Dewitt bound for Dartmouth Eagles senior to run for Big Green

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Last Friday was a very good day for Corey Dewitt.

The Ellsworth High senior helped his school’s basketball team open its season with a 64-48 win at Hermon.

But that came after a much bigger moment, when DeWitt learned he had gained early decision acceptance to Dartmouth College next year.

DeWitt will focus on distance running with the Big Green, competing on the college’s cross country team in the fall before joining the indoor and outdoor track teams.

“I’ll be running year-round,” said DeWitt, who has run cross country and outdoor track at Ellsworth but reserved his winters for developing into one of the better basketball players in Eastern Maine – and is closing in on 1,000 career points.

DeWitt made his official visit to Dartmouth in mid-October, just after winning the individual title at the Maine Festival of Champions race in Belfast for the second straight year.

“When I went down on an official visit I just fell in love with the place,” he said. “The facilities are great, and the education is obviously there, and I really clicked with the guys on the running team so it really seemed like a good fit when I went down there.”

That turned out to be the only official visit DeWitt made.

“I was going to visit some other places if I didn’t get into Dartmouth,” he said. “I had visits set up with Boston College and Georgetown, but I guess I’m going to cancel those now.”

DeWitt, who plans to study pre-med in college, will be the third Mainer on the Dartmouth men’s cross country and track teams beginning next fall. He will join Greely of Cumberland Center graduates Ben True (currently a junior) and Casey Diehl, a sophomore.

DeWitt is a two-time Eastern Maine Class B champion in cross country, and led Ellsworth to the Penobscot Valley Conference and Eastern B team championships this fall, as well as a second-place finish at the Class B state meet.

He placed second last spring in the 1,600-meter run at the Class B state outdoor track and field championships.

DeWitt’s two older brothers also went on to compete in cross country and track and field at the collegiate level, Steven at Stanford and Joey at Mass-Lowell.

Patriots now at EMCC gym

The Bangor Christian boys and girls basketball teams have changed venues for their games.

Instead of playing home games at Husson College’s Newman Gymnasium, the Patriots will play this season at Eastern Maine Community College’s Johnston Gymnasium. The EMCC gym is located at the school’s facility on Hogan Road in Bangor.

Most of the Bangor Christian girls varsity games will be held at 6 p.m. Boys junior varsity home games will start at 6 p.m. followed by 7:30 varsity games.

The move was made because Husson College needed more time and space for its own students, Husson athletic director Jonathan “Gabby” Price said. The school’s intramural programs have grown, along with its enrollment, and winter is a peak time for indoor gymnasium use.

“Bangor Christian was a tremendous tenant,” Price added. “But we’ve heard back from our student body that they wanted more use of the gym.”

Games to watch

The next few days of the schoolboy basketball season will bring some interesting matchups to the hardwood.

Even before that, Wednesday features an Aroostook County clash sending Presque Isle to Houlton. Class C Houlton had a productive first weekend, winning by 30 at Madawaska and then rallying from a 10-point deficit at the end of the third quarter to edge Class D contender Schenck of East Millinocket 53-51.

Drew Farrar has made a productive debut for the Shiretowners, scoring 19 in the opener and then adding 15 of his game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter to fuel Houlton’s comeback against Schenck. Josh Beals also has scored in double figures in each of the victories.

Presque Isle is 1-0, thanks to a convincing 67-31 win over John Bapst of Bangor. The Wildcats must replace three key players from a year ago in Greg Whitaker, Chris Coffin and Chris Carlin, but veterans like Adam Kingsbury and Gabe Cheney are poised to take on larger roles.

On Friday, two of the favorites in Eastern B square off in Rockport, where defending state champion Maranacook of Readfield visits perennial power Camden Hills. Both teams are coming off opening-night wins, Maranacook over Medomak Valley of Waldoboro and Camden Hills over Waterville. Both teams feature several prime-time performers, as All-Maine first-teamer Ryan Martin is the sparkplug for Maranacook while sophomore forward Gordon Fischer leads the Windjammers.

Bangor hosts Lawrence of Fairfield on Friday night at Red Barry Gymnasium. The game matches up two of the deans of the Eastern A coaching ranks in Roger Reed of Bangor and Mike McGee of Lawrence. These teams split a year ago, and this likely will be a pointworthy game in the grand scheme of the division since both Bangor and Lawrence figure to be prominent players in the postseason hunt.

And two of Class C’s preseason favorites square off in Houlton on Friday night, as defending state champion Calais visits the Shiretowners. Calais escaped its opener with a 70-67 win over Lee Academy before facing East Grand of Danforth on Monday night.

Skowhegan players honored

Four Skowhegan field hockey players were named to the 2006 Penn Moto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association’s high school all-region team in the Northeast.

Courtney Veinotte, Melissa Hancock, Lindsey Pinkham and Rebecca Roy were among seven Mainers honored by the coaches association.

Falmouth players Eileen Brandes and Emily Bowden and Greely of Cumberland Center’s Mackensie Ross were also on the team.