Windham senior Freese first recipient of Pat Moody Foundation scholarship

By Matt Pascarella

During Windham’s senior awards night at Windham High School last month, the first Pat Moody Foundation scholarship was presented to senior Braycen Freese in the amount of $2,500. The Pat Moody Foundation was created after the passing of beloved Windham resident Pat Moody who loved this town and was a champion for the local sports community and its youth.

Members of the Pat Moody Foundation gather after awarding 
the first Pat Moody Foundation Scholarship at Windham High
School during Senior Awards Night on Thursday, June 5 to
WHS senior Braycen Freese. Back from left are Todd
Hamilton, Geoff Grigsby, Chad Pulkkinen, George McCrillis,
Jedidiah Merrill, Tyler Graves, and David Harrigan. Front
from left are Tracey Lydon, Braycen Freese and
Sherma Moody. PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA 

“He was like a second father to me,” said Freese. “When I saw the scholarship go up, it was an opportunity to be felt in his name again and he’s still around in my life. He was a mentor to me, through basketball, through life, through school – every part of my life, he was a role model. It’s a great thing to be the first one, just when I see his name and my name next to each other, it brings joy to my heart. If I was ever having trouble with sports, with school, he was always there to talk, he was always teaching me new things whenever I was struggling ... he would teach me new things to get through the humps. He always celebrated me more than I celebrated myself, so he made me feel special.”

Freese said he applied to honor Moody’s name. Freese consulted his basketball coach, Chad Pulkkinen, on what he should say in his essay; Pulkkinen’s advice to Freese was to just write what was in his heart.

“Braycen is a great kid, he’s top 10 in his class,” said Pat Moody Foundation Executive Committee board member Geoff Grigsby. “He graduated a year early; he had a real strong connection with Pat. As a board, our primary focus is to be an extension of Pat; live by the model ‘What would Pat do?’ Braycen meant a ton to him and vice-versa – someone who was instrumental to Braycen’s athletic achievements. There were such strong candidates, and we wanted to help as many people as we can within reason; we thought broadening (the scholarship) to three people was the right move.”

The Pat Moody Foundation was impressed with all applicants; they added two additional $1,000 scholarships; those winners were seniors Stella Jarvais and Lukas Hammond. It was very difficult for the Pat Moody Foundation board to decide on who the winner should be – everyone’s resume was so strong, and each applicant had done so much to meet the criteria. Each applicant got a “Moody’s Army” T-shirt, which is representative of people who’ve gone above and beyond in the community.

“We wanted civic-minded, well-rounded individuals, said Moody’s best friend and Pat Moody Foundation board member Tyler Graves. “We wanted student-athletes, just because that was kind of Pat’s medium in terms of connecting with kids. They all had amazing GPAs and cumulative scores, their citizenship and volunteerism were beautiful; they had to write an essay of how they were deserving and what Pat meant to them, plus a letter of recommendation from a coach or a teacher.”

Graves said Freese’s essay really stuck out because it delved into how much Moody affected him and shaped him over the past few years and that was really touching to Graves; this person knew Moody and the way they described Moody’s impact really tugged at Graves’ heart strings.

“I’m just honored to win” said Freese, who will attend the University of Maine Orono and major in mechanical engineering and then plans to attend law school. He is still deciding if he’d like to become a private attorney or mechanical engineer. <

Windham graduate Sarah Talon continues excelling on and off the court

By Matt Pascarella

2022 Windham graduate Sarah Talon has always worked hard. She currently attends the University of Maine at Orono where she helped lead the team to win the America East Championship last month and earned the school its 10th appearance in the National Collegiate Athletic Association women’s basketball tournament.

Windham 2022 graduate and current University of Maine 
sophomore Sarah Talon keeps her focus on the hoop
during the America East Conference championship game
in Orono on March 15. PHOTO BY SETH POPLASKI  

Talon is majoring in psychology with a minor in leadership and would like to work in the therapy department with young kids and athletes upon her graduation.

“This season has been one I will never forget,” said Talon. “Playing in the NCAA was ... a chance to play against some of the best teams in the country. It was a dream come true. I was once 10, 11, 12 years old and watching March Madness at home and was always hoping that one day that would be me. Getting the opportunity to play on one of the biggest stages in basketball was something I will never forget. I knew that I needed to take in every moment and to enjoy it.”

She says that she used to watch Catherine McCauley basketball player Allie Clement, as well as Talon’s older sister Hannah. They were both role models of hers and she began to play basketball when she was 6 and was first coached by Paul Foley, whom she is still in contact with today.

Talon initially thought soccer was her strong suit but seemed to naturally gravitate toward basketball. She realized she was much better at basketball and enjoyed it a lot more. That’s not to say she doesn’t enjoy soccer, and isn’t really good at it, but basketball has given her so much happiness and excitement every time she picked up a ball.

Since she first started playing, Talon has played in a variety of leagues, including the Amateur Athletic Union. Her time at Windham High School helped her prepare for playing collegiately because the AA North region is very competitive and gave her the opportunity to play against other Division 1 players.

“She’s so funny to be around; she’s always in a good mood,” said University of Southern Maine at Orono graduate student and teammate Anne Simon. “She really makes the team laugh a lot, such a good friend off the court. It was great to see her improvement from freshman year to sophomore year. She got to understand her role on the team and really developed over the season; she did an amazing job improving in defense – that was a huge thing for her. Also, offensively knowing what we need from her; she stepped up this year.”

Simon is really proud of the team and Talon. They wanted to go to March Madness and they did. Although they fell to Ohio State in the first round of the NCAA, the Black Bears did a good job focusing on themselves and what each of them needed as individuals in order to be a good team which made the season a success.

“She’s embraced the challenges of a Division 1 athlete and she’s worked really hard and done a really nice job for us,” said Black Bears women’s basketball head coach Amy Vachon. “She’s a great teammate. She’s learned a lot and learned about our program and how things work, and I think she’s gotten stronger and done a lot of really good things. She earned that spot [as a starter] and brings a lot to the table and has had a really great year. Her athleticism is something we don’t see in our conference; she can do things on the court other people can’t; her athleticism is unmatched.”

Talon was one of two non-senior starters on the team. She said the coaches gave her goals to work for in the off season and she worked at them non-stop. Those coaches have confidence in her and believe in her every day. Having high standards from not just the team and coaching staff, but from Talon herself elevated this team to become a championship team.

“You get what you put in,” said Talon. “The amount of hard work you put into this game will get you far. I was told by many people when I was younger how they did not think I could play at this level. They said I was ‘too skinny’ or ‘not skilled enough.’ This only made me want to work harder. There will always be people that will doubt what you want to do. Don't listen to them and use it as motivation to prove them wrong.” <

Windham’s Estella Inman what every coach wants in an athlete

Estella Inman, center, joins her parents, Kristen and Hal
Inman, during a ceremony at Windham High School in
which Inman signed a Letter of Intent to attend the 
University of Maine Orono and compete on that school's
track and field team. PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA 

By Matt Pascarella

Estella Inman began competing in track and field her sophomore year at Windham High, but COVID-19 and then an injury delayed her advancement. She made up for it through intense training and her strong efforts have her presently ranked No. 1 overall in shotput and discus in the state and No. 2 overall in javelin and signed her letter of intent on Thursday, May 5 to attend the University of Maine Orono and participate in the women’s track and field program.

Inman is ranked third in her high school class academically and also competes in cross-country, indoor track and recently began powerlifting.

She’s wanted to sign her letter of intent for four years ever since she saw a friend of hers do it, and she said she wanted to be a part of collegiate athletics.

Windham cross-country and girls’ outdoor track and field coach Jeff Riddle said Stella is the definition of excellence. She is a positive teammate, and her dedication is exemplified by her progression. Inman has a relentless pursuit to progress and achieve the excellence she expects of herself.

Riddle said she brings her team along every day in that pursuit.

Inman recently broke Windham High School’s discus and javelin records set in 1992. Her new discus record is 119 feet, and her new javelin record is 118-07.00.

In indoor track last season, she became a shotput state champion when she threw a distance of 37-10.75.

Inman is close to breaking the school’s shotput record and plans to do so this season.

“Stella has always been that kind of teammate who works hard every single day in practice,” said teammate and Windham junior Elise Schultz. “She’s that kind of person who you want to walk in the room and see and seek her out. She’s definitely a model athlete.”

Inman has been running cross-country since she was a freshman and began competing in outdoor track her sophomore year. Unfortunately, it was canceled because of COVID-19. Inman was going to compete in indoor track her junior year but was not able to because of an injury.

Once recovered from this injury, Inman began powerlifting her senior year. In March, she placed first in her division during a powerlifting competition.

In the spring season of her junior year, she began competing in outdoor track and field. She went to states for javelin and shotput but did not compete well. Inman trained all summer and began getting more competitive in outdoor track and field. That competitiveness has led up to where she is now.

“In my over 20 years of coaching track and field I can’t remember having a young lady who had greater potential to be an outstanding thrower than Stella,” said Windham javelin coach George McCrillis. “I have not coached someone who has worked so hard to fulfill that potential. I have no doubt she has paved the way for more young ladies to feel comfortable doing the same.”

Inman said to get to this point has taken a lot of training and consistency. She’s had to push herself to work out when she might not feel like it.

“Having teammates there to support you is what makes everything worth it,” she said.

Inman would like to thank Coach Riddle who has been pushing her to be a better athlete since she began cross-country. <