Gardiner Area High School senior Kyle Stilphen, who capped his high school career Saturday with a two-run single to end the Class B state championship game, was named the Press Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram boys athlete of the year at the paper's annual awards banquet Sunday evening.

Stilphen, who will attend the University of Maine in Orono and play baseball, also helped Gardiner to the Class B state title in football and was a finalist for the James J. Fitzpatrick Trophy, given to the state's top senior football player.

Stilphen is also a finalist for the Dr. John Winkin Mr. Maine Baseball award, given to the state's top senior baseball player.

PITTSFIELD — Maine Central Institue has hired new varsity coaches for boys basketball and soccer, as well as field hockey.

Frank McGrady takes over the Huskies boys basketball program. McGrady coached the JV boys from 2003-08 and was the girls' varsity coach from 1998-2002. McGrady was an assitant coach at MCI from 1992-94, and was co-director of a boys and girls pee wee basketball program in 1997.

Scott Giallambardo will coach the MCI boys soccer team. A 2000 graduate of MCI, Giallambardo played varsity soccer at the University of Maine at Farmingtonfrom 2000-02. He coached varsity girls soccer, girls basketball and middle school boys basketball from 2004-06 while a teacher at Katahdin High School. Since returning to MCI in 2006, he has coached JV boys soccer and freshman boys basketball.

Nancy Hughes will coach field hockey. Hughes is a 1987 gaduate of MCI.

The new boards and Plexiglas are up at the Kennebec Ice Arena ...

While it doesn't look so good everywhere, it appears Spring has sprung at Waterville Senior High School.

While high school hockey fans gear up for the regional semifinals, the Colby College men's ice hockey team has quietly moved into the national Division III rankings.

The Mules, 15-8-1, are ranked No. 14 in the latest USCHO.com national poll. The only other school from the New England Small College Athletic Conference ranked in the poll is No. 8 Middlebury (17-6-2).

Colby is the top seed in the NESCAC tournament, and will host the semifinals for the first time next weekend. Colby will take on Trinity at 1 p.m. Saturday, followed by Middlebury vs. Amherst. The winners will play at 1 p.m. Sunday for the title, with a trip to the NCAA tournament at stake.

A new multi-purpose field at Hall-Dale High School is nearing completion and should be ready for use next spring. Teams are already putting in requests for its use as both a practice and game field, according to athletic director Tim Johnson.

Blogging and tackling . . . That’s what’s it’s all about as any football coach will tell you. With that in mind, we kick off our first-ever high school sports blog. It should be fun and informative.