The Don Dow Scholarship was established in 1987 to recognize two students, a male and a female, for athletic achievement, academic excellence and school citizenship. This year's winners, who will each be receiving a $500 scholarship, are Sophia Santamaria of Traip Academy and Kegan Rodrigue of Edward Little High School.
Sophia Santamaria • Don Dow Scholarship Winner • Traip Academy
The following in from the speech that Traip Academy Athletic Administrator Michael Roberge would have made at the MIAAA Spring Conference, which was canceled do to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sophia is an exemplary student, athlete and school citizen. She is among the top students in her class and has received a varsity letter in 3 sports each of her four years at Traip Academy. She excels in Soccer, Ice Hockey, and Track, receiving multiple Western Maine Conference All Conference Awards as well as recognition at the state level. Sophia was recently recognized as a finalist for the prestigios Becky Shaffer Award given annually to the Most Outstanding Senior Hockey Player in Maine.
Sophia led the Rangers girls soccer team to a state championship this year. She is also a state champion in Track. Sophia is the current President of the Traip Academy Student Council, a member of the National Honor Society and is involved in numerous clubs. In the fall, Sophia will attend the University of Maine to study communications and continue her soccer career.
Kegan Rodrigue • Don Dow Scholarship Winner • Edward Little High School
The following in from the speech that Edward Little HS Athletic Administrator Todd Sampson would have made at the MIAAA Spring Conference, which was canceled do to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Good afternoon and welcome to the MIAAA Spring Conference and this year’s Awards Luncheon. My name is Todd Sampson and I am the Athletic Director at Edward Little High School. It is my pleasure to introduce to you one of this year’s MIAAA Don Dow Scholarship Award Recipients.
It is a true honor and privilege to recognize Kegan Rodrigue a senior at ELHS in Auburn. Kegan is joined here this afternoon with his parents Tammy and Scott, as well as his two brothers Reece and Broden.
Kegan is a tremendous academic student and highly respected school citizen at Edward Little. He currently has a 3.714 GPA and has accumulated 26 credits through 7 semesters. (EL requires 24 credits for graduation. Kegan has never hesitated to challenge himself academically excelling in courses such AP Computer Science, AP and Honors Calculus, AP English Literature and Comp, as well as Honors Spanish. His efforts in the classroom as well as his magnitude of community service hours were rewarded in the spring of 2019 as he was inducted in the Edward Little Chapter of the National Honor Society.
As well as being an excellent student with superior work ethic; Kegan is a three - sport athlete. Kegan has excelled during the fall in Soccer where he was a two-year starter and was a Captain during his senior year.
In the winter Kegan trades the cleats in for a pair of skates where he played an instrumental role this past season in our team’s remarkable turnout. The Red Eddies started the season 1-10 losing multiple one- goal games late in the 3rd period or overtime. With the help of Kegan’s leadership and resilience the team went on an historic winning streak that took them to the State Semi-final Championship before losing in triple overtime.
The spring season could be an opportunity for Kegan to excel in two sports. In middle school, he was a fantastic track and field athlete but once getting to high school he picked up a tennis racket and served as a Captain this spring on the EL boy’s tennis team.
So as you can see Mr. Rodrigue checks a lot of the boxes that makes him worthy of receiving the Don Dow Scholarship award. However, I would like to share two examples of why Kegan’s passion and selfishness makes him the ultimate teammate and competitor.
This fall in an early season contest against our rivals across the bridge. Kegan going all out went to the turf hard fracturing his arm. Many believed that his senior soccer senior had come to an untimely conclusion. As a leader and Captain, he missed minimal contests returning to the field to battle and help his teammates fight for a playoff spot.
The second example speaks to his passion and love of the game. I mention the hockey teams season came to an end in triple overtime loss against a very good Scarborough team. As you can imagine it was extremely emotional for everyone. After the game Kegan’s emotions overflowed, sitting motionless in the locker room while his teammates changed, hugged, cried, and went on their way. Kegan was the last member of the team to leave the Colisee that evening. What this showed was the love and passion his young man has in life and his willingness to put everything he had into that game. Kegan Rodrigue did not win on the scoreboard that night but there is no question in my mind he is and will continue to be a winner in the ultimate game LIFE!
