Class of 2016

Inductee Bios

Jay A. Plourd

Jay is a graduate of Rockland High School and attended the Professional Golfers Association Golfing School. He was a stellar athlete during his formative years, and continues to excel in golf. He excelled in basketball and baseball being selected as an all star on numerous occasions. His golfing career began at the Rockland Golf Club at a very young age playing with cut off clubs that his Dad had made. He competed in a Junior League all over the State of Maine, winning many tournaments as an adolescent, highlighted by a win in the Midget Division for the Tri-State Championship, which included young players from northern New England States. In 1986, Jay captured the Junior Bunyan Championship at Kebo Valley Country Club winning over numerous young golfers from around the state with a 76.

He and his parents, Armand and Helen, hold a record for the most Parent-Child Championships at the Rockland Golf Club. There were many times he was competing for this prize against his twin brother, Jamie.

In high school he was among the top three school-boy players in Maine, and was the Tiger’s number two golfer on the Rockland team that won four straight titles. Many matches came down to the wire and depended on Jay’s win.

He represented Maine in the New England Juniors, and qualified for the State Schoolboy Championship three straight years. Jay was a Courier Gazette All Star for four years.

But as Ken Waltz noted in an article that he wrote on Jay, Plourd wanted to do more than play golf, he wanted to make golf his career.

While making the transition from amateur golfer to Golf Pro, Plourd credits the improvement in his game to the lessons he took with Bob Toski, a Golf Digest teaching pro and an instructor for many touring pros. The lessons came during the first six months of his pro training while working at the President’s Country Club, a private club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

“I learned a lot about the swing from him,” said Plourd. “He changed me around a lot, and my game has gotten more consistent.” He also credits his Dad, Armand, for helping with the golf during his high school days.

As a golf pro, Plourd won some impressive titles, winning a team pro event with Peter Hodgkins in 1989. Winning the Maine Assistant Pro Championship in 1989 over Jerry Diphillppo in a sudden death play off with a score of “70” at the Naples Golf Club. Jay has also finished in the top ten for the Maine Open on many occasions carding score as low as 73, 71, and a four under par 68 at Riverside Golf Club in Portland.

Jay’s return to amateur status includes many exemplary accomplishments and championships as well. He and Marc Siewertsen were the Two Man Team Champions at Belgrade in 2009, and runner-ups in 2010. He and club members from Val Halla have left their mark as the Maine State Golf Association Club Team Champion with Jim McKay, Marc Siewertsen and Tony Polito in 2009. Another prestigious honor was runner-ups in the Maine Mixed State Championship with his mother Helen, at Kennebec Heights with a score of “69” losing by only one shot. Jay Plourd’s competitive career as an exemplary golfer continues to this day with local honors at Riverside, Val Halla and MSGA events. He was a well liked teaching pro at Riverside, and many players credit their improvements to Jay The longevity of his golfing honors speak loudly for his accomplishments.

Steve Reed

Steve Reed was born in Damariscotta, Maine in 1947. He developed a passion for running while in high school at Lincoln Academy where he participated in cross country and track and was captain of both teams. The track team won the Knox-Lincoln league championship all four years under Coach Williamson. He pursued cross-country and track at Bowdoin College, but shin splints and the quest for a medical career became issues. He obtained his medical degree in 1973 at the University of Vermont and would say that if he was going to be tortured in medical school at least he was in a pretty location. He pursued his postdoctoral training for three years at Maine Medical Center and in 1976 started his Family Practice in Wiscasset. That year he decided to resume his passion for running and began a daily three-mile minimum streak which would continue for over 40 years. Somehow he managed to squeeze that into his medical practice schedule, but always said that he was a lucky man blessed with good health and fortune. With running, he discovered an activity with a myriad of benefits: socially, athletically, and emotionally.

During his running career, he logged over 100,000 miles and stated that he had been around the globe at least 4 times. He competed in over a 1,000 races mostly 5ks, 10ks, and marathons and invariably won his age division (sometimes an overall win and said that it was an ego trip to beat the young guys). Along the way he also won his age division at the Chicago Marathon and had a 5th place finish at 50 and 60 in the Boston Marathon. He was selected as Maine Track Club runner of the year in 1999 and was elected to the Lincoln Academy Sports Hall of Fame in 2014. This year he was selected the US Running Streak Association's runner of the year.

John Buteau

John Buteau is a 1962 graduate of Vinalhaven High School where he excelled in athletics, leading the basketball team to two tournaments, and competing in cross-country and baseball.

After graduating from Vinalhaven High School, he attended Hebron Academy for a one-year post-graduate program. During that year, he played on the varsity football, basketball and track teams.

Although John had not run any track in high school, he found his niche on the track team at Hebron. He ran the 440, 220, and 100 yard dashes, and ran on several relay teams. One of the highlights of his stay at Hebron was when the school built the state’s first composite track in 1963 and Jesse Owens came to the dedication. After winning a race, the day of the dedication, John had the opportunity to shake Mr. Owens’s hand and speak with him for a minute. John went on to set several meet records that year, and he won the Maine State Prep School 440 yard championship with a time of 52.4 seconds.

Following his post graduate year at Hebron, John went on to the University of Maine where he participated on indoor and outdoor track teams for three years. In his freshman year he ran on the freshman team, which competed against several of the larger high schools in the state. Coming from a small school, John relished winning races against runners from these larger schools. John was on a freshman relay team that took second place in a New England Regional meet in Boston.

In John’s sophomore year, he won all of his 100 and 220-yard dash races. He won the Maine State 100 and 220 dash championships that year. His time in the 100-yard dash was 10.1 seconds and his time in the 220 yard dash was 21.7 seconds. John also won the Yankee Conference 100 yard and 220-yard titles. The Yankee Conference included teams from all of the state universities in New England. He went on to set several meet records, in the 100 yard dash against Boston University and in the 220 yard dash against New Hampshire. He also anchored the mile relay team that set a meet record. John was the high scorer on the Maine track team in 1965 when they won both Maine State and Yankee Conference titles.

During his junior year at University of Maine, John repeated his 220-yard win in the Maine State meet and he finished second in the 100-yard race. That year in the Yankee Conference meet he placed second and third in his races.

After college, John moved to Connecticut where he was active in youth sports programs. He was president of the youth soccer league for two years and he also coached youth basketball. He coached baseball for eight years, coaching up through pony league level.

Though out his life John has continued with his interest in track and running. He attended many track meets at UCONN and Yale. He also participated in many local 5K and 10K races, typically finishing in the middle of the pack but enjoying the run.

Paula Reed-Ryder

Paula Reed-Ryder is arguably the best three sport athlete that ever graduated from Rockland District High School. She was a 3 year varsity field hockey player who was the first ever Rockland Tiger named All State in consecutive years. She led the Midcoast in scoring her senior year, tallying 13 goals and 2 assists. Reed-Ryder scored 35 career field hockey goals and had 12 career assists. She was also a two time Midcoast Field Hockey Player of the Year. In basketball, she was a top defensive player and averaged 4 points, 2 steals, 2 rebounds, and three assists during her senior year to lead the team to the Eastern Maine Finals. Reed-Ryder was selected to the first team Courier Gazette All Star basketball team her senior year. In softball, she was an outstanding pitcher who had two career no hitters and over 200 career strikeouts. She also batted .320 her senior year. Reed-Ryder was the Captain of all three of her varsity teams. She was the 1993-1994 Courier Gazette Schoolgirl Athlete of the Year and was recruited to the University of Southern Maine for all three sports.

At the USM Reed-Ryder captained both the Field Hockey and Softball teams her senior year. She had three game winning goals her senior year leading USM to the field hockey playoffs. In softball, she had a career .296 batting average, and led USM to its first ever Little East Conference Championship appearance and NCAA tournament . At the time of her graduation, she held softball records for career and season that included—innings pitched--494.1 and 154.1; games started—77 and 24; complete games career and season 68 and 21; wins for her career—44-- currently number 3 all time. Her strikeouts for her career totaled 289—currently number 4 all time. Her 107 strikeouts for a season is still number 1. Her ERA of 2.96 is still number 7 of all time. Her fewest walks per 7 innings of 3.68 is currently ranked number three; fewest hits per 7 innings of 7.21 is currently number 5. Reed-Ryder’s most strikeouts per 7 innings of 4.09 is currently ranked second. She was selected for the All Little East Softball Team in 1996 and 1997. She was also the Little East Conference Tournament MVP in 1998. Paula Reed-Ryder was inducted into the USM Hall of Fame in 2008.

Mike King

Mike King is one of the best athletes to come out of Georges Valley High School. As a four-year varsity starter for the Buccaneers, King scored over 40 goals. He was a team MVP in his junior and senior year, captained the Bucs to their first state championship, was named to the All State team his junior and senior year, and was named to the All New England team his senior year, an incredible accomplishment for a student athlete from a Class C high school in Maine. Perhaps the most impressive, he scored over 40 goals.

In addition to his accomplishments on the soccer field, King was a four-year starter for the baseball team at George’s Valley, batting over .400 for his junior and senior years, and was named team MVP during his senior season.

In basketball, Mike was a three-year starter for the Bucs. He scored over 900 points in his career, highlighted by a 31-point performance against York in a tournament game as a sophomore. He was also named team MVP for his senior year.

Though his high school career was absolutely stellar, his life as an athlete did not end there. At the University of Maine at Farmington, Mike was a three-sport athlete and a starter for the men’s soccer team for three seasons, and was named an all state collegiate for the Beavers in 1978 and 1979.

Wanting to continue his life in athletics as an adult, Mike has served as a distinguished soccer official and baseball and softball umpire for more than 30 years. In baseball and softball, he umpired many high school playoff games and one state championship.

In soccer, he has served as a high school and college official at a very high level, officiating in 12 consecutive high school state championship games and 15 in total. In college soccer, he has officiated many conference playoff games as well as NCAA and NAIA playoff games.

Beth Montgomery Rhinelander

Beth Montgomery Rhinelander graduated from Rockland District High School in 1989, as the salutatorian of her class, and her athletic accomplishments at Rockland were equally as impressive as her academic accomplishments.

She was a four year varsity starter for the Tigers basketball team, being named a Courier-Gazette all-star during her sophomore, junior, and senior years, and was named the co-MVP in the 2nd annual Courier-Gazette all-star game during her Junior year. She was a McDonald’s Academic All-star during her senior basketball season. Beth Montgomery was that high school basketball player that all coaches would want to have on their own team. One of her opposing coaches had this to say, “I had the unenviable task of preparing my team to play against Beth during her impressive career at Rockland District High School. Beth had a skill set that made her a force on both offense and defense. That skill set, combined with size, intelligence and a fierce competitive spirit made her one of the very best basketball players in Midcoast Maine.” - George Gould

Her athletic career really took off during after high school during her four years at Colby College. At Colby, she was a 1,000 point scorer, a team captain, and led the team in both offensive and defensive rebounds during her senior year. She still holds several records at Colby, including blocked shots in a season at 80, career blocked shots at 253, and tied for most in one game at 7; truly remarkable statistics.

Also during her season, Montgomery Rhinelander was selected to the New England Women’s Basketball Association Senior All Star team.

Perhaps her most impressive accomplishment was winning the Marjorie D. Bither award in 1993. She was recognized for her academic accomplishment, leadership, and athletic ability.

Today, Beth and her husband live in Maine, and Beth is back at Colby, working in the IT department as a Senior Information Systems Analyst.

Ken Waltz

Ken Waltz grew up in Rockland and played youth and middle school baseball, basketball and football, including winning Little League baseball and peewee basketball championships, as well as Babe Ruth baseball titles. He was a many-time all-star in baseball and basketball throughout his youth. He is a 1977 graduate of Rockland District High School where he played basketball, baseball (four-year starter for coach Bob Morrill's Class A Tigers) and ran cross country (he was one of the team's top finishers). He attended Southern Maine Technical College in South Portland, where he was a two-year captain of the baseball team, and the University of Maine in Orono, where he studied journalism, and was sports editor for the daily Maine Campus newspaper. He has coached baseball on many levels, helping Midcoast youth teams to league championships and has coached many all-star teams, and has experienced success playing adult softball over the years. However, it has been, in sports writing and photography that Waltz has made a significant contribution to Midcoast sports. For nearly 35 years, Waltz has covered all levels of sports throughout the Knox, Waldo and Lincoln county areas, spending countless hours following teams, individuals and events for Courier Publications and VillageSoup. He has received more than 300 Maine Press Association awards and more than a dozen New England Press Association awards for writing, photography and newspaper page design. Waltz has been one of the driving forces behind the reporting and preservation of sports history in the Midcoast — in fact, he has written about and photographed, at one time or another, the careers of 90 percent of those in the MCSHF. If there is a sporting event taking place, one most likely will see Waltz covering it in a professional and congenial manner. Waltz lives in South Thomaston with his wife, Sarah. The couple has an adult son, Brandon, who lives in North Carolina.

Thomas Mellor

Tom was a three-sport standout at Warren High School in Warren, RI where he lettered in football basketball and baseball. He continued his athletic success at Johnson & Wales Jr. College in Providence, RI where he played basketball. Tom became a two-year starter, and reliable point guard, and helped J & W to two of their best records: 17-7 in 1964-65 and 20-4 in 1965-66. He always drew the assignment of guarding the opponent’s highest scoring guard. Mellor’s career average of 6 assists per game still ranks among the best in the college’s history. Johnson and Wales was ranked in the top 10 in New England all season and defeated Dean Junior College in the NCAA playoffs. Mellor was co-captain of the 1965-66 team.

After graduating from Husson University, Mellor moved to Thomaston where he coached boy’s varsity basketball and varsity baseball. GVHS was a class “C” school that played primarily a class “B” schedule. He coached the first Georges Valley High School basketball team to make the state tournament. GVHS made the tournament three times and twice lost in the semi-finals to the eventual state champion. Tom was one of four individuals who started the boy’s pee-wee basketball program in Thomaston. He was also a founding father of the GVHS Sports Booster’s Club.

Mellor’s baseball teams played in the Knox-Lincoln League. In the four years he coached they were 8-4, 10-2, 8-4, and 7-5. They ended up tied for the Knox-Lincoln championship during their 10-2 season and lost in a playoff game, 2-1, to Medomak Valley.

Tom became a member of the Knox Lincoln Waldo Baseball Umpire’s Association in 1972 and umpired regular season and playoff games in both baseball and softball. He also umpired Babe Ruth regular season and playoff games. In addition, he was a volunteer umpire for Little League games.

In 1973 Mellor became a member of the Midcoast Board of Approved Soccer Officials. He served as President of the board for three years and Assignor for three years. He officiated regular season, and many high school playoff games, including five Regional Finals and three State Championships.

Because of his love of athletics (especially basketball) in 1978 Tom became a member of the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials. He officiated basketball at all levels and was selected as a state tournament official for 24 of 28 years. Tom officiated 4 Regional Finals and 6 State Championship games. He served on the Executive Committee of Eastern Maine Board 111 for 5 years and served as President for one year. Peter Webb, Basketball Commissioner for the State of Maine, has stated that “Tom Mellor was one of the top 25 basketball officials for over twenty years”.

Mellor was inducted into the Johnson & Wales University Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Warren (RI) Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016.

Tom founded the Midcoast Sports Hall of Fame in 2006 and currently serves as President.