athlete and entrepreneur
Wed, 03/07/2018 - 11:15pm

GORHAM — Being a collegiate student-athlete can be a job itself with balancing academics and athletics. And for University of Southern Maine men’s basketball player Keenan Hendricks, his life as a college student and athlete also includes being a musician and entrepreneur. “My teammate, Christian McCue, and I started a band,” Hendricks, a sophomore at Southern Maine, said. “We do a lot of cover songs and are currently working on originals,” he said, of their band, the Cukes. This academic year...
‘“Good, better, best. Never rest until your good is better and your better is best’
Union’s Sammie Griffin concludes remarkable collegiate basketball career at Thomas
Tue, 02/20/2018 - 9:00pm

WATERVILLE — Medomak Valley alumna Sammie Griffin has enjoyed a successful collegiate women’s basketball career that started in South Portland as a member of the Southern Maine Community College women’s basketball program and finished in Waterville at Thomas College. The five-foot-four tall Union native said she wanted to play for the Terriers, a NCAA Division III team, for her final two seasons of basketball since the program was rebuilding itself, and that was something she wanted to be part...
‘Don’t give an inch until the final buzzer sounds’
Medomak graduate Hannah Marks rides a 23-game winning streak with college team
Mon, 02/19/2018 - 9:00pm

STANDISH — Medomak Valley High School graduate Hannah Marks and the Saint Joseph’s Monks are having a tremendous season on the hardwood. The Saint Joseph’s (24-1) women’s basketball team is riding a 23-game win streak into the Great Northeast Athletic Conference playoffs, where they open with Mount Ida in the conference quarterfinals Tuesday, Feb. 20. Thus far in the season, Marks has appeared in all 25 contests and has collected 625 minutes with 24 starts. Marks collected 274 points through...
‘You don’t deserve anything, you only deserve what you earn’
Matthew Wheeler finds motivation, inspiration with Southern Maine wrestling season
Tue, 02/06/2018 - 7:30pm

GORHAM — Matthew Wheeler was not always a wrestler. In fact, it was not even Wheeler’s idea for him to join the wrestling program at Thorndike’s Mount View High School. Wheeler’s football teammates were the ones to convince him to try out for the wrestling team. Once Wheeler gave wrestling a shot, he became hooked since wrestling “didn’t require much athletic talent, just hard work,” which is what he says mostly drew him to the sport. Now, Wheeler is a senior wrestler on the University of...
Collegiate Women’s Rowing
From sailing to rowing: Abigail Chamberlin ready to play key role for Dartmouth rowing
Tue, 01/23/2018 - 1:00pm

HANOVER, N.H. — Abigail Chamberlin has taken a unique journey into being a collegiate rower — a journey that almost never happened. The Camden Hills Regional High School alumna and Camden native, who takes pride in surrounding herself with people who wish for her continued success, almost never became a freshman rower at Dartmouth College, an Ivy League institution in Hanover, New Hampshire, that Chamberlin describes as “the absolute perfect place.” Chamberlin nearly missed out on joining the...
‘I would have the opportunity to impact soccer ... and that was appealing to me’
Charlotte Messer makes her mark on UMaine soccer pitch
Wed, 11/15/2017 - 11:00pm

ORONO — Not many Midcoast soccer players have the opportunity to be a state champion playing at the Division I level, the NCAA’s highest level of athletics. But for Camden Hills graduate Charlotte Messer, that is the exactly her life right now as a soccer player for the University of Maine in Orono. Messer, who enjoys spending the “limited free time that I have with friends and family,” likes to take advantage of the beautiful sights near home. “Getting a group of friends together for a hike up...
‘I already find myself thinking 70 is chilly’
Lahner, Brownawell move nearly 1,500 miles; enjoying Florida collegiate athletics
Thu, 10/12/2017 - 7:15pm

DELAND and FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — When most Rockport residents travel over 1,400 miles to the Orlando area, or 1,600 miles to the South Florida area, they usually do it for a vacation or to escape the cold Maine winters. For Alexis Lahner and Emma Brownawell, both Camden Hills Regional High School 2017 graduates, they made the long journey to pursue their dreams of being collegiate athletes. Lahner, a California native, is an economics major at DeLand’s Stetson University, near Orlando, where...
‘I want to become a key player on the field that my teammates can trust’
From Lion to Bulldog: Kylie Nelson excelling early in collegiate field hockey
Fri, 09/29/2017 - 8:30am

SMITHFIELD, RI — As a field hockey player for Belfast Area High School, Kylie Nelson dominated on the field. In fact, Nelson was so dominant, her field hockey skills landed her the opportunity to continue her field hockey career as a student-athlete at Bryant University, a NCAA Division I program in Smithfield, Rhode Island. And only a matter of weeks into her freshman season with the Bulldogs, the forward and midfielder chalked up her first collegiate goal on Sunday, Sept. 17 in a road game...