North Yarmouth Academy Panthers Fall Athletes of the Year

MADDY PROKOPIUS, Senior – Golf

Contributed photo

• Class C girls’ individual state champion
* WMC All-star
* WMC All-Academic
* Coaches Award winner
* Captain

Prokopius capped her stellar NYA golf career by winning the biggest individual prize in Class C, the girls’ individual state title.

Prokopius joined the Panthers as a freshman and started all four years. She qualified for states all four seasons as well and after placing fourth as a freshman, fifth as a sophomore and finishing as the Class C girls’ runner-up as a junior, looked to take the final step this season.

Which she did.

Prokopius shot an 18-hole round of 88 and edged off Kents Hills’ Amelie Zachrisson and Monmouth’s Reese Beaudoin by one shot to capture the trophy.

“I’ve qualified since freshman year and I’ve blown it in the past,” Prokopius said. “This is a nice way to wrap up my senior year.”

Maddy Prokopius, NYA’s Fall Athlete of the Year, kept knocking at the championship door and this season, she kicked it in. Now that’s the way to cap your career.

Coach Charlie Hudson’s comment: “From freshman year, Maddy has shown outstanding golf skills. Competing with and against talented male golfers, she has always shown determination and maturity. In particular, her ability to stay focused when facing setbacks has been a key to her success. Respected by her teammates, she has ably filled the role of team co-captain during both her junior and senior years.”

Contributed photo

Prior winners:

• 2022 Angel Huntsman (soccer)
* 2021 Angel Huntsman (soccer)
* 2020 Naomi Reischmann (soccer)
• 2019 Serena Mower (soccer)
• 2018 Serena Mower (soccer)
• 2017 Jordan Ackerman (volleyball)
• 2016 Savannah Shaw (field hockey)
• 2015 Linnea Hull (field hockey)
• 2014 Elizabeth Coughlin (field hockey)
• 2013 Kayla Rose (field hockey)
• 2012 Jen Brown (field hockey)
• 2011 Katherine Millett (field hockey)
• 2010 Katherine Millett (field hockey)
• 2009 Courtney Dumont (soccer)
• 2008 Nicole Fuller (field hockey)
• 2007 Allie Tocci (field hockey)
• 2006 Alex Mack (soccer)
• 2005 Zoe Filliter (cross country)
• 2004 Elizabeth Werley-Prieto (field hockey)
• 2003 Abby Hamilton (field hockey)
• 2002 Rachael Blanchard (cross country)
• 2001 Kelsey Wilcox (soccer)

CHRIS NOREIKA, Junior – Cross country

Contributed photo

Noreika knows when to have a good time with his teammates and when it’s time to get down to business and this fall, business was good for Noreika on the trails, as he emerged as NYA’s top runner and made it to the state meet as an individual.

In 2022, Noreika made it to the Class C state meet as an individual and had the 55th-best time.

This fall, he impressed and improved throughout.

At the Festival of Champions race, Noreika had a time of 20 minutes, 11.78 seconds. At the conference championship meet, Noreika led the Panthers with a time of 21:53. At regionals, he improved his time to 19:50.06 and helped NYA come in eighth in Class C South, but only seven teams qualified for states. Noreika managed to get there as an individual and was a minute better, posting a time of 18:49.4.

“Chris gets a lot of satisfaction from getting better and he has a good internal sense of what doing a good job means,” said Panthers coach Peter Sillin. “He never shies away from a tough workout and that’s an approach that wears off on the rest of the team. You could really see that ‘get down to business’ look in his eye when it came to regionals and states. Those were tough races and for Chris to turn in those kind of performances really made an impression on the rest of the guys. They always liked him and knew that he was probably the best runner on the team, but in those two weeks you could see the level of respect for Chris as a gutsy runner really reaching the next level.”

Noreika, who also runs distance events in track, still has another year to impress in cross country and figures to continue climbing up the standings.

That’s because Chris Noreika, NYA’s Fall Athlete of the Year, knows what it takes to be his best and he brings the best out of his teammates in the process.

Coach Peter Sillin’s comment: “Chris is a terrific guy, very smart and always at the center of the chatter and laughter on the team. He’s reserved at first impression, but around his friends he’s constantly cracking up and very relaxed. Chris is highly respected on the team because even in a smart bunch, he is accomplished. He’s a talented musician, he gets great grades in tough classes at school, he recently won an award for a history documentary film he produced for the Yarmouth Historical Society and of course, he’s the fastest guy on the team. Even though he’s often relaxed, he takes his improvement seriously.”

Contributed photo

Prior winners:

• 2022 Rodgers Crowley (soccer)
* 2021 Michael Belleau (soccer)
* 2020 Chris Hamblett (cross country)
• 2019 Chris Hamblett (cross country)
• 2018 Xander Kostelnik (soccer)
• 2017 Ryan Baker (soccer)
• 2016 Jeremy Thelven (soccer)
• 2015 Thomas Pitts (soccer)
• 2014 D.J. Nicholas (soccer)
• 2013 Jackson Cohan-Smith (soccer)
• 2012 Matt Malcom (cross country)
• 2011 Cam Regan (cross country)
• 2010 Cam Regan (cross country)
• 2009 Tim Millett (golf)
• 2008 Henry Sterling (soccer)
• 2007 Taylor Gorman (soccer)
• 2006 James Sterling (golf)
• 2005 Sean Lynch (soccer)
• 2004 Nathaniel Bishop (soccer)
• 2003 Luke Welch (soccer)
• 2002 Sam Crocker (cross country)
• 2001 Colin Minte (soccer)