AUGUSTA — Everyone involved with the Messalonskee High School field hockey team knew senior Kristy Bernatchez has a hard shot. After practice on day, coach Katie McLaughlin decided to test Bernatchez’s shot against a radar gun.
Travis Lazarczyk
Columnist
Travis Lazarczyk has covered sports for the Portland Press Herald since 2021. A Vermont native, he graduated from the University of Maine in 1995 with a BA in English. After a few years working as a sports information director and in the ski industry, he began his journalism career at the Berlin (N.H.) Reporter in 1999. Prior to joining the Press Herald, Lazarczyk spent 20 years covering sports in central Maine at the Morning Sentinel and Kennebec Journal. He's been twice honored as the Maine Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.
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HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL COACH OF THE YEAR: GARY PARLIN
The Mt. Blue High School football team entered the 2012 season with high expectations. After losing the Pine Tree Conference Class B championship game by a point in double overtime in 2011, the Cougars entered 2012 with the single goal of winning the gold ball.
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HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR: JORDAN WHITNEY
FARMINGTON — Amid the ongoing celebration surrounding Mt. Blue High School’s first football state championship in 32 years, there was a little disappointment. Senior quarterback Jordan Whitney, one of the top players in the state using any criteria, was not selected as one of the 12 semifinalists for the James J. Fitzpatrick Trophy.
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TRAVIS LAZARCZYK: A classic rivalry hits 200 games
WATERVILLE — Nathaniel Hawthorne never made it to one of these, and neither did Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Franklin Pierce or Elijah Lovejoy. But George Mitchell probably did. The same goes for Doris Kearns Goodwin and Robert Parker.
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HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: 4-class system moves forward
AUGUSTA — The Maine Principals’ Association football committee took the biggest step yet toward introducing a fourth class to Maine high school football, when it created its final proposal to go before the classification committee, then to the general membership of the MPA for a vote in March.
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HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Final proposal created for 4 classes
AUGUSTA — The Maine Principals’ Association football committee took the biggest step yet towards introducing a fourth class to Maine high school football, when it created its final proposal to go before the classification committee, then to the general membership of the MPA for a vote in March.
Posted inSports
COLLEGE CONNECTIONS: Barnes starts quick at Thomas
WATERVILLE — Last year, Levi Barnes was listening to pitches from college basketball coaches who were trying to convince the Skowhegan Area High School senior to come play at their school. It was what wasn’t said by Thomas College head coach T.J. Maines that convinced Barnes that he wanted to be a Terrier.
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MORNING SENTINEL GOLFER OF THE YEAR: MCI sophomore always looking for improvement
Toward the end of the summer, Gavin Dugas found himself in a funk just about every time he played a round of golf. The Maine Central Institute sophomore can’t put his finger on one exact moment his game started to struggle, or one exact reason. That’s the thing about golf, sometimes, things just happen.
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TRAVIS LAZARCZYK: Taylor, Grinnell not villains
On Wednesday morning, almost every sports fan in the United States heard what Jack Taylor did on Tuesday night in Grinnell, Iowa, and did a double take.
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HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS SEASON: Polls, practices highlight opening day
Practices for the winter sports season began Monday, and in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A boys basketball division, last year’s champ is this year’s preseason favorite.