Terry Kix, who has been the field hockey coach at the University of Maine for 15 years and the senior women’s administrator the past 21/2 years, is leaving the university.

Her resignation is effective Dec. 31.

Kix said she plans to join close friends Sharon Versyp and Michelle Puls in Indiana.

Versyp, the former Maine women’s basketball coach, left after last season to become the coach at Indiana University where Puls is an assistant softball coach. Puls had been the interim head softball coach at Maine last season.

“My immediate plans are to take three to six months off. I need to take some time off for me,” said Kix, who compiled a 174-109-5 record at Maine and led her Black Bears to three America East championship game appearances in the past four years.

She was named America East coach of the year for the fourth time this season.

“I’m not quite sure yet what I’m going to do. There are a couple different scenarios. I need to make a decision what career path to follow,” said the 42-year-old Kix.

She said she reached a tentative decision over the summer to leave Maine after the 2005 season.

But she didn’t make her final decision “until the season was over.”

“Maine is a very, very special place,” said Kix. “I love the university and I love the community. It’s with bittersweet emotions that I say goodbye to such a special place.”

Kix said she has learned a “lot of life lessons” during her tenure at Maine and that “I will be a Black Bear forever.”

Maine interim athletic director Blake James said Kix has had “a tremendous impact on our program with her leadership and the way she developed the program into one of our special programs.

“She was everything you look for in a coach. The parents felt comfortable with her, she was a tremendous competitor, and she had a great knowledge of the game.”

James also said she was an exceptional administrator who became a confidant.

“I could always ask her for an opinion about an issue and how to approach it,” said James.

As for her future, Kix said she is “excited but nervous at the same time.”

“Change is hard for anybody. It is my hope that I can take the skills I learned at Maine and continue to touch people’s lives,” said Kix. “I was born to coach. But coaching at the Division I level requires a tremendous time commitment and energy. I’ll have to make a decision as soon as I revitalize myself whether to be a coach or an administrator.”

Kix, whose Maine teams qualified for the America East Tournament nine times, said this season’s 13-7 team is one that will always be special to her.

The Bears, with only four seniors on their roster, including one who didn’t play due to injury (Katie Flaherty), wound up earning a share of the America East regular-season championship for the first time.

Boston University, the other co-champ, beat Maine 3-1 in the AE championship game.

“This group absolutely overachieved. I’m very proud of them,” said Kix.

The former goalkeeper, a 1985 University of Connecticut grad, twice earned All-American honors. She was a finalist for the Broderick Award, college field hockey’s top honor, in 1984.

Cook, Costigan sign with Maine

High School basketball stars Jordan Cook of Hampden Academy and Sean Costigan from Cheverus High in Portland have signed National Letters of Intent to play for the University of Maine next year.

The pair had announced their verbal commitments to the Black Bears and coach Ted Woodward earlier this year.

Cook, a 6-foot-10 center who led the Broncos to a Class A state title last March while averaging 18.4 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, will start his senior season after being named a Bangor Daily News All-Maine first-team member last season.

Costigan, a 6-6 forward who was a second-team All-Maine team pick as a junior, averaged 12 points per game and led his team in rebounding and blocked shots.