Longtime Mt. Ararat cross country and track and field coach Diane Fournier said it was “a huge surprise” to be included in the school’s inaugural athletics hall of honors class. 

The Oct. 11 induction ceremony, complete with adoration and celebration, was impressive not just for Fournier, but a distinguished guest as well: Bear, her 6-year old samoyed.

“It was pretty amazing,” Fournier said. “Because there are so many things that you do when you’re coaching, you’re teaching, and it wasn’t something I expected. And my dog was the same way. She thought that it was pretty incredible, too.”

Fournier, a iconic runner and coach in Maine, led the always-competitive Mt. Ararat programs from 1974 to 2022. During her 48-year tenure, the girls outdoor track team won three Class A titles (1975, 1992, 2005), the girls indoor track team won three Class A titles (1993, 1994, 1997), the girls cross country team won two state championships (1992, 2004), and the boys cross country team also won two (1994, 2019). 

Fournier’s greater impact, however, was made with the thousands of athletes she formed relationships with and developed into young adults. A handful were inducted into the hall of honors with their coach. 

Five of the nine athletes selected were runners. Cuyler Goodwin Greene, Jenn Moreau, Elizabeth Wilcox and Jessica Wilcox all ran for Fournier in the 1990s and early 2000s. McKenzie Gary, a football player, sprinter and long jumper who graduated in 2012 with two state records, also was inducted. 

“The impression that I got when I first started running was I had to run because I had to show them what I thought was important,” Fournier said. “We still run, but we run smart. There’s a difference between running dumb and a difference between running really smart. And we had a lot of smart kids that were out on the field Saturday.

“When they come up and they hug you and they tell you, ‘Hi, Ms. Fournier. Hi, So-and-so’, it’s amazing in how you feel. (You) say to yourself, ‘Gee, I did better than I thought I could do.’”

Goodwin Greene, the current Mt. Ararat track and field head coach, won 24 individual championships at indoor and outdoor events, ranging in distance from 60 yards to 800 meters. She was named the Gatorade girls track and field athlete of the year three times from 1993-95.  

Moreau won five state championships before graduating in 1999, and was one of the first Maine girls to break the 5-minute mile mark. Elizabeth Wilcox and Jessica Wilcox were key contributors to the 2005 state championship-winning outdoor track team. Jessica won the individual cross country title in 2003, while Elizabeth won the same event in 2004. 

Also inducted:
• Mark Rogers, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2004 Major League Baseball draft as a pitcher.
• Erica Stupinski Driscoll, 2003 Gatorade girls soccer player of the year and 2004 Miss Maine Basketball.
• Mark Gilbride, a 1,000-point scorer and current head coach of the RPI men’s basketball team.
• Lisa Nowak, all-American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler.
• Jason Eggleston, the athletic program’s unofficial team photographer.
• Rick Renaud, longtime boys soccer coach with over 300 career wins and two state titles.
• The 1991-93 state championship-winning girls soccer teams.