TOPSHAM

The Mt. Ararat High School girls basketball team lost four starters and a key reserve from last year’s 15-3 squad, so coach Kelly LaFountain has a rebuilding job to do, while Mt. Ararat boys basketball coach Aaron Watson hopes to build on last year’s quarterfinal appearance at the Augusta Civic Center.

In wrestling, coach Erick Jensen has a solid group of grapplers, while Mike Bishop’s boys hockey squad has a home heavy early schedule (four of first five games at Sidney J. Watson Arena).

Also, swimming and indoor track starts this week for the Eagles.

Boys basketball

Coach — Aaron Watson.

2012 highlights — 7-11 in Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference. Beat Oxford Hills 53-52 in Eastern A prelim; lost to Hampden 78-35 in quarterfinals.

Personnel lost — Jason Tome, Zach Greene, Tyler Roberts, Alex Lapierre.

Personnel returning — Seniors Jake Demosthenes (G), Jordan Castonguay (G); juniors Mason Griffin (F), Kevin Carter (F), Mike Crawford (F); sophomore Shyheim Ulrickson (G)

Newcomers — Seniors Joe Thomas (F), Zach Curtis (F); juniors Avery Desjardins (G), Liam Brannigan (G); sophomores Alex LaFountain (F), Zach Garvey (F), Harper Moutal (G).

Coach’s comments — “Our kids are going to work very hard to put themselves in position to win games. As usual, we are not predicted to do much, and that is just fine. We don’t put a ton of stock in preseason polls, as most people haven’t seen us play and base their decision on the previous year’s talent.

“Our kids are close. We spend a lot of time together off the court, and I feel that goes a long way toward team cohesion and unity. Every day at practice is fun because the kids work hard and challenge themselves. They are hard workers and get the most out of themselves each practice and in each game.

“Things to work on for us include team defense, rotations and creating pressure, along with finishing strong at the rim and defensive rebounding. We have a talented, young team. Shy (Ulrickson) should be able to be among the top scorers in the league, and we will see who will step up and fill the other roles on our team.

“The league is going to be tough this year. Every game is going to be a challenge with nothing coming easy. But, don’t be surprised if you see a team that’s not on that list making a tourney run.”

Season opener — Dec. 6 (at Messalonskee).

Key dates — Dec. 21 (at Lewiston), Jan. 11 (at Brunswick), Jan. 17 (at Hampden), Feb. 6 (H, Brunswick).

Girls basketball

Coach — Kelly LaFountain.

2012 highlights — 15-3 in KVAC, earning third seed in Eastern Class A. Beat Oxford Hills 51-47 in quarterfinals, lost to No. 2 Bangor 56-44 in semifinals.

Personnel lost — Mallory Nelson, Micaela Mitchell, Kristi Willey, Chelsea Crawford, Olivia Swan.

Personnel returning — Seniors Caitlin LaFountain (F/G, team’s second leading rebounder last year with 8.2 board per game, along with 13.8 points), Libby Davis (F); juniors Katie Labbay (G), Lindsey Cornelison (F), Allison Melcher (F); sophomore Sara Lamb (G).

Newcomers — Sophomore Erin Tome; freshmen Nikki Bradstreet, Katelyn Cox, Kate Guerin, Lauren Labbay.

Coach’s comments — “I really like the energy this group of girls brings to practice every day. They are so eager to learn, improve their skills and are very hungry to experience success at the varsity level. They are a very hard-working group and really seem to like being around each other.

“I am really looking forward to watching this group improve as they get used to playing at the varsity level.

“We have to work on all aspects of the game this year. We lost some top players last year (four starters) who had a lot of experience. That can be hard to replace with such a young and inexperienced group. However, I really believe this group is up to the challenge and will do their very best to make their own marks on our program.

“Our schedule has changed a little from last year. Most notably is we get to play everyone in our league at least once. I like the opportunity to see all the teams to get a good feel for how we stack up with them by the end of the season. I feel Lawrence, Edward Little and Bangor are the top teams to beat. With that being said, the last few seasons have seen a lot more parody and I expect to see more again this year with a lot of the teams.”

Season opener — Dec. 6 (H, Messalonskee).

Key dates — Dec. 17 (at Cony), Dec. 27 (H, Edward Little), Jan. 11 (at Brunswick), Feb, 6 (H, Brunswick).

Wrestling

Coach — Erick Jensen.

2012 highlights — Finished 15th in State Class A with Damian Grubb fourth at 106 and Jacob Kenney fourth at 113. Took sixth in KVACs with Kenney second at 113, Felipe Gunter second at 145, Grubb fourth at 106 and Danny Ewing fourth at 152. Brunswick’s Jared Jensen, who practiced with the Eagles, took first in the states at 170 and first in KVACs (160) where he was Voted “Outstanding Wrestler.”

Personnel lost — Danny Ewing (152), Felipe Gunter (145), Jacob Kenney (113), Chad Pine (220), Kendal Hester (145), March Pendexter (285).

Personnel returning — Seniors Brandon Jusseaume (182, 28-15), Levi Yeaton (138, 145, 3-7); juniors Pierce Knorr (285, 32-19), Emory Hudson (138, 16-29), Adam Ewing (145/152, 18-26), Colin Blake (132, 6-24), George Berry (126, 10-20); sophomores Damian Grubb (120, 33-12, regional champion and fourth in states), Scott Smith (120/126, 19-11), John Hetherman (160, 14-18).

Newcomers — Juniors Jason Black (182,195), Nate Brewer (195); freshmen Christian Jensen (106) of Brunswick, Charats Burch (113) of Brunswick and Christian Chappetta (138), Mathew Ducatt (138), Robert Hetherman (145, 152), Justin Milne (132), Ethan Minchin (132), Dylan Schenk (160, 170), Aaron Thurlow (195), Madison Yeaton (manager).

Coach’s comments — “We are very young, about 70 percent of our starters will be freshman and sophomores. We have good numbers with seven-eight strong freshman coming in. There is terrific positive energy from these young kids that feeds the entire team. We will have more total numbers than we have had for several years.

“We are young so getting them prepared for high school varsity wrestling will be the focus up front. We hit several really tough teams and tournaments early on so they will be thrown into the fire. This will be good for them in the long run, facing the tough competition early will prepare them for the January grind and prepare them for the conference, regional and state tournaments.

Season opener — Nov. 30 (Westlake Tournament in Bath, finished sixth out of 15 teams).

Key dates — Dec. 27-28 (Noble Tournament), Feb. 1 (hosting KVAC Championships), Feb. 8 (Eastern Maine Class A Regional at Mt. Ararat).

Boys ice hockey

Coach — Mike Bishop.

2012 highlights — 7-11 in Eastern A, no postseason.

Personnel lost — Frontliners Eric Stuckey, Evan Tone and Allan Leech, goaltender Zach O’Connor; and Lisbon’s Shane Cyr and Logan McGuire

Personnel returning — Seniors Bru Abreu (D), Jason Kenney (F), Sean Bolduc (F), Brett Gravel (F); juniors Ben Bishop (F), Kyle Lussier (F), Nate Harley (F), Tyler O’Connor (D); sophomores Shane Pennell (F), Austin Fournier (F), Andrew Gardiner (D).

Newcomers — Freshmen Riley Austin (D), Mark Abreu (F), Tyler Halls (D), Orion Sargent (D), Steve Schuman (F), Brady Boulet (F), Kyle Welsh (GK)

Coach’s comments — “I think we have three very good defenders and our first line of Bishop, Lussier and Mark Abreu will be very good.

“We just have to show some patience around the net. Last year we didn’t do that. Defensively I think we can be very good … we just have to be a little more opportunistic. With our schedule — we’re not playing the Lewistons and the St. Dom’s — we should be able to score more.

“Welsh has looked very good, and although we lost a good one in O’Connor, I think Welsh can step right in and not miss a beat.

“We had 26 kids come out and six or seven are going to play some jayvee games for us. The Boosters are funding around a dozen games. So they won’t be practicing all the time and not getting into any games.

Season opener — Dec. 7 (H, Lawrence).

Key dates — Jan. 8 (at Brunswick), Jan. 16 (H, Brunswick), Feb.. 8 (H, Edward Little).

Swimming

Coach — Tracy Doviak.

2012 highlights — The Eagle girls took fourth in the KVAC meet, with the boys in sixth. Celia Ouellette set a record in the 50 free (24.02) and also won the 100 free. Ouellette shined again at the State Class A meet, setting another record (50 free, 23.84) and also winning the 100 free, leading Mt. Ararat to an eighth-place showing.

Personnel lost — Celia Ouellette, Hannah Kincaid, Kasey Gerencer, Sam Ashouwak, Trent Charnock.

Personnel returning — Seniors Ben Wade, Devin Monteiro, Eric Knight, Griffin Stockford, Brittani Littleford, Fallon Fitzpatrick.

Newcomers — Seniors Zack Miller, Renee Rosignol, Alicia Caterina.

Coach’s comments — “Nearly half of our team consists of new swimmers, and we are excited to have them on board. This year’s boys have bulked up to 15 members, and we have 25 female swimmers.

“Although we have many new members this year, we feel there will be some wonderful successes this year. Our team is excited to start the season and right from the start have been putting their best efforts in at our practices.”

Season opener — Dec. 6 (at Lewiston).

Key dates — Jan. 3 (H, Morse), Jan, 14 (at Brunswick), Feb. 8 (KVAC Championships at Bath YMCA).

Indoor track

Coach — Diane Fournier.

2012 highlights — The Mt. Ararat boys finished 16th at the State Class A meet, with Andrew McCracken the top Eagle finisher in sixth-place in the pole vault.

Personnel lost — Lizzie Swanholm, Maddison Prescott, Lizzie O’Neal, Kelsey Kramer, Greg Wallace, Ryan Smith, Kevin Nolan, Ryan Moody, Will Hirnak, Tommy Goodwin, Steven Fisher, Lukas Frenzel, Parit Chancherngoanich, Danny Catlin, Colton Burne.

Personnel returning — Seniors Isaac Bradshaw (800, 400), Dominic Burich (shot put), Emma Chase (sprints, relays), Emmie Cox (relays, 800, mile), Dakota D’Orio (shot put), Tessa Ekelund (relays, distance), Ellison Etnier (sprints, relays), Zach Evans (sprints, relays, jumps), Katie Frizzle (shot put), Sam Kebbie (relays, distance), Reilly Kons (shot put), Kelly Lynch (relays, 800, mile), Shea Nelson (relays, distance), Meaghan O’Leary (sprints, relays, high jump), Jake Papa (relays, distance), Justin Pierce (400, 800, high jump, relays), Mike Potvin (shot put), Nick Rancourt (sprints, relays), Cristian Robles (shot put), Nick Rogers (sprints, relays), Nicole Ross (200, 400, relays, long jump), Amy Segars (relays, distance), Deshaun Ulrickson (sprints, relays), Ty Veno (sprints, relays, long jump); juniors Allison Allisot (shot put), Hannah Cooper (sprints, relays, jumps), Charlie Crosby (sprints, relays, long jump, triple jump), Devon Drew (high jump, pole vault, sprints, relays), Emma Etnier (sprints, relays), Matt Gott (relays, distance), Lauren Grant (sprints, relays, triple jump), Steven Johnson (relays, distance), Andrew McCracken (high jump, pole vault, relays), Dan Pelletier (relays, 400, 800), Alyssa Scannevin (sprints, relays); sophomores Maddie Alexander (high jump, sprints, relays), Summer Becker (sprints, relays, jumps), Max Bodmer (high jump, sprints, relays), Nick Breed (sprints, relays), Meghan Caouette (shot put, relays), Jordan Chase (high jump, sprints, relays), Eric French (relays, distance), William Goller (high jump, sprints, pole vault, relays), Summer Gray (high jump, 400, 200, relays), Evangeline Jerome (sprints, relays, long jump, triple jump), Brianna Murphy (sprints, relays), Sara Napolean (200, 400, high jump, relays), Angel Ortiz (sprints, relays), Tabbi Parr (sprints, relays), Joey Reed (sprints, relays), Madison Robert (sprints, relays), Kelton Rose (shot put), Daphenie Thenor (sprints, relays), Evan Thibeault (sprints, pole vault, high jump, relays), Griffin Thurston (sprints, relays, pole vault), Eddie Van Note (relays, distance).

Newcomers — Freshmen Chris Cooper (relays, distance), Haley Frizzle (shot put, sprints), James Hutchinson (sprints, relays), Keri Lachapelle (sprints, relays), Kathleen MacDonald (sprints, relays, jumps), Lindsey Papa (sprints, relays, distance), Andy Stratton (sprints, relays), Magan Thomas-Copland (sprints, relays), Jacob Tobias (shot put), Alana Weaver (sprints, relays).

Coach’s comments — “We have a good number of returning athletes out and some new and young ones. We are making the kids do the drills with correct technique and not letting them go through the motions. We are doing without (coach) Stu Palmer this season, who is teaching in Puerto Rico. He will be missed.

“We will have to be creative, as coaches, to keep the kids motivated and sharp for the big meets. We are at the thankful grace of Bowdoin College, and this is an unusual year where they have a lot of home hockey, track and swim meets. Our schedule is going to be interesting to work with.

“For Class A, it is really hard to say which teams will be good. Brunswick for sure, and perhaps Messalonskee and Lewiston.”

Season opener — Dec. 7 (hosting several KVAC teams at Bowdoin College).

Key dates — Feb. 8 (KVAC Championships at Bowdoin College), Feb. 17 (State Class A Championships at USM).