Maine’s track community mourns loss of longtime race director and official

By Larry Mahoney, Bangor Daily News Staff

Orono High School Athletic Administrator Nelson Beaudoin was in a pinch. He needed somebody to serve as the meet director for one of the school’s track meets.

Enter Mary Cady, who had moved from Kansas to Maine in 1983 with her husband Rob and took a track and field officiating class through Orono Adult Education in 1986.

“He handed me a score sheet, an order of events, a microphone, and said ‘you’re in charge’,” recalled Cady in a 2016 Bangor Daily News story.

Beaudoin probably didn’t know it at the time, but his decision to hand the meet over to Cady would significantly enhance the lives of thousands of track athletes over the years.

Cady went on to become one of the state’s premier meet directors and track officials for more than 30 years. She was a USA Track and Field master official who officiated at national and college meets across the country.

She was the meet director for the Penobscot Valley Conference-Eastern Maine Indoor Track League from 1994 to 2017. She also directed outdoor track and cross country meets for not only high school athletes, but athletes of all age groups including college. 

She would even direct summer meets for youngsters and trained officials.

Cady died on Jan. 15, according to the Ellsworth American.

“She was the most organized and thorough person I’ve ever met. She got things done to the 11th degree,” said Orono High Athletic Director Mike Archer. “She was so adamant about making sure the kids had a great experience.

“I don’t know anyone who cared as much or had as big a heart as she did,” Archer added.

Former longtime Brewer High track coach Dave Jeffrey knew her not only as a meet director and track official, but they also worked together. After retiring as a coach, Jeffrey developed and utilized a timing system that revolutionized state track and cross country meets.

Cady worked for Jeffrey at his company, Brewer Timing Services, which was contracted to time cross country and track championships at the high school, college and USA Track and Field levels in several states.

“I’m devastated,” said Jeffrey. “When she took over [the PVC and Eastern Maine Indoor Track League], she made it so much better for the athletes and the parents. It was unbelievable.

“Everything she did was for the kids,” he added. “She was like a Mama Bear. If you messed with her kids, she’d be right in your face.”

Bangor track coach Al Mosca said Cady took time to show him how to run a meet and that she “had such a strong presence.”

“She was so knowledgeable about the sport,” he said. “We got spoiled up here having her run our meets. She had such an impact on so many people. She is such a strong ambassador for the sport.”

Mosca recalled one time when he was in charge of running a middle school meet, and he ran into some difficulty.

“I couldn’t get the electronic timing to work so I called her and she came and showed me how to do it the old school way with stop watches. She gave up her afternoon to help me out. She was so gracious with her time. She was such a giver,” said Mosca.

Bangor High Athletic Director Steve Vanidestine said Cady’s death “a huge loss.” 

“She supported all of the schools and all of the kids, and that’s one of the [many] things I liked about her,” he said.

Former Brewer track coach Glendon Rand called her a “force of nature.”

In addition to serving as a meet director, he said Cady also made sure the meet results and information about records and the league were dispensed to the athletes, coaches, and media.

“Track is one of those sports that doesn’t get a lot of media coverage. She made sure she kept the sport out there in the public,” said Rand.

Then there was her voice.

Cady was the public address announcer at meets and also at nearly every varsity sport at Orono High School from 1988 to 2017.

“Most athletes remember her voice,” said Rand. “She spoke with authority and passion. She had a very, very strong voice and people would sit up and take notice.

“Everything she did, she did with passion and enthusiasm,” Rand added.

Cady was also the golf coach at Orono High from 1997 to 2007 and led the Riots to two runner-up finishes at the Class C championships. Son Stuart won the individual title in 1997.

A native of Kansas, Cady was inducted into the Orono High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2021 and has received several other prestigious honors.

Cady was a veteran who served in the Army and retired from the Army reserves in 1995 as a lieutenant colonel.

Cady once said her military background helped develop her organizational skills because she had to pay attention to details and be able to tell people what to do. 

Retired Bangor Daily News reporter Judy Harrison was one of Cady’s closest friends and said Cady was a devoted University of Kansas sports fan. That was her alma mater and where she won the Big 8 rifle championship as a junior.

“She hated the color purple,” Harrison said, noting that purple is the color of Kansas’ biggest rival, Kansas State.

“She is one of only two women I know who could watch three games at a time, sometimes four,” said Harrison. “She knew a lot about sports and taught me that football could be just as exciting as a symphony concert or a play.”