Wakana gets AD job at Caribou Dwight Hunter retiring after 41 years in the post

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In the 41 years Dwight Hunter was the athletic director at Caribou High, he must have made some impression on his students.

So much so, in fact, that one of them wanted his position.

“Ever since I was a student there,” said Dave Wakana, a 1977 Caribou graduate and an assistant principal at Caribou Middle School. “He always looked like he was having fun doing his job.”

Wakana will get the chance to find out how much fun the job is starting July 1, when Hunter is set to begin his retirement.

Wakana will give up his post at the middle school, as well as his position as the varsity boys soccer coach, which he has held for 15 years, to become the high school athletic director.

He has also coached alpine skiing, track and field, and wrestling (“They needed someone in a pinch one year,” Wakana said) at the high school, as well as middle school basketball. Wakana graduated from UMaine, where he played soccer for the Black Bears.

Wakana handled the athletic director’s duties in May 1998, when Hunter was out of school following a heart attack.

Hunter said he has a lot of confidence in his former student.

“He’s an outstanding young man,” Hunter said. “He’s familiar with everything we do here, but I’m sure he’ll have some ideas of his own.”

Hampden players Tennessee-bound

Two Hampden soccer players are heading to college this fall on soccer scholarships.

And they’re both going to attend highly competitive NAIA Division I schools in Tennessee.

Chris Walker, a fullback on the Broncos’ boys team who moved to Hampden from Manchester, England, in his junior year, will attend Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn., on a full athletic scholarship. Lee is a member of the TransSouth Conference.

Katie Lindemann, a forward who helped lead the Broncs to an undefeated regular season, is going to Milligan College, near Johnson City in northeastern Tennessee. She has a half-athletic, half-academic scholarship to the school, which is in the Appalachian Athletic Conference.

Walker has no relatives in the area and Lindemann has a few in nearby Cincinnati, Ohio. The schools are just two hours apart, so Walker and Lindemann, who are dating, will see each other when they can.

“Lee plays Milligan, just the women, so I’ll be able to watch her in that game,” Walker said.

Early this school year Lindemann said she was thinking of attending the University of Southern Maine next year.

But both Walker and Lindemann caught the eye of Lee University men’s soccer coach Henry Moyo last fall. Moyo was in the area to visit the Center of Excellence at the Maine Sports Complex in Hampden, which is run by Gary Walker, Chris’ father. Moyo took Lindemann’s name and passed it along to the Milligan coach.

Walker had a friend who had attended Lee and played soccer at the school, so he was familiar with the program.

The Eastern Maine Class A all-star and first-team PVC Class A all-star said he will likely face a lot of competition for playing time from older players on the team.

“It seems to be quite competitive,” Walker said. “I’ve been sent a 10-week program for getting in shape and lifting weights, and I had to call the coach about my progress.”

Lindemann said the Milligan coach has indicated that she could be starting for the team.

Lindemann, a second-team PVC all-star last season, went down to look at the school over Mother’s Day weekend in May.

“The campus is gorgeous and I had a chance to meet a few of the girls on the team,” she said.

Lindemann was also a PVC first-team utility player for softball this year.

Swim teams going high tech

The Maine Principals’ Association swim committee is putting the state’s high school swim teams on notice: starting in the 2003-04 season, teams will have to use a computerized scoring system for meets and state championship entries.

The MPA suggests using the Hy-Tek program, which many teams already use for computing meets, and urges schools that already use a computing program to continue doing so in the 2002-03 season.

Hy-Tek is offering discounts to member schools. Those seeking more information may contact Hy-Tek at 252-633-5111 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., by fax at 252-533-5122, or by mail at P.O. Box 12789, New Bern, N.C., 28562. E-mail the company at sales@hy-tekltd.com, or visit the Web site, www.hy-tekltd.com. To order online, go to www.hy-tekltd.com/store.

Jessica Bloch can be reached at 990-8193, 1-800-310-8600 or jbloch@bangordailynews.net.