The Lincoln Academy Alumni Council will induct six new members into the LA Sports Hall of Fame on Friday, Nov. 27 at 6:15 p.m. in the Bailey Gymnasium. The award presentation will take place following the girls alumni basketball game.
The 2015 inductees to the LA Sports Hall of Fame are Mary Blanchard (Class of 1988), Coach Daniel Day (Class of 1965), Stephanie (Newell) Moore (Class of 2000), Debbie Russell (Class of 1990), Silas Skillin (Class of 1953), and Michelle (Russell) Walker (Class of 1988).
She was a member of the 1985 Mid-Maine Conference co-championship field hockey team.
Blanchard scored 22 career goals, including 12 her senior year in 1987. She had 22 career assists, including 11 in 1987 along with teammate Tessie Rector to break the school record for the most assists in a season. She also had a hand in two team records set in 1987, including 11 goals in a single game and 69 goals scored in a season.
She was named to the Maine Field Hockey Association All-State team, and named the Sunday Telegram Field Hockey Player of the Year.
She played third base and catcher for the LA softball teams that won Mid-Maine Conference championships in 1985, ’87, and ’88 (co-champs). The softball team was West B runner-up in 1987.
Blanchard lettered all four years in field hockey and softball. She was co-captain of both teams her senior year. In 1986 she was selected to participate in the Junior Olympics for field hockey in St. Louis, Mo.
She swam with the Boothbay YMCA in the winter months and placed third in the 200 freestyle at the Maine State YMCA swim championships.
She received the Lowell F. Simmons Award for excellence and citizenship, and the LA Achievement Cup. In 1988 she was inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame as a scholar/athlete for outstanding achievement.
After graduating from Lincoln Academy, Blanchard went to Middlebury College, where she played varsity field hockey for four years and varsity squash for two. Her senior year, Blanchard was co-captain of the field hockey team, was voted 1st Team Regional All-American in Division 3, and 2nd Team National All American for Division 3. She also received the Deb Parton Award for exemplifying the spirit and dedication of Deborah Parton.
Blanchard graduated with a degree in American literature. She taught English as a second language in Thailand for five years. She returned to the U.S. and earned a master’s degree in social work from Smith College. She now owns her own private psychotherapy practice in Brookline, Mass.
She lives in Boston with her partner, Theresa, and their 6-year-old son, Ben. She is an avid cyclist and swimmer and exercises almost every day.
After graduation from LA in 1965, Day attended the Wentworth Institute of Technology, receiving an associate degree in architectural engineering. Dan went on to Gorham State Teacher’s College, enrolling in the industrial arts program. It is there that he met his wife, Sandi, and received his teaching credentials.
Day did his student teaching at Lincoln Academy and was offered a job at Lincoln Academy by Principal Arthur Dexter in 1971.
He returned to his roots and taught and coached for many years at LA. He coached JV baseball from 1971 to 1980 and also served as the varsity pitching coach. He lined and set up both the baseball and softball fields for all home games. In the spring of 1981 he worked with a local contractor to rebuild the softball infield from grass to a crushed stone surface.
He earned 100 career wins as a softball coach for the Eagles from 1981 to 1989, and led the Lady Eagles to six Mid-Maine Conference championships (1982, ’84, ’85, ’87, ’88, and ’89) and two Western Maine Class B runner-up plaques (1984 and ’87).
He coached varsity baseball at LA from 1990 to 1996, and coached all three of his sons: Justin (1992), Matthew (1993). and Darryl (1996). He led the Eagles to the Western Maine Class B finals in baseball in 1992 and brought home the runner-up award.
Day retired from teaching in 1998. He was known at Lincoln as the resident artist and used his wit and artistic talent to draw caricatures of faculty and humorous events that occurred at the academy. His artwork built community spirit and created a light atmosphere in the teachers’ room.
After retiring, Day operated Day’s Cove Design until 2012 and built numerous homes in the Midcoast. He owns and operates Maine Art Prints by Maurice “Jake” Day (his grandfather), with his wife, Sandi, on Bristol Road in Damariscotta. He also frames art and runs a graphic arts business.
Day’s love of the outdoors includes many trips to the family camp at Matagamon Lake on the edge of Baxter State Park. Many friends have been treated to a Northern Maine experience at this special place over the years.
Moore graduated with honors and won every cross-country meet on the Eagles’ home course.
As a freshman, Moore won the Camden Hills Invitational, was third in Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference (KVAC) Class B, and won both the West Class C and the State Class C girls cross-country championships.
Lincoln Academy moved to Class B Moore’s sophomore year. She won the West Class B title, and was State Class B runner-up. She also placed third in the KVAC.
Moore recaptured state gold her junior year, winning her second state cross-country championship and first in Class B. She was runner-up in KVAC Class B, and 5th in the West B Regionals.
Moore won the Camden Hills Invitational her senior year, and looked to win her first KVAC title. Class A and B were run together at the KVAC championships. Moore let a Leavitt runner go by because she thought she was a Class A runner (wearing a Class A number). Moore was declared the Class B winner, then stripped of it, after it was discovered Leavitt was in Class B.
Moore ran injured (cracked rib) at the regional and state meets her senior year and placed 11th in both meets.
She was named to the KVAC 1st Team all four years in cross-country.
Moore attended Castleton State College for two years, earned an associate degree, and played varsity basketball. She then transferred to the University of Maine Orono and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
She painted for John Curtis for 11 years and, following his death, opened her own painting business, Steph Newell Painting, which she ran for seven years. She is now a stay-at-home mom with 6-month-old Everlee.
As a sophomore, Russell started at left inner on the 1987 Eastern Maine Class B and State Class B championship field hockey team, and later played on the 1989 Mid-Maine Conference co-championship field hockey team.
She was a big part of two team records set in 1987, including the 11 goals per game record and 69 goals in a season record. Both records still stand today. Russell scored 31 career goals, including 10 goals in 1987 during the Eagles’ state championship run.
Coach Paula Roberts called her “the most unselfish player she has ever coached.”
Russell also played softball on three Mid-Maine Conference championship teams in 1987, ’88, and ’89. She earned four varsity letters in softball and four in field hockey.
Russell works at the Renys office in Newcastle and lives in Nobleboro with her partner Nick, stepdaughter Nathalie, 4-year-old son Nevan, and 2-year-old daughter Ivy.
Skillin won two state championships in the 200-yard hurdles in 1951 and 1952 and set a state record in the event in a time of 23.4 seconds. In 1952, he was selected to represent Maine at the New England School Boy championships, where he placed second in the 200-yard hurdles.
He spent his freshman year at Deering High School in Portland. He joined the track team and became the first freshman in Deering history to earn both a varsity sweater and varsity letter.
In 1950 his family moved to a farmhouse in Alna with no running water, heat, or telephone. Skillin hauled water every day from Head Tide to the farm, until the family put a well in the next spring.
In 1953, Skillin won the state championship in the broad jump with a state record leap of 20’11”. He broke several Knox-Lincoln and state records.
In 1951, with Skillin leading the way, LA track won the Knox-Lincoln championships and placed third in the state meet.
Skillin collected 10 varsity letters in three years at Lincoln Academy, three each in track, baseball, and basketball and one in cross-country. He was captain of the track and basketball teams his senior year.
He played right forward on the Eagles basketball team and averaged 19 points per game. In the spring he competed in seven track and field events, including the high and low hurdles, 100- and 220-yard dashes, high jump, pole vault, running broad jump, and half-mile relay, for which he was the anchor. Occasionally he competed in the hammer, javelin, and shot put.
He was a pitcher on the Eagles baseball team.
He was also active in the student council, music, glee club, minstrel show, the Washington Club, senior club, magazine drive, and the Lincolnian board.
He went to the University of Maine Orono on a track scholarship. He decided to fulfill his military obligation and joined the Air Force. After basic training he was selected for Survival School. He became a Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape Instructor.
He was transferred to Eielson Air Base near Fairbanks, Alaska, before it became a state. He was part of the 58th squadron known as the Pole Vaulters. He was a member of weather Reconnaissance Squadron, which flew 18 hours non-stop over the North Pole to Greenland, across the Arctic Circle to the Russian Arctic, and returned over the Aleutian Islands.
He returned to the University of Maine in 1958 and competed in track his junior and senior years. At the time he was married to Sylvia and had three daughters.
His plans to teach and coach changed when he was offered a job with the New England Telephone Company. He joined the Appalachian Mountain Club and did some mountain climbing. He got seriously into whitewater canoeing and led countless spring canoe trips down rivers throughout New England for the next 35 years. Between 1958 and 1994 he led 35 trips down the Allagash, as well as the St. John and the West Branch of the Penobscot.
He lost a leg to diabetes in 1985, but continued his love of adventure with trips around the world with his wife, including an African safari.
Walker played left wing on the 1987 Eastern Maine Class B and State Class B championship field hockey teams. She was a member of the 1985 Mid-Maine Conference co-championship field hockey team.
She had a nose for the goal and played aggressively in the circle, earning her many scoring opportunities. She was equally good on defense, stealing the ball in the Eagles offensive end and crossing the ball to the right to set up scoring drives.
Walker earned 11 varsity letters while at LA, including four each in field hockey and softball and three in basketball. While playing softball for the Lady Eagles, Lincoln Academy won three Mid-Maine Conference championships, in 1985, ’87, and ’88, and were Western Maine Class B runners-up in 1988.
After graduating from LA, Walker lettered in varsity field hockey four years at the University of Maine Farmington. She was inducted into the UMF Hall of Fame for winning the NAIA Division 5 championships in field hockey during her freshman year.
Walker also played varsity softball for three years at UMF.
She graduated with a coaching certificate and a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics and computer science. She was assistant field hockey coach at UMF after graduating and interim coach the following year.
She has been employed as a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier since 1995 in Waterville. She is a single mother and lives in Oakland with her children, Alec, 12, Benjamin, 10, and Catherine, 7.
She has participated in some mini-triathlons and enjoys hiking and biking.
