Emerson Flaker of Scarborough High was named the Gatorade Maine Girls Track & Field Player of the Year on Tuesday.
Flaker is the first track athlete to be chosen from Scarborough High.
The 5-foot-7 junior sprinter swept the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dash events at the Class A state meet this spring with a personal-best time of 12.15 seconds in the 100 and leading the Red Storm to the team title.
Flaker owned the state’s best times in all three sprints this spring and also anchored the winning 4×400-meter relay quartet at the state meet. Her personal-best in the 400 of 56.06 seconds at the New England championships was good for a fifth place.
The award celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community.
Flaker joins recent Gatorade Maine Girls Track & Field Players of the Year Ruth White (2022-23, Orono High), Anna Connors (2021-22, Bangor High) and Victoria Bossong (2020-21 & 2019-20, Cheverus High), among the state’s list of former award winners.
HOCKEY
CANADA: Jon Cooper has been named Canada’s coach for upcoming international play, including the 2026 Olympics in Milan.
Hockey Canada announced the two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning also will be behind the bench for the NHL’s Four Nations Face-Off in February, a prep tournament of sorts for the Olympics.
Cooper, who is from Prince George, British Columbia, was selected to coach Canada at the 2022 Olympics before pandemic-related scheduling issues caused the league to cancel plans to send players to Beijing to participate.
He recently completed his 12th season with Tampa Bay and is the longest-tenured coach in the NHL.
TENNIS
EASTBOURNE: Emma Raducanu, the 2021 U.S. Open champion who skipped the French Open and decided not to play at the Paris Olympics, beat Sloane Stephens 6-4, 6-0 in the first round at Eastbourne, England.
Raducanu will be a wild-card entry for Wimbledon next week after missing last year’s tournament because of hand and ankle injuries.
Raducanu will next face No. 5 Jessica Pegula, who won the title at the Berlin Ladies Open on Sunday.
SOCCER
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP: Kylian Mbappé scored from the penalty spot on his return after breaking his nose before France conceded a spot kick by Robert Lewandowski in a 1-1 draw with Poland at Dortmund, Germany.
France finished as runner-up to Austria in Group D.
• Marcel Sabitzer scored late for Austria to advance to the knockout stage with a 3-2 win over the Netherlands at Berlin.
• England advanced to the knockout stage as group winner after a 0-0 draw against Slovenia at Cologne, Germany.
The result at Cologne Stadium also saw Slovenia reach the round of 16 and Croatia was eliminated.
• Denmark advanced to the round of 16 after a 0-0 draw with Serbia at Munich.
COPA AMERICA: Jonathan David scored in the 74th minute, and Canada beat Peru 1-0 at Kansas City, Kansas, for its first victory over a South American opponent in 24 years.
AUTO RACING
NASCAR: Chase Briscoe and Joe Gibbs Racing confirmed that the NASCAR driver will replace the retiring Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 19 Toyota for the 2025 Cup Series season, days after driver Christopher Bell accidentally spoiled the surprise at a news conference.
Bell was asked an innocuous question over the weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway about a potential leadership shift at JGR in the wake of Truex’s retirement.
“Whenever Chase comes into the car …,” he started to say.
Bell stopped instantly and smiled, a realization swept over him there was no going back on this blunder. Briscoe would in fact inherit the No. 19 Toyota next season at JGR.
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