2023 Scholarship winners announced

Five incredible Maine high school student-athletes have been named winners of $5000 scholarships from the Maine Sports Hall of Fame. Each scholar, and their immediate family, will be feted at an overnight celebration at Sunday River on June 17 and 18. This year's winners are:

Julia Black of Scarborough captained Scarborough to the State Class A Soccer Championship. The Red Storm was undefeated and outscored opponents 91-3. She was named to the All New England and All State teams. She also played basketball as well as indoor and outdoor track.  She competed on two state championship winning relays (4 x 400 meters and 4 x 100 meters) on teams which qualified for the New Englands. Julia maintained a weighted 106.85 academic average and won awards as the best math student in her class as well as Scarborough's SMAA Citizen Award. She has 100 hours of community service and in summer, you can find her working at the iconic Bayley's Lobster Pound.  Julia will go to Duke.

Annabelle Brooks of Portland and Cheverus High School was the 2023 Varsity Maine Skier of the Year. She won individual state titles in both the Classical and Freestyle Pursuit races and was Maine's highest finisher in the 2023 Eastern Ski Championships held at Middlebury’s Rikert Outdoor Center. She also ran track and cross country. A member of the National Honor Society, she was ranked 4th in her class and graduated Summa Cum Laude, having won the Dartmouth Book Award and medals as the highest performing student in several of her classes. She is a fabulous musician having won many competitions and her piano performances with the Augusta and Bangor Symphony Orchestras can be enjoyed on YouTube. She is also an All State jazz vocalist as well as jazz pianist. She will ski for Harvard.

Trailing 2-0 in the State Class B Soccer Championship, the Yarmouth girls went to work. Behind Ava Feeley's three goals, the Clippers rallied for a double overtime 3-2 victory. Ava is generally considered the finest soccer player in Maine. She set scoring records at Yarmouth for single season (34) and career (71) goals. She was named All American, All New England, Maine's Player of the Year by the U.S. Coaches' Association, and a Gatorade player of the year finalist. Ava is also on the Captains' Council, the Kindness club, is a student ambassador who maintained a 4.0 GPA and graduated Magna Cum Laude, finishing her HS career with over 130 community service hours. She will play soccer at Boston College.

Isaac Hainer of Lincoln led Mattanawcook Academy to its first state wrestling championship. He was twice the state champion as an individual wrestler and was named to the Portland Press Herald All-State Team. During the four years he captained the Lynx, Isaac won 146 wrestling matches.  He was also the Little Ten Conference Player of the Year in football twice and made the all-conference team three times as he rushed for more than 5000 yards. He was captain of the baseball team and was named Penobscot Valley Conference Player of the Year. He was President of the National Honor Society and won numerous academic awards in math, science and French. He was Mattanawcook's Salutatorian with a 98.83 average. Isaac will play baseball at Clark. 

Elise MacNair averaged 27.2 points per game in this year's Class C playoffs. Particularly important were the 21 she poured in during Old Orchard Beach's 35-24 victory in the state championship, the Gulls' first ever. Elise was tourney MVP, All State, a MacDonald's All Star and a one-thousand-point scorer. She was all state in soccer as she set new single season (31 goals 13 assists 75 points) and career (57 goals 158 points) scoring records for her school.  She was President of her class for four years receiving numerous academic awards in science, math and financial literacy. She was an active community volunteer while achieving a 99.72 average and was named valedictorian. She will play basketball for Bowdoin. 

The Maine Sports Hall of Fame will induct ten on October 29 at the Merrill Auditorium. Tickets are available on this website at https://www.mshof.com/inductio...