After months of deliberation, The Sanford High School Athletics Hall of Honor Committee (established in 2023) is pleased to announce its first class of inductees. These nine inductees include exemplary student-athletes, coaches and community members. They will be honored in a ceremony on Saturday, November 30, 2024, at 1 p.m. in the Sanford Performing Arts Center.
“The legacy that these nine inductees have created in the Sanford community is second to none,”said Athletic Director Zachary Lemelin. “They have helped lay the foundation of success and traditions coveted in our community.”
Paul Belanger, Sanford High School Class of 1977
Paul Belanger was a three-sport athlete and captain at Sanford High School, being honored with the prestigious Campbell Cup, given to the outstanding male student-athlete of the graduating class. He is considered among the best athletes in Maine ever to play the games of high school football, basketball, and baseball, being honored multiple times statewide in all three sports. At Colby College, he earned 11 varsity letters in football, basketball, and baseball and received significant honors in all three sports. For his impact upon the sport of basketball, he was named to the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame, Inducted Class of 2018.
Kevin Bougie, Sanford High School Class of 2000
Kevin Bougie was a three-sport athlete and captain at Sanford High School, being honored with the prestigious Campbell Cup, given to the outstanding male student-athlete of the graduating class. He excelled in football, basketball, and baseball, earning multiple accolades and honors statewide in all three sports. His leadership and athleticism distinguished him as one of Maine's standout high school athletes. After high school, Kevin went on to Bowdoin College, where he played baseball all four years and football for the first two years. At Bowdoin, he was recognized as the Outstanding First-Year Male Athlete in 2001, and he held the career hits record with 173. He also served as the baseball captain in his junior (2003) and senior (2004) years and was named to the All-NESCAC Baseball team in 2002 and 2004.
John Caramihalis, Sanford High School Class of 1949
John Caramihalis is widely considered the founder of Maine wrestling. He started the wrestling program in Sanford and hosted the first ever wrestling meet at the Sanford Memorial Gymnasium between Portland and Sanford in February, 1959. He also started the collegiate wrestling team at Nasson College in 1972. He was the inaugural inductee into the Maine Amateur Wrestling Alliance Hall of Fame, Inducted Class of 1993. Many of his athletes became Sanford coaches and won state championships in their own right. John transformed this community into the premier wrestling town in the state for four decades.
Michael Caramihalis, Sanford High School Class of 1980
Mike Caramihalis was Maine’s first undefeated four-time state champion. He won state championships in four different weight classes throughout his career, as a time when Maine wrestling only had a one class state tournament. He was inducted into the Maine Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1995.
John Cochin, Sanford High School Class of 1955
John Cochin was a three-sport athlete and captain at Sanford High School, being honored with the prestigious Campbell Cup, given to the outstanding male student-athlete of the graduating class. He played baseball at Northeastern University and Nasson College, and eventually returned to his alma mater to serve as a chemistry teacher, the assistant varsity baseball coach for seven years and the head varsity baseball coach seventeen years, while also coaching for over twenty years at all levels of summer baseball in our community. His astute knowledge of coaching and sports history was invaluable in his longtime contributions as Sports Editor of the Sanford News. For his impact upon the sport of baseball, he was named to the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame, Inducted Class of 2009 and was honored by the Sanford Schools Legacy Foundation for his contributions to athletics and a fortyeight-year teaching career with dedications in 2023 of the Cochin Athletic Field and a chemistryclassroom within Sanford High School, four months prior to his passing later that same year.
Roland Cote, Sanford High School Class of 1961
Roland Cote was a highly accomplished three-sport athlete at Sanford High School and was honored with the prestigious Campbell Cup, given to the outstanding male student-athlete of the graduating class. Following short stints as a teacher and coach at both Kennebunk and Massabesic high schools, he returned to his alma mater where he taught history and civics for thirty years and served as a coach of multiple sports during a career that spanned over forty years. He is believed to have coached more sports teams in more games (800) and had more total wins (600) than any other Sanford coach, and even volunteered at Sanford High games for over fifty years as well as coached in various levels of summer baseball. For his contributions to the sport of basketball as a coach in particular, he was named to the New England Basketball Hall of Fame, Inducted Class of 2009. The Sanford Schools Legacy Foundation, recognizing his career accomplishments as well as his personal passion for playing tennis, dedicated in his honor the Cote Tennis Courts at the new school campus in 2021.
Tony Matoin, Sanford High School Class of 1979
Tony Matoin established himself as the fastest running back and sprinter in the state of Maine during his senior year at Sanford, winning the prestigious James J. Fitzpatrick trophy for the state’s top Class A football player as well as capturing state championship honors in the 100-yard dash and the 4x100 relay in track and field. He accomplished these feats despite receiving a severe shoulder injury in football during his sophomore year, leaving his future athletic career in jeopardy. But Tony worked tirelessly in the off season, overcoming the odds and ultimately becoming the most sought-after football and track recruit in the State of Maine during his senior. He accepted a full scholarship to play football at Division 1-AA University of Massachusetts for legendary coach Bob Pickett, where Tony went on to be a standout halfback, kick returner and punt returner. Tony has lived in Sanford his whole life and has volunteered for many years as a youth football coach.
Nicholas C. Scaccia, Sanford High School Class of 1967
Nicholas C. Scaccia was perhaps Sanford High School's most renowned basketball player, being a prominent member of Sanford's only appearance in the boys' Class A State Championship Game,at the Bangor Auditorium, in 1967. He established multiple scoring records and earned multiple prestigious awards for his outstanding accomplishments in the sport, including membership to the New England Basketball Hall of Fame, Inductee in 2009, and the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame, inductee in 2015.
Jennifer (Roberts) Zarkoskie, Sanford High School Class of 2010
Jennifer Roberts has been an award winning competitive swimmer at the local, state, New England regional, and national levels – both while a student at Sanford High School and on college teams at the University of Maryland and the University of New Hampshire. As one of the most accomplished swimmers in the state of Maine, she was inducted into the Maine Swimming Hall of Fame in 2012.