Jesse Cadigan. Contributed photo.

MALE:

JESSE CADIGAN, Junior-Cross country

• Team MVP

Cadigan transferred to Cheverus this fall and faced his share of challenges, but he outraced them all and he saved his best performance for the season’s biggest meet.

Cadigan spent his first two high school seasons running for Massabesic. He was 45th at the Class A state meet as a freshman, then came in 36th as a sophomore.

This season, Cadigan debuted by placing third in a meet against South Portland. He had a first-place individual finish and led the Stags to a team victory over Windham. Cadigan then had to overcome injury and missed a couple of meets before returning to place 11th in the Southwestern Maine Activities Association state qualifier with a time of 17 minutes, 8.95 seconds.

“I felt that my season went pretty well,” Cadigan said. “I put in a lot of work but was injured during a few crucial weeks of training right before regionals, so I did not perform as well as I feel I could have. My goal for next year is definitely to place top 10 at states in cross country.”

Cadigan also runs track and hopes to get under 2-minutes, 5-seconds in the 800.

Jesse Cadigan, Cheverus’ Fall Male Athlete of the Year, made an immediate impact at his new school and it’s likely he’s going to do even bigger things before he graduates.

Coach Nick Denari’s comment: “Jesse was a great contributor for us this year and was the fastest athlete we’ve had in a number of years. Jesse has a level of determination that is second-to-none. He would constantly ask his coaches, ‘What can I do to be better?’ When he suffered an injury during the middle of the season and he was restricted to only cross-training for a couple of weeks, the intensity of his workouts increased as he knew he wanted to come out of the injury in even better shape than he was before. When he returned to running, it didn’t look like he had missed any time at all and he had his best performance of the season at the state qualifier. His coaches are very excited to see what he can do with the next year-and-a-half at Cheverus.”

Prior winners:

2019 Sean Tompkins (football)

2018 Teigan Lindstedt (football)

2017 Luc Dionne (soccer)

2016 Jack Casale (football)

2015 Jake Tomkinson (soccer)

2014 Joe Fitzpatrick (football)

2013 Joe Fitzpatrick (football)

2012 Donald Goodrich (football)

2011 Elliot Maker (soccer)

2010 Peter Gwilym (football)

2009 Peter Gwilym (football)

2008 Jack Terwilliger (cross country)

2007 Galen Munroe (soccer)

2006 Andrew Pochebit (football)

2005 Anthony Ardito (golf)

2004 Max Molleo (soccer)

Lucia Pompeo. Contributed photo.

FEMALE:

LUCIA POMPEO, Senior-Field hockey

• Cheverus Offensive Player of the Year

• Captain’s Award winner

• Captain

Pompeo struck fear into the heart of the opposition when she had the ball on her stick, which was a situation that often led to goals scored and thrills for her teammates and coaches.

Pompeo came to field hockey naturally, following in the footsteps of her older sister Sophia (Cheverus Fall Female Athlete of the Year in 2018). Lucia Pompeo joined the Stags varsity as a freshman and made an immediate impact, being named her team’s Rookie of the Year. Pompeo was a first-team league all-star as a junior and this season, despite its limitations due to COVID-19, was one of the most explosive scorers around.

In just eight games, Pompeo scored 18 goals, more than two per game, and she also had four assists.

Highlights included three goals in a season-opening victory over South Portland, two goals and an assist in a win over Falmouth, an overtime game-winning tally against Scarborough, three goals and an assist in a victory over Westbrook, three more goals and another assist in a win over Greely and four goals in a season-ending victory over South Portland.

“We had positive energy,” Pompeo said. “The whole group. We had a good time every practice. We loved playing together. We were just lucky to be (playing), honestly.

“I’m very proud of how much my team has accomplished this year. It was definitely a very different year, but we made the most of it. I’m very sad we couldn’t have made a playoff run, but I’m lucky to have played with such an amazing group of girls my last year at Cheverus. I’m very glad I could play for a program like Cheverus and have a role model like Sophia paving the way. Everyone is very supportive including coaches and teammates. I’m really going to miss it.”

Pompeo, who has also starred for the Stags ice hockey team, will next take her talents to Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, where she plans to play field hockey.

Lucia Pompeo, Cheverus’ Fall Female Athlete of the Year, will be remembered as an unstoppable force of nature when she was racing up the field with the goal in sight. Players with her skill and passion don’t come around often.

Coach Theresa Hendrix’s comment: “Lucia has been a standout and has had a wonderful high school career. Lucia is a player that you don’t want to see as your opponent, but love to watch play. Lucia has been a standout player since her freshman year, even when playing through painful injuries. Her passion for the sport, combined with hard work, shows every time she steps on the field. She was a scoring threat with phenomenal stick skills and determination. While the stats showed how powerful she was in the circle, she was impactful all over the field. Lucia was the leading scorer on the team for the last two years. Even with no playoffs, no end-of-season conference or state awards, Lucia’s spirit was never broken. She was just excited to play. When she put on the uniform, her confidence and love for field hockey lit up and it was shared with those not just on her team but everyone who got the pleasure to watch her compete.”

Lucia Pompeo. File photo.

Prior winners:

2019 Emma Gallant (soccer)

2018 Sophia Pompeo (field hockey)

2017 Michaela Jordan (soccer)

2016 Hannah Abbott (field hockey)

2015 Becca Archer (field hockey)

2014 Abby Goodrich (soccer)

2013 Elyse Caiazzo (field hockey)

2012 Staci Swallow (field hockey)

2011 Sarah LaQuerre (field hockey)

2010 Emily Sawchuck (field hockey)

2009 Emily Durgin (cross country)

2008 Bethany Schleh (field hockey)

2007 Elizabeth Somma (soccer)

2006 Elise Roux (soccer)

2005 Meaghan Mingo (soccer)

2004 Lauren Metevier (soccer)

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.