The 19th annual Induction Ceremony for the Midcoast Sports Hall of Fame held on Saturday, Oct. 17, in Waldoboro had a definite flavor of the Boothbay region. The Boothbay Region High School boys’ cross-country team of 2009 was inducted into the Hall of Fame. The team was recognized for becoming State Class C champions. Special recognition was given to Coach Nick Scott, who is in his 20th season as coach, and runner Chase Brown, a 2012 BRHS graduate.

Coach Scott chronicled the journey of the 2009 team who were just three years removed from not even qualifying for the state championship. Under the senior leadership of Matt Forgues and Wendall Thayer, the team placed their top 5 runners in the top 25 spots and won the championship by 1 point over the regional champion Freeport High School.

Finishers in the race included Chase Brown-2nd, Matthew Forgues-14th, Wendall Thayer-18th, Tom Brown-22nd, Nate Schwehm-25th, Nick James-52nd, and Stephen Barter -56th. In addition to becoming the State Class C champions, the team won their second Mt. Valley Championship, three regular meets, and qualified as a team to run in the New England Championships.

Other team members who ran throughout the season included Wyatt Anthony, Jonah Baum, Brady Duncan, Dan Murray, Alex Owen, Sam Schwehm, Kade Smith and Cameron White.

Chase Brown expressed appreciation to his parents, extended family, teammates, friends, coaches, the Boothbay community and the Maine running community for all their support during his athletic career. He mentioned how fortunate he was to have so many people supporting him, especially Coach Scott who Chase described as an outstanding coach and mentor.

Chase, who also competed in track and field and cross-country skiing at BRHS, attended Colby College where he was an accomplished runner for both the cross-country and the track and field teams. He graduated from Colby in 2016. 

Chase emphasized that if you experience success or feel pure enjoyment participating in an activity, savor those fun and special moments. He wisely said to soak up the fun with all the people involved because time goes by quickly.

Chase shared memories of Wendall Thayer being able to run almost at full speed like a crouched-down waddling duck or having fun throwing crab apples at each other before practice. He concluded by saying that it was a wonderful experience that he was privileged to share with a great coach and teammates.

Coach Nick Scott graduated from the University of Maine at Farmington in 2006. While at Farmington he was the team captain and was chosen as the North Atlantic Conference Runner of the Year in 2004.

After graduating from college, Nick embarked on a very successful coaching career at BRHS. He has been the boys and girls cross-country coach since 2006, the Nordic ski coach for eight years, the boys and girls Indoor track coach since 2019, the assistant track and field coach for seven years and the track and field head coach since 2014.

In cross-country he has been voted boys Mountain Valley Conference Coach of the Year nine times and girls Coach of the Year three times. His cross-country teams have won 13 Conference Championships, four regional runners-up in boys, three regional champions in boys, one State Class C runner-up in boys and one boys State Class C Championship. Nick has coached 23 individual conference champions and four individual state champions. 

Nick thanked BRHS Athletic Director Allan Crocker, present and past runners and coaches, parents, his own coaches and most importantly his wife. Nick said one of the best parts of coaching cross-country and track and field is that there are no Heal Points, no cuts and everyone gets to participate.

In some sports running can be a punishment for not working hard enough, but in cross-country you need to embrace it to be successful.

Nick shared the impact a coach had during his freshman year at Monmouth Academy. This coach told Nick how character is defined by how you respond to the voice in your head telling you what to do when you think you have reached your limit.

At the beginning of each season, Nick speaks with his runners about the difference between being a participant vs a competitor. He shared something he had learned from another coach. On the bus on the way home from a meet, this coach would sit with each athlete, listen to their thoughts on the meet and then he would make suggestions and offer support. Nick does the same with all his runners and sees the dividends it produces. 

He shared the saying, “We stand on the shoulders of giants,” a reference to the quality of coaches he has learned from. Nick said this included developing a competitive spirit, sharp mental toughness, and defining character.

I asked Nick about the competition between himself and Chase Brown when both did the Lobster Roll 5k race. After Chase graduated from BRHS, the two would frequently run together and looked forward to competing in this race.

I fondly remember watching these races and seeing the former coach and his runner giving everything they had, not letting the voice in their heads get in the way to out-distance the other.