Though slight of build, Eliot Potvin of Hampden Academy is having a heavy impact on the Maine schoolboy tennis world this spring.

The 5-foot-8, 130-pound freshman is undefeated in singles play, and last weekend won two preliminary-round matches in the state singles tournament by shutout, 8-0 over Mike Evans of Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield and 6-0, 6-0 over Robin Daley of Mount Desert Island.

Potvin enters Saturday’s Round of 40 playdown in Lewiston as the top seed from Eastern Maine Region II, an area that ranges from Millinocket to Belfast.

“Hopefully I’m going to go out and play great tennis,” he said.

That hasn’t been much of an issue so far this year for the son of Paul and Connie Potvin, whose strength rests in his combination of quickness and versatility.

“Eliot can serve and volley, he can play on the baseline, and he’s so mechanically sound,” said Hampden Academy tennis coach John Plourde.

Potvin said he produces his best tennis “when my first-serve percentage is high and I’m hitting my forehand pretty hard. I can come to the net and take charge of the points, to work the point and try to finish it off at the net.”

While Potvin is a newcomer to high school competition, he is a veteran of tournament tennis. He picked up a racket for the first time at age 8, and by 11 was a seeded player in the New England junior rankings.

Last summer, Potvin was 10th in the New England 14-and-under ranks, and then moved up to the 16-and-under division, where he currently is ranked 12th.

“What impresses me about him is his head for the game, and his tremendous sense of confidence,” said Plourde.

Potvin’s first season of high school competition has been highlighted to date by a pair of narrow victories over Bangor standout Bryan Brown, a junior who led the Rams to the 2002 Class A team championship and reached the state singles quarterfinals the last two years.

Potvin won their first meeting 7-5, 6-4 at Bangor Indoor Tennis in Hampden, and the most recent victory was a 5-7, 7-6, 7-5 survival that stretched out over four days and two locations.

The match began Monday, May 10, at the Bangor High courts, with Potvin trailing 3-0 in the third set and Brown about to serve when rain forced the match to be suspended. Play resumed three days later at Bangor Indoor Tennis, with Potvin winning seven of the next nine games to pull out the third set and the match.

“I just figured out what I needed to do to come back at that point. I went out and tried to play more aggressively,” said Potvin, who also plays soccer at Hampden. “We have very similar styles. We’re both big servers who like to attack, or we can pound from the baseline.”

That victory, combined with wins by fellow singles players Julian Hoffman and Eric Kelmenson, sparked the Broncos to a 3-2 team victory over Bangor – the Rams’ first regular-season loss since the 2001 season.

“Bangor always has a quality program, so it was a big confidence builder for our team,” said Plourde.

Regional team quarterfinals are scheduled for June 2, but for now Potvin’s focus is on singles play this weekend – and the chance to reach the state semifinals to be held next Thursday in Portland.

“Eliot believes he can win the states as a freshman,” said Plourde. “But he also realizes if he goes down there and doesn’t have his game together, he knows he can lose in an early round.”

Rogers wins Gatorade award

The high school baseball playoffs have not yet begun, but Mount Ararat of Topsham standout Mark Rogers already has been named Maine’s 2004 Gatorade Player of the Year.

Rogers, a senior righthander, is 3-0 in four starts covering 28 innings so far this spring. He has yet to give up a run and allowed just four hits while striking out 71 batters – out of a possible 84 outs, or nearly 85 percent – and yielding seven walks.

In his most recent outing last Friday at Lawrence of Fairfield, Rogers allowed one hit and no runs in nine innings while striking out 22 and walking four.

He also is batting .580 with three triples, one home run, and 13 RBIs.

“Without question, Mark is a high school coach’s dream both as a player and a leader,” said Mount Ararat coach Craig Rogers, Mark’s father.

Also the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year in 2003, Mark Rogers already has accepted a baseball scholarship to the University of Miami, but is also expected to be a first-round selection in June’s major league amateur draft.

Rogers also captained Mount Ararat’s soccer and hockey teams as a senior, and led the Eagles’ soccer team to the 2003 Class A state championship.

He also maintains a 3.9 grade point average and is a member of the National Honor Society.

Remsen bound for N.C. State

Chris Remsen, a four-time state wrestling champion from Camden Hills High in Rockport, has firmed up his plans to study and continue his athletic career at North Carolina State University this fall.

Remsen expects to redshirt during his first year at N.C. State, a traditional wrestling power in the Atlantic Coast Conference, before competing for a spot in the Wolfpack lineup during the 2005-06 season.

“I just like the balance between academics and athletics they have there,” said Remsen, who plans to study biology at the Raleigh, N.C., campus. “It’s close to the water, it’s a Division I program and has a really good record for wrestling, and its science department has a good reputation.”

Remsen, who won the 145-pound state and New England championships this season, envisions wrestling collegiately at 157 pounds. N.C. State’s wrestlers last winter at 149 (Jake Giamoni) and 157 (Scott Garren) both qualified for the NCAA championships but graduated this month.

N.C. State is undergoing a coaching change. Bob Guzzo retired earlier this month after 30 years as the Wolfpack’s coach, a career that included 13 ACC tournament titles – including the 2003-04 season. Under his guidance, N.C. State finished in the national Top 25 12 times over the last 25 years.

Carter Jordan, a former N.C. State wrestler who has served as an assistant coach since 1997, has been named interim head coach for the 2004-05 season.

“He’s a good guy,” Remsen said. “I like him a lot.”

Gagne leaves Waterville post

Norm Gagne, who coached the Waterville High hockey team to three Class A state championships, has resigned from that post after 17 years.

The 59-year-old Gagne, who also stepped down as the Purple Panthers’ golf coach, is retiring from his job as a science teacher at Waterville High, and recently moved to Gorham.

Gagne is expected to join the coaching staff at Cheverus High School in Portland, either as head coach or as co-coach with Jack Lowry, the Stags’ head coach for the last three seasons. Cheverus officials are expected to make that decision this week.

While at Waterville, Gagne led the Purple Panthers to state championships in 1991, 1996, and 2001. Before taking the Waterville post, Gagne coached at Gardiner High for 13 years, guiding the Tigers to Class B state titles in 1981, 1983, and 1985.

He has a 511-194-15 career coaching record.

Ernie Clark may be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or eclark@bangordailynews.net