East tennis teams hold court at UM

Eastern Maine team tennis championships will be up for grabs on Wednesday at the University of Maine tennis courts in Orono.

The volleying begins at high noon for the big schools. In Class A boys action, Cony of Augusta faces Skowhegan. In the girls, Cony will face defending Class A regional champ Caribou.

The Class C schools hit the courts next, beginning at 2:30 p.m. Schenck of East Millinocket faces Calais for the boys title while Orono and Woodland will go at it for the girls lid.

Finally, the Class B schools wind up the day at 5 p.m. with MDI looking for a boys/girls sweep. The MDI boys will face upstart Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield, the sixth-seeded Cinderella team. The Trojan girls face archrival Ellsworth.

Ray Katsiaficas has coached basketball on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, from Mount Desert Island to England.

Finally, the Ellsworth native is returning home.

The 35-year-old Katsiaficas has been approved by the school board as the next boys basketball coach at Ellsworth High School.

Katsiaficas replaces Mike Merritt, who led the Eagles to an Eastern Maine Class B quarterfinal berth last season.

“I’ve always wanted to coach in Ellsworth, coaching in my hometown,” said Katsiaficas. “I wouldn’t have taken just any coaching job around.”

A little more than a year ago, Katsiaficas left the high school coaching ranks, resigning his position at Mount Desert Island. He said he was resigning only “for now.”

Returning home seemed natural for Katsiaficas, who played at Ellsworth and whose father, Charlie, a former Ellsworth coach, is a Maine basketball legend.

“A lot of people have mentioned it, but it wasn’t much of a factor (for taking the job),” the younger Katsiaficas said. “He was a great coach and a lot of my (basketball) philosophy, I got from my father. But it’s a good job.”

Ellsworth athletic director Jack Scott, who played for Katsiaficas’ father, expects his new coach to get the Eagles soaring once again.

“I think we had Raymond in mind the whole time,” Scott said. “It’s a good fit. He’s an Ellsworth boy. He seems to be ready to run a good summer program and reach down to the little guys, something we haven’t done for a while.”

Katsiaficas is a graduate of Springfield College and spent his early years coaching overseas in places like England, Greece, and Germany.

After returning to the United States, Katsiaficas coached at Bucksport High School for four years and MDI for six.

In his 10-year career, Katsiaficas has an 83-96 record. His 1984 Bucksport team won the Eastern Maine Class B championship.

Foxcroft Academy track star Mike Ditzel will not soon forget his Penquis League performance last Saturday in Guilford.

Ditzel, a senior, can now boast the title of fastest man in the league, winning the sprinter’s Triple Crown – the 100 in 11.3 seconds, the 200 in 23.2, and the 400 in 50.4. Ditzel also ran the lead leg of Foxcroft’s winning 4×400 relay team.

Up next for Ditzel, as well as for hundreds of other competitors, are the regional track meets, where the top six performers in each event advance to the state championship.