Maine PBS teams with WABI for power play Saturday Bears game would air on five stations

If the University of Maine men’s hockey team is able to defeat Minnesota in tonight’s NCAA Tournament East Regional game, Maine Public Broadcasting Service will join WABI-TV (Channel 5) of Bangor in broadcasting the Black Bears’ Saturday game against Boston College.

Maine PBS announced Thursday it will carry the 8:30 p.m. contest live on four of its five stations if UMaine advances. The network is partnering with WABI to provide statewide coverage of the game.

Channel 5 will broadcast the game in the Bangor, Augusta, Millinocket, and Calais areas. Maine PBS will carry the contest on WMEM-TV (Channel 10) in Presque Isle, WMED-TV (Ch. 13) in Calais, WCBB-TV (Ch. 10) in Lewiston, and WMEA-TV (Ch. 26) in Biddeford.

Steve Hiltz, the program director at WABI, said his station’s bid to broadcast both games was made in conjunction with Maine PBS, which also agreed to commit resources if Maine plays Saturday.

“It was a combined market bid so that the NCAA would give us greater consideration. One of the things [the NCAA] considered was your [audience] reach,” Hiltz said.

Maine PBS has statewide reach and likely made the bid more attractive. Hiltz explained Maine PBS apparently didn’t want to air the Friday game because of the popularity of its own prime time programming.

If Maine plays Saturday, Maine PBS will receive its own satellite feed. During 30-second commercial breaks, it will air a live camera and audio feed from the game.

At the intermission breaks, the network is expected to conduct fundraising activities.

Hiltz is pleased about the level of cooperation between WABI and other Maine broadcast outlets.

“We try to be creative about it and step out of the box once in a while,” Hiltz said. “Sometimes people are a little reluctant to set precedents when dealing with the competition, but we think there are things that are in the mutual public interest that make it worth doing.”

Maine scholar-athletes honored

Danielle Burke, Martin Kariya, and Vanessa McGowan of the University of Maine and Peggy Ficks of Bates College in Lewiston have been named to the Verizon Academic All-District first team.

They are now eligible for national recognition.

Burke, a graduate student from Canaan who played goalie for the Black Bears field hockey team, has a 3.80 grade point average in communications. She made 111 saves in 16 games and posted a 2.12 goals-against average and a .776 save percentage last fall.

Burke is a former winner of UMaine’s Dean Smith Award, which is presented to a senior exhibiting exemplary academic achievement, leadership, and character.

Kariya, a sophomore mathematics major from North Vancouver, British Columbia, is a forward on the men’s hockey team. He boasts a 3.75 GPA and leads UMaine in scoring with 12 goals and 21 assists this season.

McGowan, of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, is a graduate student in zoology who owns a 4.0 GPA. She led the Bears’ women’s cross country team last fall with the team’s best finish at the NCAA Regional.

McGowan also has received the Dean Smith Award and the Outstanding International Student Award.

Ficks, a senior field hockey player from Washington, Conn., has a 3.92 GPA in English.

Colby’s Feldman All-American

Diver Steve Feldman of Colby College in Waterville earned All-America status while Jonathan Eck and Nick Walendziak were accorded All-America honorable mention for their efforts during the recent NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships held in Buffalo, N.Y.

Feldman, a senior from Needham, Mass., set a White Mules record with a score of 399.35 points while finishing seventh in the three-meter diving competition. He was 21st in the one-meter event to help the Colby men finish 30th.

Walendziak, a freshman from Norcross, Ga., finished 12th in the 50 freestyle and was 14th in both the 100 breaststroke and the 100 free, earning him honorable mention.

Eck, a sophomore from Lake Bluff, Ill., placed 12th in the 100 breaststroke and 19th in the 200 breaststroke, setting Colby marks of 58.27 and 2:08.23, respectively. He also was 19th in the 200 individual medley.