Ron Weatherbee’s new coaching position is close to a perfect fit for him.

Weatherbee will take over as the Old Town High girls basketball coach this winter.

It’s a big change from the past nine seasons. Weatherbee was most recently the boys basketball coach at Mattanawcook Academy in Lincoln, which meant he had to hustle out of Old Town fast to get to Lincoln for workouts with the Lynx.

Weatherbee, who lives in Lincoln, teaches math at Old Town so he’ll be right at the school for practices.

“It’s working out very nicely that way,” he said.

Weatherbee coached the MA boys from 1995-2003. He had a 102-60 regular season record and seven of his teams finished in the top eight in Eastern Maine Class C Heal Points.

Last winter, the Lynx went 12-6 and lost to Dexter in the Eastern C quarterfinals.

Weatherbee replaces Greg Thibodeau, who became the Old Town athletic director this year after coaching the Indians for four seasons. The move was finalized by the school board in October.

Although he teaches at the school, Weatherbee said he didn’t know many of the girls on the basketball team. When he found out the coaching position would be open, he tried to attend some girls soccer games to get familiar with the squad.

The Indians return four starters and six players from last year’s 11-7 varsity squad but suffered a big graduation loss in Renee Thibodeau.

“Someone’s going to have to step up and replace her,” he said.

Old Town’s varsity team took part in the Bangor High summer league and the junior varsity team played in a league at Hampden.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Weatherbee said. “We’re hoping the numbers stay up. We’ll see what happens.”

Weatherbee coached the Lee Academy softball team last spring and intends to do that again in 2004.

Former Hermon coach Rick Sinclair took over the Mattanawcook coaching position this summer.

Rogers signs with Miami

It’s been a good week for Mount Ararat senior Mark Rogers.

Last Saturday, he played center-halfback as the Eagles of Topsham edged Scarborough to win the state Class A boys soccer title.

On Thursday, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound right-hander signed a national letter of intent to pitch for one of the nation’s top college baseball programs, the University of Miami, beginning next fall.

“It’s been pretty special,” said Rogers, who also considered Arizona, Stanford, Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt before formalizing his decision during a news conference at the Topsham school.

Rogers pitched Mount Ararat to its first Eastern A baseball title last spring, compiling an 11-2 record with just six earned runs allowed over 86 2/3 innings.

He attracted the attention of both college and pro scouts last summer while attending the East Coast Professional Baseball Showcase in North Carolina and the Area Code Games in California. His fastball was clocked consistently in the mid-90s, he said, with one pitch reaching 99.

Whether Rogers actually chooses to attend Miami won’t be known until next summer. He is projected to be a high-round draft pick in June’s pro draft, and already has had home visits from representatives of the San Diego Padres and Detroit Tigers.

“That will all be determined next June,” said Rogers. “Depending on where I go in the draft and what round, at that point I’ll have to make a decision.”

Hersom battles back problems

Lee Academy midfielder Kristen Hersom has had a bumpy road this fall.

Hersom, a senior on the Panda soccer team, already deals with scoliosis, which is a curvature of the spine. She was involved in two car accidents in the past couple of months, and then came down with mononucleosis.

So the fact that Hersom managed to start for Lee in its undefeated drive for the Class D state soccer championship was pretty remarkable.

Hersom wasn’t supposed to play soccer this fall, but it was hard to resist after the Pandas had fallen in two straight state title games before they beat Waynflete of Portland 4-0 last weekend.

“I shouldn’t have played today, but obviously it’s well worth it,” said Hersom, who wore a disposable heating pad on her back under her uniform. “It’s my senior year. It’s all or nothing.”

Hersom is a regular at her chiropractor’s office. Her scoliosis isn’t too bad – she has about a 30 percent curve at the top of her spine and a 26 percent at the bottom (scoliosis patients have a curvature and a compensating curvature).

She doesn’t have pain every day, but the condition doesn’t make regular activities very comfortable.

“Mostly I’ll get muscle spasms or a pinched nerve because it’s tight,” Hersom said. “It’s mostly my neck. It cracks by itself, I’ve gone [to the chiropractor] so many times.”

Hersom said she thinks she came down with mono because of the stress of the car accidents. She coughed a bit as the Pandas had their pictures taken after the state title game.

Hersom should start for Lee’s basketball team. Softball, however, is where she is most uncomfortable.

“It’s the worst because of when you hit you have to twist your body and rotate your back,” she said.