BELFAST – As he began running faster and faster times early in his high school track and cross country career, Levi Miller began to think he might be able to compete at the Division I college level one day.

Next fall, that day will arrive for the Belfast High senior.

Miller, the reigning Class B cross country state champion, has verbally committed to accept a scholarship offer from Georgetown University and will join the Hoyas’ highly regarded cross country and track programs. He is scheduled to sign a National Letter of Intent next week to formalize his commitment to the Washington, D.C., school.

The 18-year-old Miller selected Georgetown after also considering Maryland, Northern Arizona, Brown and William & Mary.

“I took some official visits, and when I went to Georgetown it just really clicked,” said Miller. “Everything about it clicked, the chance to get a great education, a great coach and being part of a really strong Division I program.”

The 5-foot-11, 145-pound Miller has had a distinguished high school running career for the Lions under coaches Jo-Anne and Dale Nealey. He won the 2004 individual Class B cross country title on his home course at the Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast, then followed that up by placing second at the New England championships and 17th at the Foot Locker Cross Country Northeast Regional.

Last spring, he finished second to Ben True of Greely of Cumberland Center – a high school All-American now running at Dartmouth – in the 1,600 and 3,200 meter races at the Class B outdoor track state meet by a combined 3.73 seconds, with his second-place finishes helping Belfast win the team title. He went on to place fourth at the New Englands in the 3,200.

Miller also won the 2004 Class B indoor championship in the two-mile, and placed second to True at the 2003 Class B cross country state championships.

He will be greeted by a familiar face when he arrives on the Georgetown campus. Brandon Bonsey of Falmouth, the current Maine Class C record holder outdoors in the 1,600 (4:18.51) and a former state champ outdoors in the 800 and 1,600 and indoors in the 800 and the mile, is redshirting as a freshman at Georgetown while recovering from a pair of stress fractures.

“We started competing in [USA Track and Field] national meets together when I was about 11 years old, and we really became good friends,” Miller said. “He’s at Georgetown now, and he really likes it there. He also gave me a look at the program from the inside, and told me how the team is really tight, and how [Hoyas’ distance] coach [Pat] Henner is a great guy.

“It’s just a great program for me to be part of.”

Miller didn’t compete in indoor track this winter, opting instead to prepare for the outdoor season and his bid to break the Class B state records in the 1,600 and 3,200. True holds the current 3,200 mark (9:19.34 set in 2003), while Caribou’s Jeff Alden set the current Class B 1,600 standard of 4:17.12 in 2002.

Miller already has topped the 3,200 record, running a 9:12.53 at last year’s New Englands, and he aspires to be the first Maine schoolboy runner to run the 3,200 in less than nine minutes.

When he joins the Georgetown program, Miller expects to focus on longer distances, such as the 5,000 and 10,000 in track. College cross country races typically are 10,000 meters.

“I’m more of distance guy, I think, so that should be good for me,” Miller said.

Miller also said he should benefit from an increased emphasis on strength training once he enters the college ranks.

“It’s going to be tough,” said Miller. “I’ll need to step it up a lot if I’m going to make the Georgetown varsity as a freshman.

“But I feel like there’s a lot of room to improve, and I’m just looking forward to having the chance.”

Forgues earns Pan Am berth

Lauren Forgues, a junior from Boothbay High, has earned a berth on the U.S. Pan American Cup race walk team.

Forgues earned her berth by earning the bronze medal at the recent U.S. team trials, walking the 10-kilometer race amid variable winds and cold temperatures in a personal-best time for the distance of 55 minutes, 20 seconds. That placed her third in the field of 17 walkers ages 14-19 from throughout North America.

Before qualifying for the Pan American Cup, which will be contested later this spring in Peru, Forgues earned All-American honors with a fourth-place finish at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships at the New York Armory.

Lancisi takes Ponies reins

Paul Lancisi is the new baseball coach at Foxcroft Academy.

Lancisi, most recently the junior varsity coach at Central of Corinth, takes over for veteran coach Paul Withee, who stepped down as the Ponies’ head man after last season.

Withee coached baseball at Foxcroft for eight years overall during two stints, between 1992 and 1996 and from 2002 to 2004 His teams qualified for postseason play six times, winning the 2002 Eastern B title and also reaching the regional final in 1992 and 2003.

With 34 players out for baseball this spring, Foxcroft also has added a full-fledged junior varsity team, according to athletic director Tim Smith. The junior varsity, coached by Tom Nason, holds separate practices and has “a fairly full JV schedule,” Smith said.

Last year, Foxcroft kept 29 players on the varsity. This year, there are 17 players on the varsity and 17 on the junior varsity.

Foxcroft finished 11-6 in 2004, earning the No. 4 seed in Eastern B before bowing out in the quarterfinals to Mount Desert Island of Bar Harbor.