BRUNSWICK

The Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference all-star teams are in and the Morse High School boys lacrosse team can boast of Player of the Year in Alexander Paulus and Coach of the Year in Jay Paulus.

Alexander Paulus was KVAC Class B Player of the Year for second time. He became a high school All- American, and was nominated to play in Florida at the ESPN Championship High School All American games in July.

Paulus had a 50-goal season, along with 39 assists.

“But, more importantly he honored the sport,” said Jay Paulus “As a coach I was excited to have him on the team, but it is time for him to move on and have someone else coach him allow me to be his father and watch.

“It’s been a wonderful experience watching Alexander mature into the athlete that he is. When I moved my family up to Maine from Maryland, Alexander was only 3- years-old. Having grown up in Baltimore and playing lacrosse my entire life, I just expected my children to play as well.

“At the time, Bath did not have a youth lacrosse program. However, Morse did have a lacrosse team, so I started teaching Alexander to play lacrosse very early.

“I started a youth program in Bath call the Buccaneers, and the program quickly grew. The combination of playing hockey and lacrosse, Alexander just took off. His lacrosse IQ was very high at an early age, therefore making it very easy for me to coach him.

“He dominated the game at an early age, but as he became a freshman, his natural ability to move the ball effortlessly, with such finesse, it was like watching a performance,” continued Jay Paulus.

“Every time he stepped on the field, he made me proud. In many ways it was very hard to coach my son on the team. I only coached lacrosse because I have a passion for it. I love the sport, you can say it’s in my blood.

“I will miss Alexander on the team, but I’m excited for him to go on to play college division III at Denison University.”

Alexander and his teammates posted a 9-3 KVAC record and was a fifth seed in the Eastern Maine Class B Tournament, losing to No. 4 Maranacook 14-8 in quarterfinal play.

“Having Alexander on the team was terrific,” said Jay Paulus. “He set a great example for me as a coach for the other kids to mimic. I have always said if you want to be better you have to play with people that are better, ‘play up’ so to speak.

“Now, for the next couple of seasons for Morse, I’m not the least be worried losing Alexander. I have one of the strongest sophomore classes returning. I have coached many of these kids as thirdgraders all the way up and I believe they just as strong, fast and will become better lacrosse players as they mature.”

Paulus, long stick midfielder Kevin Tolan, and midfielder Matt Buczkowski were named to the Class B First Team, while teammate and defenseman James Laser was a Second-Team selection.

Paulus was also named All- Academic.

In Class A boys lacrosse, Brunswick attackman Cameron Glover, long stick midfielder Zach Hamm and midfielders Alex Croatti and Sam Fortin were named to the First Team, while teammates Bailey Caparratto (attack) and Eli Downs (defense) were picked to the Second Team.

Brunswick coach Don Glover, who led the Dragons to an 11-1 regular season and an Eastern Maine Class A championship game (losing to Cheverus 10-9), was Coach of the Year.

Mt. Ararat midfielder Will Hirnak, defender Zach Greene, and goaltender Ed McGuire were named to the Second team after leading the Eagles to a 9-3 regular-season record. Teammate Ryan Smith was named All-Academic.

In girls lacrosse, Morse’s Sadia Crosby and Hannah Rossetti were named to the Class AB First Team, while picked to the Second Team were Brunswick’s Eliza Brooks and Caley Nicholson, along with Mt. Ararat’s Carly Raymond and Rebecca Schuman.

Player of the Year was Elizabeth Skinner of Messalonskee.

Named to the All-Academic squad were Brunswick’s Libby Arford and Olivia LeRoy; Mt. Ararat’s Morgan Chase, Sydni Clark and Sonja Robert; and Morse’s Crosby, Natasha Jacobs and Rossetti.

Softball

Class B All-Academic selections included the Morse trio of Megan Hixon, Lucy Rawson and Niesa Ryder, while Gardiner’s Taylor Banister was Player of the Year.

In Class A softball, Mt. Ararat’s Taylor Pare was named to the KVAC South First Team, while teammate Mallory Brook and Brunswick’s Rachel Moroney were picked to the Second Team.

Pare batted .563 with 28 hits, 16 singles, six doubles, three triples, and four home runs, with a slugging percentage of 1.104.

“Taylor has been First Team all-KVAC all four years,” said Mt. Ararat coach Rick Bartlett. “She has been our team leader since Miranda Riendeau’s graduation two years ago. She hates to lose and does everything she can to see the team be successful. She will be playing in the Senior All Star game at Cony on Thursday at 7 p.m.”

Players of the Year were Shelby Obert of Skowhegan for the North and Sonja Morse of Cony for the South.

All-Academic picks included the Mt. Ararat trio of Emily Eldridge, Micaela Mitchell and Pare.

Tennis

In Class B boys, Morse’s Sam Leeman was named to the Second Team and received All-Academic accolades.

In Class A boys, Brunswick’s Angelo Girardi and Damian Koch (first doubles) and Ben Lord and Xander Knox (second doubles) were named to the KVAC South First Team.

Also, Brunswick’s Mitch Cooney (first singles), Jimmy Kenyon (second singles) and Joel Soloway (third singles) were named to the Second Team after guiding the Dragons to a 12-0 regular season.

Cooney and Kenyon were All-Academic picks.

In Class A girls, Brunswick’s Maisie Silverman (first singles), Ali Stankiewicz (second singles) and Leah Soloway (third singles ) were named KVAC South First Team, while teammates Samiera MacMullan and Hannah Bobker (first doubles), and Ari Kasabian and Ellie Mersereau (second doubles) were also First-Team selections.

On the KVAC South Second Team was the Mt. Ararat first doubles team of Miko Kimura and Izzy Leon.

Kasabian was also All-Academic.

Track and field

In Class B girls, Morse’s Savannah Simmons-Grover was named All-Conference, while teammates Abigail Moore, Danica Moore and Elizabeth Walfield were All- Academic.

In Class A, All-Conference selections included Brunswick’s Anna Cowan, Teresa Murphy, Tessa Cassidy, Allison Hill and Emma Nagler, along with Mt. Ararat’s Maddison Prescott, Lizzie O’Neal, Nicole Ross, Alyssa Scannevin, Summer Gray and Olivia Swan.

For the boys, Brunswick’s Walter Martin, Zach Miller, Christopher Tanner, Jamie Ross and Alex Nichols were All-Conference, along with Andrew McCracken of Mt. Ararat.

All-Academic selections included Hill and Jessica Russell of Brunswick and Elsie Morgan, Brennie Radulski and Adeline Schneider of Mt. Ararat for the girls, and Nichols, Ross and Nathaniel Vilas of Brunswick for the boys.

Baseball

Brunswick’s Adam Casey was named to the KVAC South First Team, while teammates Charlie Lowell and John Parker, along with Mt. Ararat’s Ryan Lathrop, were Second Team picks.

Player of the Year was Matt Martin of Hampden in the North and Jordan Croteau of Oxford Hills and Zach LaChance of Cony in the South.

In Class B, Morse’s Paul Whalen and Liam McDonough were named to the First Team, while teammate Aaron Barrett was picked to the Second Team.

All-Academic picks included Whalen and teammate Aaron Doughty.

Player of the Year was Winslow’s Dylan Hapworth.