The snow is falling and that means that winter sports in Gorham have begun. The teams are excited to get underway and the varsity coaches shared their thoughts about the season ahead.
BOYS’ BASKETBALL: COACH MARK KARTER
Key Players Returning: Sr. Forward Tyler Haines, Sr. Forward Tom Nelson, Jr. Guard Nick Strout, and Jr. Guard Jordan Bretton. Notable Newcomers: So. Guard Bode Meader, So. Guard Grant Nadeau, and So. Center Stephen Graham.
Coach Karter said, “The local rivalry games always have great crowds and high intensity. The games against Westbrook, Windham, Bonny Eagle, and Scarborough should be exciting. This year’s outlook is interesting. The league is very strong top to bottom, so there should be many highly contested games.”
He shared that the team will look to utilize its depth and try to employ an uptempo game. “We have players that are able to hit the three point shot, so our ability to penetrate and kick out to these players will be key for us.”
Karter said the players will have to be able to control the ball on defense, which will have a huge bearing on their full court pressure. “If this happens we should be competitive in a very tough conference.”
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL: COACH LAUGHN BERTHIAUME
The team returns nine players from last year’s team. Tri-Captains are Sr. Mackenzie Holmes, Sr. Courtney Brent, and Sr. Brittany Desjardin. All three captains are four-year varsity players and two-time State Champions.
The other returning players are Sarah Walker, Brooke Woodbury, Jacqui Hamilton, Adele Nadeau, Olivia Michaud, and Tatyanna Biamby. Notable Newcomers: Lauren Fotter, Sophia Michaud, Brylee Bishop, and Anna Nelson.
Coach Berthiaume said, “Last year, Gorham finished with a one point loss in the State Championship Game. We entered the Southern Maine Tournament as the #5 seed and we beat #4 MGA at their place 63-37.”
The ladies went on to beat the #1 seed South Portland with a score of 53-42. “In the Southern AA final we beat #2 Scarborough 47-28. Unfortunately in the State Final we lost 50-49 with 0.3 second left,” Berthiaume said.
Gorham has early season challenges with Greely, (the defending Class A State Champion), Scarborough, Deering, and Portland. With Holmes at the helm, the team is looking to get back to the Class A State Championship once again.
BOYS’ HOCKEY: COACH JON PORTWINE
Key players include Sr-F/D-Trevor Gray, Sr-F-Tanner Garand, Sr-D-Nick Gray, Jr-F/D-Cole Perreault, and Jr-D- Peter Richards. Notable Newcomer: Fr-G-Caleb Waterman.
Coach Portwine shared, “This year’s team is very deep with 10 seniors and 12 returning varsity players from a year ago. Our early schedule this year is pretty favorable so we will look to get off to a much better start than the 1-7 start last year. Overall this year’s team should be able to make a run in the playoffs.”
GIRLS’ HOCKEY: COACH NATHANIEL GERMOND
The Gorham/Bonny Eagle girls’ team ended last season with a record of 0-18. Key Players Returning: Sr-D Isis Adams, Sr-F Anna Rathbun, Sr-D CC Cochrane, Jr-D Anna Nault, Jr-G Izzy Wareham, and So-F Molly Rathbun. Notable Newcomer: Fr-F Brooke Guimond.
Key match-ups will be against Mt Ararat, Biddeford, Yarmouth, and Brunswick. “We are looking to reestablish ourselves as a playoff contender this season,” said Coach Germond.
The team is stacked with second and third year players and that experience should help. Isis Adams (who missed last season with a torn ACL) is back, and with returning starters CC Cochrane and Anna Nault on defense, along with third year starter Izzie Wareham in net, the girls look to have a strong run.
BOYS’ TRACK: COACH JASON TANGUAY
Key Athletes Returning: Senior Simon Roussel, jumps. Juniors: Ryan Farr, sprints and jumps; Kyle Ouillette, shot put; Isaac Rollins, sprints; Tyler Rollins, sprints; and Andrew Tinkham, distance. Sophomores: Aidan Bell, sprints and jumps; and Reed Henderson, distance.
Notable Newcomers: Sophomores: Josh Lehmann, distance. Freshmen: Andrew Farr, sprints; Calvin Cummings, distance; and Landon Bickford, sprints.
Coach Tanguay said, “Gorham graduated some talented seniors from last season, but the team has added many athletes this year. If these new additions can make positive progress this season, then our team could be competitive in the league meets. It should be exciting to watch the development of this crew.”
GIRLS’ TRACK: COACH JOHN CATERINA
The girls’ track team came in 3rd in SMAA Championship meet and 3rd in the Class A State Meet last season. Key Returning Athletes: Seniors: Lauren Barden, PV; Avery Germond, sprints, and Evelyn Kitchen, jumps. Juniors: Lydia Drew, sprints; Iris Kitchen, mid-distance; Peyton Morton, sprints; Kate Tugman, distance; and Quinn Young, jumps. Sophomore Nevaeh Moore, sprints.
Notable Newcomers: Freshmen: Alyvia Caruso, hurdles; Sydney Connolly, sprints; and Emma Green, jumps.
“Gorham returns some key scorers from last year’s 3rd place team, including Evelyn and Iris Kitchen, Kate Tugman and Lauren Barden. With some talented returning upperclassmen and a solid group of freshmen, Gorham expects to be among the top teams in both the SMAA and Class A this season,” said Coach Caterina.
SKI TEAM: COACH SEAN MUNKACSI
Coach Munkacsi said, “The early snow and cold temps will allow us to get a substantial head start training on-snow at Shawnee Peak. That in conjunction with dry land training will help racers come into the start of the season strong, flexible and focused.”
The team will be led by seniors Sarah Baxter and Maggie Munkacsi. The girls’ team looks forward to the return of the top two scorers in Estelle Ballard and Claire Munkacsi.
On the boys side, Jacob Polchies and Sam Cousins return as top scorers, and Nolan McCullough comes back after a strong late-season surge. With several other younger athletes continuing to improve, the boys’ side has the potential to turn into a very competitive group.
Coach Munkacsi would also like to give credit to the teams “ever faithful and always reliable” bus driver/assistant coach, Kenny Fickett. He added, “We are also fortunate to have racers return- ing from Massabesic and Bonny Eagle who train and race with us.”
GIRLS’ SWIMMING: COACH ADAM CYR
Last year ended with a second consecutive third place finish in the regional Southwesterns meet, followed by a second top-15 finish at the State meet. Coach Cyr said, “We are returning a lot of our top talent with our points leader, Caelyn Smith, as well as key contributors Laura Bolduc, Haley McCullough, Kasey Jiang, and Ava Pitman. This season we are hoping to continue our strong showings across the region and we have our eyes on another top-3 finish at Southwesterns.”
Cyr also shared that this senior/junior class has their eyes on another relay record in addition to some of the tougher team records set by past athletes.
The girls have a very strong freshman class highlighted by twins Allison and Caroline Bishop, who look to be top contributors to the team right away.
Cyr said, “I am excited to see if we can test ourselves against some of our biggest rivals Kennebunk and Cheverus at the Southwesterns meet.”
BOYS’ SWIMMING: COACH ADAM CYR
The boys ended last season with a lot of strong growth. “During my two previous years coaching this team, they have been small but talented.” Despite the team doubling in size last season, it was still on the smaller side. Cyr added that they worked hard and this year they look to break top 10 in Southwesterns.
“We had our biggest showing at States in my three years in the program. This year we return our top point scorer in Patrick Bishop as well as a very young core of Sophomore swimmers lead by Sam Prichard and Cody Smith,” said Cyr.
The team has yet again nearly doubled in size and the boys look forward to competing. The boys have a large group of freshmen including Evan Russo who hopes to start breaking records day one.
“This season for the boys’ team is very bright and I am excited to get started,” said Cyr.
Cheerleading information was unavailable at press time.