Athlete of the week - Ben Breton

The Aroma Joe’s athlete of the week is Windham High School junior Ben Breton. The 16-year-old is the son of Jennifer and Nelson Breton. His sister is Danielle Breton. Ben has been on the swim, outdoor track teams and more recently the cross country team. “He is also a successful student and is a great model of what a Windham student-athlete looks like.  Ben, a member of The National Honor Society, French Honor Society, Leo Club, Be The Influence Coalition, and the Outing Club, is a deserving candidate for athlete of the week.

 

“This Fall Ben helped our XC team experience a 10-1 season, earn a third place team finish at their Regional XC Championship race, and an impressive fourth place team finish in the 2015 State of Maine Class A XC meet.  

Ben led the boys team back to this years State meet, extending their season and continuing the expectation at WHSXC, to earn a team starting box in the Big Dance; a goal the Windham Eagles Boys XC Team has been sustaining now for eight years in a row.  

In the Maine State XC Meet Ben ran his assignment perfectly, as designed, as did his teammates.  Due to his well-timed success, Ben earned the honor as a SMAA First Team All-Conference Runner.  At the Windham Fall Sports Banquet last Thursday, he also received the 'Passion to Run' Award by his coach Jeff Riddle.  He and his team, actually both the boys and girls teams, were also recognized with the SMAA South Class A Sportsmanship Award Banners, which Ben played a large part in earning along with all of his amazing and classy teammates,” said coach Jeff Riddle.

Although the teams Ben is on generally have individual events, he has thoughts on teamwork. “Teamwork is something that no coach can teach. It comes from the athletes and the drive to achieve a common goal.  Teamwork isn’t just working together on the field, it’s supporting one another in every aspect of life, which is why many teams in high school become a tight-knit family.” 

“In the State XC Meet Ben ran a stellar race to finish ninth overall in the meet against an impressive field of runners.  This finishing position earned Ben the opportunity to race in the 2015 XC New England Championship Race, which took place on November 14th, at Thetford Academy, VT.  This is a well-respected, hilly, no, mountainous, XC course, one of which he raced on earlier this season. Ben works very hard to find success in the classroom.  Ben performs well in the many arenas available to him at Windham High School.  He does this due to his stellar work ethic, fun personality, internal drive, and his passion to succeed/run,” Riddle said. 

Ben’s hobbies are running, hiking, biking and hanging out with friends.  

“When I first started high school, balancing sports and school was a difficult task, but it became much easier to balance them once I fell into a routine and figured out how to study correctly,” he said. 

Ben plans to go to college and most likely he will run, but his academics are his first priority, he said.