Bangor’s Vanidestine Named State’s Top Athletic Administrator

Steve Vanidestine, who has served as the athletic administrator at Bangor High School since 1984, has been selected as this year’s top man in his profession. Vanidestine is the recipient of the Maine Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Robert Lahey Athletic Administrator of the Year Award for 2020. Bangor teams have won 73 state championships during Vanidestine’s 36-year tenure at his alma mater, where he was a standout athlete for the Rams. There were several athletic administrators from eastern and northern Maine who were honored by the MIAAA for their contributions. Mark White of Preque Isle High School earned the MIAAA Leadership Award and will become the organization’s president at its 50th conference. Ellsworth’s Josh Frost garnered two awards, claiming the Past Presidents Rising Star Award and also picking up the MIAAA Distinguished Service Award for the Penobscot Valley Conference. Joe Kilmartin, the former athletic administrator at the now-defunct Catherine McAuley High School in Portland, is the winner of the MIAAA Martin E.