PENACOOK - Kevin O'Brien is no stranger to success. As a boys' basketball coach at Merrimack Valley High School in the mid 80s, early 90s, O'Brien was named Class I coach of the year five times. A tremendous honor indeed.

O'Brien has since retired from the coaching ranks, but success has followed him to his new position. O'Brien was named the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association's Class I Athletic Director of the Year recently, a distinction that humbled even the always modest O'Brien.

"It means the most because inside your family, in other words here at MV, they can really appreciate what you do. But as far as I'm concerned, this is the highest athletic award that an AD can receive in his peer group," said O'Brien, who was honored with a standing ovation from students and faculty during a recent pep rally at MV.

"That being said, I certainly could have never achieved this without the students and faculty in my community."

The award is based on O'Brien's work from the last school year. The annual award, given to the top AD in each of the four classes (L, I, M and S), begins with a nomination process before the finalists are narrowed down. The finalists are then voted on by all the athletic directors in the state.

"There's several people that are very deserving of it and I'm flattered that my constituents would think that highly of me," said O'Brien, who took over as MV's athletic director in 1992. "When you're an athletic director you want to be respected by your community and that's the most important thing, but this is the pinnacle of your career as an athletic director - the highest honor."

As high an honor as this is for O'Brien, he also realizes MV's elevation in academic excellence, as well as athletics, has had a lot to do with his award. Now in his 23rd year at the school, O'Brien has watched the Penacook-based High School go from also-ran to frontrunner.

"We have people that come back to the school, who haven't been here in a while, and can't believe what they are seeing. Whether it be in the classroom or on one of our fields," O'Brien said.

"That's my crowning moment. Being here for 23 years and seeing what kind of a school we were then and where we are today. When people come back and look at us now and just shake their heads - that's what makes me the most proud."

National spotlight

Winnisquam junior Jordan Cote was invited to attend the inaugural National Team Identification Series (NTIC) on Sept. 17-20 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C.

The NTIC event requires kids to attend a pre-qualifying event, which was offered in different regions across the country.

Unfortunately, Cote's family had a scheduling conflict that prevented him from competing at the pre-qualifier in Pennsylvania. But USA Baseball wasn't going to miss out on seeing one of New Hampshire's most dominant pitchers and offered him one of the 36 at-large invitations for the 17U division.

Eight players out of the 180 that went to the tryout moved on to the Tournament of Stars, which is a tryout out for the 18U Team USA team.

Cote was not one of them, but the invite alone certainly goes a long way in showing his future is certainly a bright one.

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