ROCKLAND — The Midcoast Sports Hall of Fame inducted eight Saturday, Oct. 26, at the Rockland Elks Lodge.  Inducted were Dan Flanagan, Kevin Jenkins, Terry Kenniston, Doug Libby, Mike MacDonald, Richard Simonds, Susan Ware Page and Walter White.

The Hall of Fame ceremony had its largest turnout in the eight year history of the organization, according to secretary/treasurer Dave Ames. 

Flanagan is an outstanding golfer, having won numerous club championships and for six years in a row was part of a foursome that captured the State Four Ball Championship.  Flanagan began coaching basketball in the 1960s and for five decades has coached Pee Wee teams at the Rockland Recreation Center, while also coaching a number of middle school, freshman and junior varsity girls teams for Rockland middle and high schools.

Jenkins was a standout three-sport star at Georges Valley High School in the early 1970s, and averaged over 20 points a game during his senior season.  Jenkins played college ball for the University of Southern Maine where he scored more than 1,100 points and help lead the Huskies to the 1978 and 1979 National NAIA Tournaments.  Jenkins coached Varsity Basketball at Gorham High School for 24 years and led the Rams to the Western Maine Tournament all 24 years, including winning the Gold Ball in 1996 and 2000.

Kenniston is one of the finest athletes to graduate from Rockland District High School where he was a four-year varsity football, basketball and baseball starter, being named the team MVP and an All Conference selection at least once for each sport.  Kenniston was the first 1,000 point scorer in Rockland High history and played freshman basketball at the University of Maine.  Kenniston coached high school basketball for several years at MCI Prep, Mt. Blue, Rockland and Belfast, where he is currently the school’s athletic administrator.

Libby was a graduate of Sanford High School where he played football and excelled in wrestling, winning three individual state championships and a New England Championship. Libby later tried out for the U.S. Olympic Wrestling team and attended the University of Maine in Presque Isle.  Libby taught and coached at Medomak Valley High School where he coached the Panthers wrestling program for 29 seasons, winning more than 300 meets and leading Medomak Valley to the 1991 State Championship.  In 2001, Libby was inducted into the Maine Amateur Alliance Hall of Fame.

MacDonald was a standout three-sport athlete at Camden Rockport High School, where he was part of the Windjammers 1999 State Championship basketball team.  But it was on the diamond where MacDonald excelled and he was a four year starting pitcher at the University of Maine, helping to lead Maine to the 2002 America East Championship and the NCAA Tournament.  After graduating from Maine, MacDonald was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays and pitched five seasons in the Jays system, winning 13 games in 2006 for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the same year he was selected to play in the Eastern League All Star Game.

Simonds was a 1967 graduate of Waldoboro High School where he played basketball and baseball and ran cross country for the Blue Jays.  Simonds was also a member of the 1964 Waldoboro Babe Ruth team that won the Maine State Championship.  Simonds then attended the University of Southern Maine where he played both basketball and baseball for the Huskies, but he is best known as the longtime basketball coach at St. Joseph’s College in Standish, where he won 466 games for the Monks and 11 conference titles.  Six of Simonds’ teams qualified for National Post Season Tournaments, and he also served as St. Joe’s AD for 23 years and in 2010 he was inducted into St. Joe’s Hall of Fame.

Ware played basketball for the Rockland Tigers, helping lead the team to the 1994 Eastern Maine Championship game and the 94-95 Rockland squad was undefeated when a knee injury ended her season and the Tigers’ title hopes. Ware attended the University of Southern Maine and played for Coach Gary Fifield, where the Huskies went 104-11 during that four-year span including playing in the 1998 Division III National Championship Game.  Ware averaged 7.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game during that season and ended her USM career with 659 points and 521 rebounds.

White was a standout athlete at Vinalhaven High School from 1954-1958 where he ran cross country and played baseball and basketball, leading the Vikings in scoring both his junior and senior year.  White coached high school basketball at Vinalhaven and Lincoln Academy, as well coaching track for a number of years at Lincoln.  White has also been a long time game official, referring basketball for over 36 years and baseball and softball for 37 years, including working in three high school state championship baseball games.

The Male and Female High School Athlete’s of the Year were also named Saturday night with Nick Mazurek (Oceanside) winning for the boys and Brooke Dugan (Oceanside/Wheaton College) for the girls.

The five nominated male student athletes include Connor Graffam of Camden Hills, James Matel of Lincoln Academy, Nick Mazurek of Oceanside, Ben Trapani of Camden Hills and Micah Williamson of Medomak Valley, while the five nominated female student athletes include Brittany Bowman of Camden Hills, Brooke Dugan of Oceanside, Abby Hersom of Oceanside, Rebekah Hilt of Camden Hills and Bailey Plourde of Lincoln Academy.

Mazurek excelled in golf, basketball and baseball for the Mariners. As one of the top local golfers, Mazurek was selected to the All-State Boys Golf team and qualified for the New England High School Golf Championship and finished 18th overall. On the baseball diamond, Mazurek was the KVAC Player of the Year and for a second straight year, he played in the Maine High School Underclassmen Baseball All-Star game.

Dugan was a standout field hockey, basketball and softball player for the Mariners and helped lead each squad to the Eastern Maine playoffs. Dugan excelled on the softball team where she was part of the 2013 State Championship team while being selected second team All-Conference. During her senior year, Dugan was named team MVP, first team All-Conference and KVAC Player of the Year.

Don Shields contributed to this story

Ron Hawkes can be reached at hawkesnews@gmail.com