Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

SIDELINES

FALL SPORTS PREVIEW: Setting a standard of excellence

By Scott Martin smartin@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

Luke Duncklee doesn’t like to talk about expectations.

click image to enlarge

Left to right: Hayleigh Kein, Mt. View field hockey; Jordan Pellerin, Waterville girls soccer; Kyle Bonenfant, Cony golf; Abby Mace, Maranacook cross country; (kneeling) Luke Duncklee, Cony football.

Staff photo by Andy Molloy/Cover design by Scott Martin

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“I hate this question,” Duncklee said when asked his expectations for 2010 Cony High School football and himself.

We don’t need to hear it from him to know that a lot is expected of the Rams’ quarterback/cornerback. The 2009 Kennebec Journal Football Player of the Year thrust himself into the spotlight with a spectacular junior season in which he racked up over 2,000 yards of total offense and combined for 24 touchdowns (passing and rushing).

As Duncklee’s coach Robby Vachon told Kennebec Journal writer Bill Stewart, you’ll want to watch No. 20 on Friday nights this fall.

There are plenty of expectations for the five athletes (Duncklee included) who gathered in the old (and now empty) pressroom at the Kennebec Journal building in Augusta for a photo shoot on Wednesday, Aug. 25. The fruits of that shoot appear on the cover of the section you hold in your hands.

There was Waterville Senior High School’s Jordan Pellerin, the 2009 Morning Sentinel Girls Soccer Player of the Year. Why do we expect so much of Pellerin? Because her resume is one of the most impressive in the history of Maine high school girls soccer. Last fall Pellerin set the Waterville school record with 51 goals. She helped lead the Panthers to the state title as a sophomore with 47 goals and scored 34 as a freshman to put her career total at 132.

It will take another terrific year, but Pellerin is within reach of breaking the state record for career goals. She needs 47 this season to break the record set by Shelby (Pickering) Bradford in 2004.

Pellerin, she’s used to expectations.

“I guess I’m just used to being known as the girl who plays soccer,” Pellerin said.

Also at the photo shoot was Maranacook Community School junior Abby Mace, the 2008 and 2009 Kennebec Journal Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year. Mace has done nothing but win since entering high school. Mace is the two-time defending champion in  Class B and has a sixth- and a 10th-place finish at the New England championships.

Kyle Bonenfant, the 2009 Kennebec Journal Golfer of the Year, talked about his expectations before the shoot and mades it perfectly clear: He thinks he is capable of winning the Class A individual state title. He nearly did last year, but a triple-bogey on the 9th hole sabotaged his round. He finished with a 75, good for a second-place tie, just two strokes behind state champ Brian Angis of Thornton Academy.

“I just like being the best that I possibly can be,” Bonenfant said.

2009 Morning Sentinel Field Hockey Player of the Year Hayleigh Kein made the longest drive to Augusta on Wednesday. The drive from Mt. View High School in Thorndike to the Kennebec Journal office in Augusta is about an hour long (thanks again).

Kein doesn’t have the eye-popping numbers of the other four athletes involved in the photo shoot, but she is no less dominant. From her midfield position, Kein uses her speed and exquisite skill to control play. She said she has noticed opponents trying to keep the ball and the game away from her, but that just makes her work harder.

“Sometimes I’ll hear teams say ‘keep the ball away from the middle of the field,’ which is where I am,” Kein said. “It is kind of a compliment.”

Plenty of compliments will be thrown at these five athletes this fall and at many other athletes we didn’t feature on our cover. They have all set some pretty high standards and fans will surely watch to see if they can reach, or even exceed, them.

Expectations are high, just don’t ask Luke Duncklee to talk about them.

Scott Martin — 621-5618
smartin@centralmaine.com