Class of 2026 enshrined in PCHS Athletic Hall of Fame

GUILFORD — The sports history of Piscataquis Community High School continues to be recognized with the induction of several athletes, a championship winning coach, longtime contributor and regional title team as the eighth class in the PCHS Athletic Hall of Fame.

The Class of 2026 was formally enshrined during a late afternoon ceremony in the gymnasium on Saturday, Oct. 3, as part of the school’s annual Homecoming festivities.

The PCHS Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2026 includes James Bell Jr., Trey Gilbert, Roger Rowe, Darby Smiley and the 1998 Class C East champion boys outdoor track and field team.

Trisha Moulton, a member of the 2019 hall of fame class, welcomed the crowd and congratulated the new hall of famers. 

“This year’s class includes some truly successful athletes, an Eastern Maine championship team, a truly successful coach and a contributor,” she said.

Bell was the first inductee recognized. 

“He’s given so much of his time and energy to youth and Pirate athletics,” Moulton said.

Bell played soccer, baseball and soccer at neighboring Dexter Regional High School while becoming an accomplished drummer, Craig Stutzman said.

“He is someone always moving and always involved and always giving and doing his best,” he said, adding that Bell shows up day and night and weekends and has always given his all.

Despite suffering a stroke several years ago, “Jimmy keeps showing up, he keeps working and keeps his attitude,” Stutzman said.

Bell told the audience he did not expect the honor. 

“It’s all about the kids, showing them how to be successful,” he said.

Gilbert’s three sons, Bryce (a 2024 Hall of Fame inductee), Kobe and Gavyn, said their father has given about a quarter century of his time to the district in the decades following his 1998 graduation from PCHS.

The elder Gilbert coaches his sons in youth soccer and basketball and became head coach of the PCHS boys soccer program in 2016, leading the team to the 2024 8-person championship before winning the gold ball a year later.

“Coaching wasn’t just something he did, it became part of him,” Bryce Gilbert said. He said his father was even more proud of the impact he had on players than the wins and accolades.

Trey Gilbert said he was honored to be inducted and thanked his family and coaching mentors.

“The biggest thing I always did as a coach was teach the boys life lessons,” he said. They will encounter wins and losses and ups and downs and “it’s just how you prevail from there.”

Gilbert said he had the privilege of coaching with his sons after their playing days were over. He had thought about stepping down after Gavyn’s final season in 2024 but with much of the roster due back in 2025 he returned to the sidelines and the Pirates won the second state championship in program history. The squad also won a sportsmanship award.

Paul Stearns, a 2019 hall of fame inductee, said the late Roger Rowe starred on the soccer field in the early 1980s and was an instrumental part in turning around the program’s success.

The team only won a single game from 1978 to 1979.

In Rowe’s freshman season in 1980, he recorded a hat trick in his very first game.

“To prove it wasn’t a fluke, he knocked in two more his second game,” Stearns said. PCHS improved to 4-7-1.

The first ever playoff berth came in 1981. A year later the Pirates won the Class C East title with Rowe scoring 18 goals and assisting on 11 other goals.

“Roger scored an eye-opening 41 goals,” Stearns said.

The team moved up to Class B in 1983 and despite playing against larger schools, won the Class B East crown.

Stearns said the decades-old scorebooks are a bit faded so it tough to tell the final count from one season, but Rowe scored either 73 or 74 goals in a PCHS uniform. He did this despite being constantly marked by multiple players from the opposing team and putting up with pushing and grabbing.

Rowe would keep track of the offender and get his revenge, later in the game or later in the season, by “simply flattening the scoundrel, within the rules of course,” Stearns said.

 Smiley was a three-sport athlete from 1994–1998, starring in field hockey, basketball and softball. 

Smiley scored her first goal as a freshman on the field hockey team coached by Donna Jordan, a three-time hall of famer and coach of two state championship teams who has the playing area named for her.  Smiley went on to compile 33 goals and 14 assists.

“This is what makes those numbers memorable, she was not a forward,” Jordan said. Smiley was a deep defender who came up on penalty corners.

PCHS had a 14-0 regular season during Smiley’s senior season as part of a run of 47-18-2 from 1994-97 which included three consecutive berths in the Class C East championship. 

She earned a number of all-conference and all-state honors and went on to play at Husson College.

“Field hockey was a huge part of my high school (time) and always will be,” Smiley said in thanking her family.

Moulton served as an assistant coach on the 1998 outdoor track team. She enjoyed watching the athletes’ hard work and improvement.

Despite little recognition heading into the season, the Pirates captured the regional title. Athletes switched around, not necessarily competing in their best or favorite events but working to ensure there was depth for team success.

The names of the 2026 hall of fame inductees will be added to those of the seven prior classes on a board in the lobby. The hall of fame committee meets annually to consider nominations, and nomination forms are available at https://www.sad4.org/page/athletics.