Windham track team unstoppable in State Championship meet

By Matt Pascarella

Windham’s entire outdoor track and field season was working up to this point all spring as its boys’ and girls’ squads competed against teams from all over the state in the Class A State Championship meet at Lewiston on Tuesday, June 10.

Windham senior Rory Good leaps over a hurdle during the 
Class A Track and Field State Championships at Lewiston
on Tuesday, June 10. PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA  

Windham boys finished fourth with a score of 49 and Windham girls finished 10th with a score of 37.75.

Boys

In the pole vault, Windham senior Carter Engelman became a state champion with a height of 15-feet, a new personal record and a new school record.

“For the last two years at a state meet Carter has not met his expectations in a heartbreaking way as being able to come and perform,” said Windham pole vault coach Jeff Neal. “So, to see him do this, 100 percent huge personal record; it’s all the hard work. I couldn’t be prouder of him, a class act.”

Engelman had been tied with an injured Scarborough pole vaulter. They were given the option to break the tie or be co-champions.

Coach Neal said Engelman was steadily improving and probably could have beat him. Engelman said he would not beat an injured guy, showing in addition to skill, class and sportsmanship.

“It feels good; I feel like I’ve earned it, I’ve had a lot of help,” Engelman. “Track is one of those things where everything builds on each other. I just wanted to perform to the best of my ability and not have regrets about how I performed.”

Engelman was also the 110-hurdles state champion with a time of 14.72 seconds. Right behind him was Windham senior Rory Good with a 14. 85 time, a personal record.

Good finished second in the 300-hurdles with a 39.98 time.

In the 200-dash senior Karl Longstreth finished fifth with a time of 22.53.

Windham’s 4x100 relay team placed fourth with a 43.98 time.

“I think we’ve been really excited,” said Windham boys’ coach Paula Pock. “We’ve been working hard up until this point and to see them pull it all together – Carter and Rory in the 110, Rory had a huge personal record, he took almost two seconds off from what he did last year. I think it’s been a strong day.”

Girls

Windham senior Marina Schwarz finished second in the shotput with a distance of 35-6.5. She also finished fourth in the discus with a massive throw of 107-11.

“As a coach, watching Marina throw in her second full year with so much development was just amazing to see. As a dad, it was very emotional,” said Windham throwing coach William Schwarz.

According to Marina Schwarz it felt really good for her to have such a great throw in the shotput; she went from placing 10th to placing second.

Senior Tayla Pelletier kept moving forward after a fall in the 100-hurdles. She finished second in the 300-hurdles with a 46.33 time and first in the triple jump with a distance of 37-9.25.

“It’s definitely not how I wanted it to go,” said Pelletier. “My goal for today was to give it what I’ve got and do everything I can to get the best marks at the end of the day. After the fall ... was hard. You have to brush it off and focus on the next thing ... getting to change my mindset and getting back into what I know I can do, was my win for the day.”

Junior Addison Shanholtz placed second in the pole vault with a height of 9-0.

Senior Olivia Smith ran 52.58 in the 300-hurdle, a personal record.

“Tayla Pelletier learned the hardest lesson is sport. Her response was her lesson and opportunity at the state championships – pretty amazing response because it was a devastating situation,” said Windham track and field coach Jeff Riddle. What went really well was that we showed up, we were prepared for the situation. Marina ... epic mental game growth, and a massive shotput personal record; very consistent and impressive results at discus. The 4x800 relay team was able to get on the podium (10:40.96-minute time). Our 4x100 team was incredible with their handoffs they worked for two weeks on that and today was super smooth and super great.” <

Windham Middle School baseball savors amazing season

By Matt Pascarella

Windham Middle School’s baseball team had an incredible season, in which they only lost one game. Windham played their final game of the season at Gorham on Thursday, June 5. Windham held a lead for the first half of the game, but Gorham pulled ahead in the end and Windham narrowly lost 8-6 to the Rams. More importantly, this is a great group of young men who skillfully played the game and had a very strong season.

Windham eighth grader Ryan Manning bats against
Gorham during a middle school baseball game on
Thursday, June 5. PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA

“It's a team effort, and we would not have been 6-1-1 without the contributions from everyone,” said WMS baseball coach Charlie Reiniger. “We’re aggressive on the bases, everybody can hit, but everybody contributed. Our pitching was really good ... our baserunning was huge – I mean everything was absolutely outstanding; these guys were dominant all year. These guys worked so hard at practice every day, this was unbelievable; I’m so happy I took this job, a great decision for me to come to Windham for sure. I loved coaching these guys this year.”

Reiniger, a 2024 Cheverus High School graduate, was new to Windham baseball this season. He said to the parents of the players that he may have learned more from his players than they learned from him. He said that he learned it takes a community, a family, to build success. He wants to thank his assistant coaches Bryan Harvie and Ralph Gallagher for their hard work this season. He’d also like to thank the parents; whether the game was home or away the Windham section was always filled with supporters, cheering on their team.

Windham started their season with an 8-4 win against Scarborough, tied Southern Maine Catholic 6-6, got by Bonny Eagle 12-9 – in which all 12 runs were scored in the first inning. Windham creamed Lincoln 20-4 and Moore 14-2. They sent Lewiston packing 9-3 and knocked down South Portland, 10-4. Collectively, the team had 70 hits and scored 85 runs.

“I think we played as a team, we never got down on each other,” said Windham eighth grader Brady Legere. “During the season, we hit the ball well, I think that was a big factor we were always putting up runs early in the game. In the future (we can remember) that we lost one game in our whole entire eighth grade season and going up to high school, that’s a big thing to have.”

Windham eighth grader Riley Gallagher said they stayed together, even if they were down. They played good defense too, if they needed stops; they hit the ball, got runs as they needed them. Gallagher said they will be able to keep this team together as they go into high school and it feels good knowing that they’ll have a majority of this team for four more years.

As Reiniger looks ahead to next season, he has a great group of seventh graders who are talented and will spend their time growing and getting better at the game during the off season. He will miss his eighth graders but wishes them nothing but success in the future. Reiniger said that Windham varsity baseball coach Chris Doughty has a solid group of players who can contribute greatly next year. <

WHS girls’ lacrosse star reaches major milestone with 200th goal

By Matt Pascarella

Windham junior Abby Trainor made Windham High School varsity girls’ lacrosse history when she became the first player ever to score 200 career goals at Windham High on Tuesday, June 3 in a game against Gorham. She was only two goals away from this monumental achievement and reached her 200th goal in the first quarter. The Lady Eagles won this game 16-6; Trainor scored six goals and along with several other teammates helped earn Windham its 12th consecutive win.

Windham junior Abby Trainor, center between both signs, 
celebrates with her teammates after she scored her 200th
career lacrosse goal at Windham High School on Tuesday,
June 3 against Gorham. PHOTO NY MATT PASCARELLA 

“I think the stats just come as the season goes on,” said Trainor. “The more we progress it’s just so easy for the ball to get in my stick because there are so many teammates and almost all of our goals are assisted, and that’s why the 200th goal stat was reached so much earlier than most other teams. It felt amazing especially on an eight-meter penalty shot; there’s the intensity ... and once I heard the ping (of the ball hitting the goalpost and going in) all of my teammates jumped up and I kind of got excited; inside I know that my team supports me and the fans and everyone from Windham – everyone supports each other. That’s why it felt so good because everyone was around me.”

According to Trainor, to reach this point in her athletic career took a lot of hard work, on and off the field in the summer and fall. It also helps that the team is closeknit and spends time together outside of the season, which only makes them stronger and builds up their chemistry – which is why they have been so successful this season.

Trainor scored her 199th goal in less than the first minute of play. Shortly before the end of the first quarter, Trainor scored goal 200 on a penalty shot.

“(Abby hitting this milestone as a junior) is incredible,” said Windham varsity girls’ lacrosse coach Matt Perkins. “Our program has been around 15 years, give-or-take, we’ve never had anyone over 150 goals and she’s a junior, so that’s pretty incredible. She works so hard on the ride, she causes turnovers. If you watch our ride, she and Morgan and the rest of them, they work their tails off and Abby’s steering that like ‘push, push, push, get the ball back, get the ball back.’ She’s so good in there which raises us at that level. The other thing about her game is she and Neve and Grace have elevated everyone around them. We have kids who weren’t varsity players last year who are scoring, and they’re scoring from all different areas and different players and it’s just unselfish play – if it’s there I’ll score, if I can pass, I’ll pass. That unselfish attitude has been so huge for this team.”

Roughly a year ago, Trainor achieved her 100th career goal. After this, Trainor did not set out to achieve another 100 goals. She credited her teammates for making it so easy for her to score.

“Abby is such a fun player to work with, I’ve played with her since middle school,” said Windham senior and teammate Grace Joly. “I’ve learned so much from her, everybody looks up to her on the team and she contributes so much on the field. She’s always setting everyone else up and also taking the best drives for herself. She’s so talented and I can’t wait to see where she goes ... I’m so sad I’m going to miss her next year when I’m not here. It’s just an incredible accomplishment.”

Trainor’s goals for the future are to help Windham win a state championship.

“That would be better than any personal accolade ever,” said Trainor. <

Windham Unified bocce ends season showing improvement

By Matt Pascarella

During the final game of the season, Windham’s Unified bocce team showed they have kept improving game-after-game. Windham tied Gray-New Gloucester 3-3 on Tuesday, June 3 after falling to GNG 2-0 less than a month ago.

Windham senior Colby Schmid keeps his focus during the 
final Unified bocce game of the season against Gray-New
Gloucester at Windham High School on Tuesday, June 3.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA 

Since it was the last game of the season, Windham players were geared more toward having fun and celebrating a successful season. It was also Senior Night; Windham’s TJ McAllister, Colby Schmid along with unified partner Talia Campobasso and each of their parents were presented with a gift and thanked for their time and dedication to Windham Athletics. Jacob Smith was not present for the game but coaches say he deserves recognition for his time with the team.

“It’s really important to me to be involved in the unified programs because I see how much it means to them,” said Campobasso, who has been a partner for unified bocce and basketball; her job is to assist the players in learning the game and guide them if they need help. “With other people helping out it makes their day and their year. I’ve definitely seen a lot of improvement in how they work together. I saw how well we worked with the other team; we played Gray New-Gloucester a few weeks ago, but the chemistry and sportsmanship today was a lot better.”

This match consisted of three 15-minute games played on two separate courts. Gray New-Gloucester won the first set of games, 5-4 and 9-1. Windham answered GNG when they won the next sets, 5-2 and 5-4. In the final set, Windham won a game, 5-3, and Gray New-Gloucester won the other, 8-1, resulting in the tie.

Windham junior Zach O’Brion thought the team played very well. They had more wins than last time and played a lot better as a team. It was fun for him to play one last game with the seniors. O’Brion said he likes learning the game and having fun with his team.

“I think it’s been really exciting (to be part of the season),” said Windham’s new Unified bocce coach Kendall Dolan. “Getting involved in the unified sports was always something I really wanted to do, but unified sports happened the year after I graduated high school, so I wanted to find a way to get involved and luckily ... I was able to step in with Connor as the co-head coach, and it was just really nice to be able to do that. Even against Gray New-Gloucester I think they shut us out in all games the last time we played them, but we won a handful of matches today and we’ve just really learned more about the rules of the game and creating the amount of force on your throws. I’m really proud of them; they did a great job today.”

Dolan said sportsmanship will stand out when she reflects about this season. There were a lot of teams that Windham mixed and mingled players and partners in and out and she believes that it is a really important piece of social interaction involving different kids from different places; this was her favorite thing about the season. Windham was really standing behind the seniors and making it a special day for their senior game; they are going to miss Colby, Talia, Jacob and TJ.

Congratulations are in order for Colby Schmid, TJ McAllister, junior Mary Jean O’Brion, freshman Tristan Stanley, junior Jack Shirley, freshman Maddi Small and Jacob Smith on another great season of fun and good sportsmanship. <

Windham grad establishes Strong Girls United Golf Tournament fundraiser

By Matt Pascarella

Windham graduate Tara Flanders benefited greatly from athletics growing up and because of this she began working with the nonprofit “Strong Girls United” whose mission is “to empower girls through sports, mentorship and mental health programming.” Flanders, who began volunteering for the program in summer 2024, is helping to organize the first ever SGU Golf Tournament fundraiser at Point Sebago in Casco on Saturday, Aug. 23.

Windham High graduate Tara Flanders
high-fives Strong Girls United participants
after she completed an obstacle course 
the girls set up for her in York on May 20.
Flanders has organized the first SGU Golf
Tournament fundraiser which takes place in
Casco on Saturday, Aug. 23.
SUBMITTED PHOTO   

“I got involved with Strong Girls United, whose average range of girls in the program are typically kindergarten through eighth grade, through my passion for youth sports and women empowerment,” said Flanders. “I was drawn to SGU’s mission of combining athletics, mentorship, and mental skills development for girls. I ... soon took on a larger role within the organization full time. I focus on building awareness, partnerships, and funding opportunities that support the growth of our programs. I work to ensure SGU can continue offering high-quality, accessible programming to more girls – especially in our local communities like Windham.”

One of the ways Flanders has helped to spread the mission of SGU is through an after-school program she recently launched for second and third graders at Windham Primary School. The six-week program aims to engage girls in a mix of movement activities, like yoga, relay races and games paired with group discussions focused on confidence-building, friendship, and positive self-talk. Each session ends with a reflection prompt, helping the girls build strong mental habits along with physical ones.

SGU centers around three fundamental pillars, physical activity and sports, mental health and well-being activities, and mentorship of strong female role models. They partner with communities, volunteers, universities, and athletes from around the country to run teams, events, conferences and other programming all rooted in their motto: “Strong bodies. Kind hearts. Unstoppable minds.”

“I’ve seen how tournaments bring together people of all ages and backgrounds, whether they’re athletes, families, coaches, or local business leaders,” said Flanders. “These events build community, spark conversations, and create shared memories. They also offer a chance to rally around a cause. With the SGU Golf Tournament, it’s more than just a day on the course, it’s an opportunity to support girls’ confidence, connection, and growth through sport.”

Flanders wanted to start the tournament to create a fun, inclusive and impactful way to raise money and awareness for SGU. She had also worked at Point Sebago since she was 16 and knows this tournament will be a great way to spread SGU’s mission while having fun. Point Sebago is a beautiful course with strong ties to the community and golf offers a relaxed social setting; the two felt like the perfect fit to bring community together in support of empowering girls in Maine.

Community members who participate will enjoy a day of golf while supporting local programming that builds confidence, leadership and mental resilience in young girls. Every registration helps SGU expand their reach, especially in areas like Windham.

The best way to register is online through their website: https://www.sgunitedfoundation.org/golf

SGU is also looking for sponsors, raffle donations, and volunteers. If any local businesses or individuals are interested, please visit the website.

You can also contact Flanders with questions at: Tara@sgunitedfoundation.org. <

Windham High School Playoff Scoreboard

Complied by Matt Pascarella

Boys’ tennis

11th-place Windham traveled to Apex Racket and Fitness in Portland on Friday, May 30 to play sixth-place Scarborough in the Class A South preliminary playoff.

Windham battled but lost to the Red Storm 5-0.

In the singles matches senior Zachary Noonan lost 6-0, 6-1, junior Nolan McPhail lost 6-1, 6-0, and junior Carter Mathieu lost 6-4, 7-6 (7).

In the doubles matches seniors Asher Knott and Brian Gilheany lost 6-2, 6-1; juniors Padrick McGuire and Nate Paulding lost 6-0 and 6-1.

Girls’ tennis

Fifth-place Windham headed to fourth-place Scarborough on Monday, June 2 where they played in the Class A South quarterfinal playoff.

Windham left it all on the court, but Scarborough got by 4-1.

In the singles matches, junior Jasmine Lucas lost 6-4, 6-2, senior Katelyn Cotter lost 6-2, 6-3 and sophomore Denali Momot won her match 8-6 in a pro-set match where the match is won by the first player to win eight games, with a margin of at least two games.

In the doubles matches, senior Afomiya Timerga and junior Ellise Gallop lost 7-5, 6-1 and senior Zoe Dries and junior Sydney Harmon lost 6-2, 6-3. <