By TRAVIS LAZARCZYK

Staff Writer

After training with the Maine Central Institute ski team last season, Waterville's downhill skiers have a coach of their own this winter, and the Panthers are returning the favor to MCI's ski racers.

Waterville has five boys on the team -- senior Evan Vashon and juniors Matthew Nale, Torey Quinn, Alex Hallenbeck and Mike Tozier. Maine Principal's Association rules state that all competitors must have a coach in order to be eligible for races, so last season the skiers trained under the guidance of MCI coach Paul Bernier, practicing with the Huskies.

When Bernier retired after last season, the Waterville boosters hired Andy Willihan to coach the Panthers. While the school recognizes the team, the booster pays for all the team's expenses, said club spokesman Mark Nale.

"We have inquiries about the team all the time," Nale said. "When people have asked about this, they ask about a Nordic team."

There are no plans to add a Nordic team just yet, but this winter the Panthers will be joined by skiers from MCI, Messalonskee and Winslow on their cooperative team. MCI is allowing the team to use some of its equipment, including gates and radios, Nale said.

Once the snow flies, the team will train at Kents Hill School's ski run.

"We had some pretty good results last year. Hopefully, we'll do better this year," Nale said.

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There have been a lot of talented players in the history of Waterville Senior High School ice hockey, and fans will have a chance to see some of them play on Friday when the team's booster club sponsors an alumni hockey game.

The game is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. Friday at Colby's Alfond Rink. All the players make a donation to the booster club when they agree to play. Admission is free to the public.

"We did it last year and it was a fun time," booster club member Laura White said.

Among those confirmed to play are Chad Hart -- who won the 1999 Travis Roy award, given to the top senior player in the state -- and Barry Clukey, who scored 91 goals in his junior year at Waterville, setting a national high school record for goals in a season. A 1992 graduate, Clukey finished his career at Waterville with 216 goals and 135 assists for 351 points.

Monday was the first day of practice, and Waterville coach Dennis Martin said he had 25 players on the ice. That group includes forward Zach Jochem, who is back with the team after playing junior hockey last season, and defenseman Brock Leclair, a transfer from Winslow.

"We only lost four players from last year," Martin said.

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Lawrence and Skowhegan high schools each have a new ice hockey coach this winter.

Peter Carrier takes over for Scott Holmes at Skowhegan, which went 6-14 last season. Holmes coached the Indians for three seasons.

Yvon Boudreau is the new coach at Lawrence. Boudreau takes over the program from Josh Blaisdell, who coached the Bulldogs for four years. Lawrence went 9-12 last season, falling to Brunswick in the Eastern Maine Class A quarterfinals.

Travis Lazarczyk -- 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com