ORONO – Growing up as the daughter of a Beals Island lobsterman, Kristi Carver learned the value of hard work.

Carver took that Down East work ethic, a passion for learning, a desire to succeed and the support of family and friends to the University of Maine. Next week, she will be one of four valedictorians to represent the Class of 2001 during UMaine’s May 19 commencement.

Carver, a landscape horticulture major and a senior co-captain on the Black Bears volleyball team, achieved a 4.0 grade point average at UMaine. She has been named the Outstanding Graduating Student in the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture and previously was honored with the prestigious Dean Smith Award for exemplary academic and athletic achievement.

“You have to prioritize. It is a lot of hard work,” Carver said Thursday. “A lot of it has to do with the pride in the two communities [Beals and Jonesport]. You really want to bring home a lot of pride for your family and for your community. You feel like if you don’t work to your potential, they see it.”

Prior to UMaine, Carver was a standout student-athlete at Jonesport-Beals High School where she played volleyball, basketball, softball, and soccer and was valedictorian of her class. Carver initially had planned to study food science at UMaine, but was instead drawn to landscape horticulture.

She ended a brief hiatus from athletics, joining the Bears volleyball team, which was reinstated to varsity status in 1999. As a senior, Carver received the team’s Heart and Soul Award, which is now named the Kristi Carver Award in her honor.

Carver has been amazed by the number of friendships developed through athletics. Her experience on the volleyball team during its first-year struggles provided a new perspective on sports and on life.

“Above all, it’s helped me to be more aware of who I am and what I’ve accomplished,” Carver said. “From the losses we incurred [in 1999-2000], it was a great character-building experience.

“I was used to winning. I had always been on top. It was a very humbling experience,” she added. “I learned that you have to focus your goals elsewhere other than just winning.”

Upon graduating, Carver will return to Beals to start up her own landscape horticulture business. She already has lined up more than 20 clients.

In her spare time, she plans to join her father Dwight and take advantage of her commercial lobster fishing license. The most important thing is, she’ll be home.

“It’s very important to me to get back home and get back to my roots,” Carver said. “I wouldn’t want to be far from there. I want to be able to give back to my family what they gave to me when I was younger, raising me and supporting me.”

Kristi Carver also will follow her dad’s lead by becoming an ordained minister in the Community of Christ Church in Beals where her father is an elder and her uncle Buzz Carver is the pastor.

Carver is the younger sister of former UMaine basketball standout and 1998 graduate Sandi Carver, who is a nurse at Acadia Hospital in Bangor. Tricia Carver, the youngest of the three girls, is a first-year student and volleyball player at UMaine, where she is majoring in secondary education with a concentration in history.

UMaine football scrimmage set

The University of Maine football team will wrap up its spring drills Saturday with the annual Blue-White scrimmage.

The controlled scrimmage is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Morse Field at Alfond Stadium in Orono. Admission is free.

Coach Jack Cosgrove and his staff are hoping to continue evaluating the Bears’ talent with an emphasis on finding capable players to assume starting roles for the 2001 season. Among the players trying to break into the lineup are freshman tailback James Henry, frosh offensive lineman Mike Leconte of South Portland, and freshman linebacker Matt DiBiase of South Portland.

Frosh quarterback Jon Meczywor, the lone veteran behind starter Jake Eaton, also will look for some game-like experience.

UMaine baseball under the lights

The UMaine baseball team will take a different approach to this weekend’s America East series against Northeastern, playing over three days.

The Bears open with Friday’s 7 p.m. game, then are scheduled for a Saturday doubleheader at 1 p.m. and a single game Sunday at noon.

“Primarily, we thought it might be a nice atmosphere,” UMaine coach Paul Kostacopoulos said of the Friday night contest.

It also will enable to Bears to get an early start studying for final exams in preparation for the trip Wednesday to the America East tournament.