Time to vote for the sports story of year NEWS, WZON team up for 7th polling

The Bangor Daily News has teamed up with Bangor radio station WZON (620 AM) for their seventh WZON/Bangor Daily News Maine Sports Story of the Year.

Votes may be cast by visiting Web sites: bangornews.com or zoneradio.com. The results will be published in the Bangor Daily News on Jan. 1 and aired by WZON.

Here are the seven candidates, which are not listed in any order of preference.

. The University of Maine hockey team rallies in the NCAA playoffs and again advances to the national championship game where it is beaten by Denver.

. Mount Ararat high school pitcher Mark Rogers becomes the highest drafted high school athlete ever from Maine, signing a $2 million contract with the Milwaukee Brewers.

. Portland’s Ian Crocker wins gold, silver and bronze medals in swimming during the Athens Summer Olympics, becoming Maine’s most-decorated Olympian.

. The University of Maine football team scores its first-ever victory over a Division I-A opponent, defeating Mississippi State in the heart of SEC country.

. Newburgh race car driver Ricky Craven decides to step out of his Nextel NASCAR ride with PPI Motorsports and moves to the NASCAR Truck Series with Rousch Racing.

. Portland’s Nova Seafood baseball team wins the American Legion national baseball championship.

. The Maine Principals’ Association votes for sweeping changes in the high school basketball tournament for 2006. The Class A tourney will be played during the February school vacation week while the Eastern A tourney moves from Bangor to Augusta and Western B from Augusta to Portland.