If there’s such a thing, Bernard Parady Gymnasium at MDI High School still has that new-gym smell – or as close as it gets.

MDI, Penobscot Valley of Howland and Narraguagus of Harrington are among the facilities that underwent renovations this year.

The work on the MDI gym named for the Trojans’ legendary former boys coach was the first extensive renovation there since 1968.

The gym has a new lighting system, new bleachers, a new dividing curtain, a new sound system, and new backboards and rims. In the lobby, the school put in new doors, new trophy cases, a new ceiling and new lighting.

The project cost $1.3 million, MDI athletic director Bunky Dow said.

The shiny wood bleachers were funded in part by the 2007 senior class, which raised $13,000 to make up the difference between plastic composite-type bleachers and wood.

“The senior class felt very strongly they wanted to stay with the traditional wood,” Dow said. “They raised the extra money for the wood.”

The only drawback was the loss of about 300 seats, so the gym now holds about 1,400.

The school also took down the tiles from the ceiling and stripped the floor to the original bare wood, which hadn’t been done for 30 years. The work was completed by early October.

“We’re very pleased,” Dow said. “The community’s been very supportive of the extracurricular programs here.”

PVHS athletic director Gerald Hutchinson said Sereyko Gymnasium underwent a laundry list of major changes, too.

“All we did was a new PA system, new scoreboards, new bleachers, new lights and new floor and new roof [two years ago],” Hutchinson said with a laugh and a hint of sarcasm.

The floor was quickly renovated this fall. A more extensive redo will come next summer. Hutchinson estimated the gym lost about 70 seats with the new bleachers, but there was ample seating for two Thanksgiving basketball tournaments and Hutchinson is confident there will be plenty of room for a 16-team wrestling tournament the school is hosting soon.

The Howlers are pleased with the changes.

“Our gym is unbelievable,” he said. “It’s really nice. We’re happy with it.”

The gym may be rededicated at the Howlers’ final home game. It is named for George Sereyko, a longtime janitor at the school.

At Narraguagus, Charles F. Lawrence Gymnasium got a new roof and refurbished floor, which was stripped down to the original wood and refinished.

There are also new lines and a new Knight mascot freshly painted on to the court.

“The roof was quite leaky prior to this year,” Narraguagus AD Corey Fleming said. “It all looks really good now.”

Brown likes East Grand post

It didn’t take long for the East Grand of Danforth girls basketball team to pose a pretty direct question to their new coach.

“They said, ‘Are you going to be here next year?'” Nicole Brown said. “I plan to be. It’s important, because you can keep building every year with the same players. When you have a different coach every year, the program can feel a little shaky. And no one’s been around long enough to really have a summer program.”

You can’t blame the Vikings for wondering about Brown after the team has been through three coaches in four years.

Brown, who is teaching third grade at East Grand, accepted the coaching job in September and she plans to start a summer program in 2008.

It’s her first head varsity coaching position after a season as an assistant at UM-Fort Kent, where she spent her college career, and two years as a middle school coach at the Airline Community School in Aurora.

“I wanted to get into high school coaching and this just kind of opened up,” Brown said. “I’m just trying to give them the same feeling I had in high school, the competitive nature and wanting to win.”

The Vikings, who are 1-4, have no seniors and two eighth-graders on their seven-player roster. The team is led by juniors Courtney Lloyd, a 5-9 center, and point guard Kelsey Daoust.

A former Schenck of East Millinocket standout, the 27-year-old Brown is one of at least two ex-Wolverines now in the coaching ranks. She graduated from Schenck in 1999.

Rachel Larlee, a 2000 Schenck graduate, took over at Foxcroft Academy this year.

Brown said she hasn’t kept in touch with Larlee, although the two played against each other in college. Brown played for the Bengals while Larlee was at UM-Presque Isle.

“It says something about how we grew up, with athletics being so big,” Brown said. “It was just drilled into us.”

Bangor swim records falling

Two Bangor High girls swimming records have fallen by the wayside and two more seem to be on the outs – and it’s only three weeks into the season for the two-time defending Class A state champions.

Senior Erin Thomas, who already broke the school 100-yard backstroke record, owns the 200 freestyle mark after she went 1 minute, 58.11 seconds in Friday night’s meet against Foxcroft Academy. The old record was 1:58.45.

Thomas said she hasn’t paid much attention to the record board at the Husson College pool.

“It’s not really important,” said the Penn State-bound standout. “I’m just doing what I can. Records aren’t what I swim for.”

Grace Barnett, also a senior, is about two seconds off the 200 individual medley record, which stands at 2:15.76.

“Hopefully towards the middle or by the end of the season I’ll break it,” Barnett said. “It’s been a goal of mine for a couple of seasons.”

And the Rams could break the 200 medley relay mark with Thomas, Barnett, Sorrell Cardello and Tatjana Spanehl on Bangor’s top relay. The school record now stands at 1:56.97.

The current relay foursome clocked a 1:59.24 in Saturday’s meet against Greely.

“We’re gonna get it,” said Cardello, a senior who swims the breaststroke leg of the relay.

Cameron Howard, the daughter of Bangor coach Cindi Howard, owned the backstroke and freestyle records, and still has the IM mark.

jbloch@bangordailynews.net

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