Longtime Mount Desert Island tennis coach Bob Christie will be hard to replace when the school starts looking for a new coach later this year, athletic director Bunky Dow said.

Christie, who led the Trojan boys to three Eastern Maine Class B titles, recently resigned after nine years of coaching both the boys and the girls.

Dow said Christie plans to focus on his job as a tennis pro at the Holiday Inn in Ellsworth, where he wants to expand the program.

In the summers, Christie runs the tennis and swimming programs at the Causeway Club in Southwest Harbor.

Christie coached the MDI boys to the 2000, 2006 and 2007 EM titles. The Trojans lost to Falmouth in the state final the last two years, falling 4-1 last season. Christie was named the Penobscot Valley Conference Class B co-coach of the year.

In addition, the MDI boys were the two-time EM runners-up and the Trojan girls were four-time regional runners-up.

“He’s been very successful at the high school level,” Dow said. “The program was strong before he got here but he helped them step up to the next level.”

Dow said Christie has also worked with individuals around the area, including former Brewer star Ian Robinson, who was the state singles champion in 2001 and 2003.

“He’s probably one of the best in the state,” Dow said. “He’s very knowledgeable about tennis but that wasn’t the most important thing he taught. He taught [student-athletes] life skills, too.”

Barker headed to UMBC

Former Messalonskee of Oakland standout basketball player Chelsea Barker will take her considerable talents to the University of Maryland Baltimore County, the America East conference member school announced recently.

The 5-foot-8 guard averaged 24.1 points and 5.0 rebounds in leading the Eagles to the Eastern Maine Class A finals last year. She was a two-time Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference North Division Player of the Year and Miss Maine Basketball finalist as a senior.

“Chelsea is a versatile guard who will add depth to our backcourt,” UMBC coach Phil Stern said in a release.

Barker had a stellar senior season, capped by an EMaine Class A final in which she hit a 3-pointer with one second left in regulation to send the game against eventual state champion Cony of Augusta into overtime. The Eagles lost 63-60 but Barker scored all 28 of her points in the second half, including 14 in the fourth quarter.

Barker’s decision to play for UMBC makes the Class of 2007 one of the most talented groups of Maine schoolgirl basketball players ever, with seven players in Div. I programs this winter, at least three more with scholarships to Div. II schools and others playing for top Div. III squads like University of Southern Maine in Gorham.

Barker’s twin sister Amanda, who also played basketball at Messalonskee, will join the softball team at Maine Maritime Academy next spring.