Buehner successfully juggles sports at Lubec> Senior competes on five teams, is honor student

LUBEC – Brannin Buehner is so busy, it’s a wonder he has time to sit and talk to a visitor during his study hall Wednesday at Lubec High School.

Buehner, a senior, needs every spare minute while starring as the center on the basketball team and maintaining his high honor roll grades. Actually, the winter season is pretty light for Buehner.

Last fall, the brother of 1995 Class D girls state champion Morgen Buehner helped the Hornets win their second straight Eastern Maine Class D cross country championship and was a halfback on the Lubec soccer team. In the spring he runs on the outdoor track squad and plays in the outfield for the baseball team.

It’s common in small schools for a student-athletes to play more than one, two or three sports. Buehner’s cross country and basketball teammates include Ryan McGonigal, Barrett Laskey and his younger brother Noah Buehner (who played golf instead of soccer in the fall).

But how does Buehner find time for five sports (six last season if you count attending both junior varsity and varsity basketball practices as a swing player), honor roll grades, applying to college, and other extracurricular activities such as the National Honor Society and the French club?

“I’ve got study hall during the day and I try to get rid of most of my work there,” Buehner said, laying out his regular study plan. “I use my weekends to spend time doing a report, trying to get stuff done earlier. It’s nice to try to do that but sometimes I’m up kinda late typing reports. I’ve always had to keep my grades up or I couldn’t play, so my grades have been my driving force.”

Things might be different if he was at a bigger school, Buehner said.

“I’d focus on a key sport and I don’t think I’d double up during the season,” he said. “But we don’t have a big pool to take people from and it’s hard to field a soccer or baseball team. It’s just a lot of fun being out there with my friends.”

Buehner, who lives in Trescott, tries to make all the practices, although there is some overlap in the fall and spring. But he said the coaches have been accommodating.

Buehner is a two-time Maine Track and Cross Country Coaches Association Class D all-state selection and wants to run at the University of Maine or a Division II or III school like UMaine-Farmington, Unity College, the University of New England in Biddeford, or Wheaton College in Massachusetts.

This basketball season the 6-footer moved from point guard to center, but cross country, baseball and basketball coach Greg Maker said Buehner, who averages 12 points and 10 rebounds per game, has been working hard to make the transition.

“We needed him underneath this year and he chose to go to a big man’s camp in Vermont last summer,” Maker said. “He really learned a lot from that. His knowledge of playing underneath and getting him adjusted to that has gone very well, although it’s difficult to go from point guard to underneath. His rebounding has gotten better and his foul shooting has improved tremendously.”

Maker said he’s amazed by how much Buehner can cram into his schedule. Last spring, Maker said, Buehner was in Quebec with the French club but had a track meet at Orono during the trip. So Buehner’s father drove from Lubec to Quebec, picked up Buehner, and drove him to Orono.

“That’s how dedicated he is to his sports and his education,” Maker said. “That’s just one example of the dedication that he has. He’s one of those kids that you can’t say enough about… he has a very positive influence in the school.”

The Hornets have a 2-6 record, but don’t count them out quite yet. Last season Lubec was 6-6 at one point during the season but finished with a 10-8 mark and earned a berth in a preliminary game against Wisdom of St. Agatha. The Pioneers won by the prelim by two points.

“It’s kind of a building year,” Buehner said. “We’re definitely not out of it. We’ve played a couple of good Class C teams already and I think we have time to get some more wins. I think we can pull it together.”

Maker steps down as AD at Lubec

Buehner isn’t the only busy person at Lubec High. Maker, who served as athletic director for four years in addition to teaching math, coaching three sports and broadcasting basketball games on the radio, resigned from the AD position Jan. 3.

Maker said with all of his responsibilites, he just didn’t have time to be the AD. But he’s pleased with what he accomplished in his tenure, including an after-school tutoring program for athletes whose grades have fallen below a C average, a rule that athletes must pass all subjects, the acquisition of two new scoreboards, new uniforms and a new stereo system for the gymnasium.

“I’m proud of all those accomplishments and I think the kids are starting to feel better about themselves, and I think the dedication they put in has helped the whole program in general,” he said. “It’s starting to show with championships and tournament teams.”

Maker said the opening has been announced internally and the school plans to advertise the position next week. He will continue to assist the school until a replacement is hired.