A legendary era in Maine high school basketball has come to an end.

Paul Vachon, who has piloted the Cony of Augusta girls basketball team to seven Class A state championships – the most among any coach in the state – has decided to hang up his whistle.

Vachon, who coached the Rams for 23 seasons, has resigned from the post as he has been named the school’s new athletic administrator.

Vachon will assume his new duties on July 1, replacing Dan Bowers.

“To be able to work with the administration and the teachers and the students of Cony High School is going to be a lot of fun for me,” said Vachon, who has taught English at Hodgkins Middle School the last 29 years.

“I grew up in Augusta, went to Cony, now to be the AD at Cony High School tops things. Saying that gives me goosebumps.”

He acknowledged keeping his coaching duties along with his administrative duties would have been too much.

“… To coach Cony girls basketball the way it should be done and to do the administrative job the way it’s supposed to be done, [it] would not be a good fit for me,” Vachon explained.

“I don’t think my personality fits two major positions like that.”

Vachon’s uptempo style of offense and in-your-face defense has produced a record of 433-37, and he believes many girls programs around the state have exemplified that style of play.

“I believe that Cony girls basketball had a huge impact on the way the game was played in the state and how it was watched,” Vachon said.

He has had the privilege of coaching some of the best schoolgirl players to ever come out of Maine such as daughter Amy Vachon, sisters Marcie Lane and Meghan Lane, Cassie Cooper, Julie Veilleux and Katie Rollins.

Seven of Vachon’s former players have earned Division I scholarships, with Rollins currently playing at Harvard University and Cooper at Dartmouth College.

Those achievements, coupled with memorable battles against Cindy Blodgett’s Lawrence of Fairfield teams of the mid-1990s – including a televised regular-season game and a sold-out Eastern Maine final in 1994 – and his impact on players who have donned Cony’s red and white, will always stick with Vachon.

“That is something I only will be able to cherish, something I’ll never forget,” he said. “That’s the great thing about being in the educational field.

“I’ve just been very fortunate. I’ve had a lot of great experiences.”

Vachon is eager to begin his new position.

“I was fortunate that I was mentored by some very good ADs as far as the late Peter Meagher, Ron Kenoyer and Dan Bowers,” he said. “If I can do half the job that those three did I think I’m going to be all right.”

Vachon is thrilled with the direction Cony athletics is heading while having some top facilities.

“We have some great young coaches that are in the building, some new facilities coming in, our high school is second to none and the gym is amazing,” he said.

The school hosted the EM Class A softball regionals along with the state championships last spring.

Vachon said that the girls basketball team will be in good shape over the next few seasons. They advanced to the Eastern Maine Class A championship game this past winter with a healthy contingent of underclassmen and veterans, including Miss Maine Basketball winner Rachel Mack.

“I guarantee that they are going to be successful and have the same work ethic,” Vachon said. “We have an unbelievable feeder system.”

Vachon added he’ll continue to run his camps and clinics and conduct motivational speeches at camps throughout the state.

He’s not ruling out a possible return to the coaching ranks at some point, and he hopes to write a book someday.

“You just never say never,” said Vachon, who played on coach Dick Hunt’s state championship Cony team in 1973 and has coached for 32 years from the junior high level up to varsity.

Broncos bucking competition

The Hampden Academy Broncos have been pretty successful in the schoolboy track and field ranks so far this spring.

As the Penobscot Valley Conference schedule heads into the homestretch this week, the Broncos are one of four teams who will be in the mix come championship time.

“We’ve had a little bit of success,” said HA coach Bill Schall. “We’ve had some good results in the hurdles and the jumps, pretty good results in the distance.”

The Broncos were undefeated going into last weekend’s Mount Desert Island Relays before Caribou upended them by a single point to win that meet.

Earlier in the season, the Broncos nipped defending Class A state champion Bangor in their first meet of the spring, and they’ll face Brewer in a multiteam meet at home Friday afternoon.

The Rams and Witches boast two of the state’s top-scoring athletes in Riley Masters and Ben Sinclair, respectively, in a season where parity is ruling the track. Caribou has beaten Bangor, Brewer and Hampden; Hampden has beaten Bangor; and Bangor has beaten Brewer. Given that, the Broncos have no time to rest on their laurels.

“Like you said, Bangor, Brewer and Caribou have all posted nice results, we can’t underestimate any of them,” Schall said. “Everybody’s going to bring their best.”

Hampden has a solid mix of top-scoring threats and depth, led by Matt Toothaker in the sprints and jumps, the versatile Jadrien Cousens in the hurdles and discus, and distance men Michael Bommarito and Evan Piccirillo.

“They’ve been consistently performing very well up to expectation,” said Schall. “Michael Bommarito has been performing [well] in the distance for us.”

One thing Schall likes about Piccirillo, a freshman, is his willingness to train hard.

“I guess if I could say one thing, he works really hard in practice, he’s really focused, and has an inner drive,” he said.

rmclaughlin@bangordailynews.net

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