woodstock pg 9 5-9-24
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caption, page 9:
Jillian Edwards clears the bar in the high jump against Fitch; the senior tied for first in the event. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.
captions, page 10:
Track
Far left: Julia Coyle runs by herself in the 3200-meter race. The senior captured first in the event and the 1600-meter in the win over Fitch. Top, near left: The baton is handed between seniors as Talia Tremblay, rear, hands off to Reegan Reynolds in the 4x400m relay. Reynolds, who also won the long and triple jumps, helped the relay team to the win over Fitch. Bottom, left: Juliet Allard clears the final obstacle in the 300-meter hurdle race enroute to a 1st-place finish against Fitch, one of her four 1st-place finishes. Photos by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.
The table is set. Now, the girls’ track team has to execute and will have to do so on the road.
The Centaurs are hungry for a repeat of their ECC Div. I title performance of a year ago.
After a 113-36 win over Fitch on Wednesday, only one hurdle remains.
Woodstock has to come up with a win over NFA in Norwich on Wednesday.
“That would be insane,” junior Juliet Allard said of the potential to repeat. “It’s so good especially as a smaller school. We have a smaller team, much smaller than a bunch of others, I think we have half of the number of East Lyme.”
But the Centaurs were successful against the Vikings. So were the Wildcats.
NFA downed East Lyme on Wednesday 103-47. The Centaurs prevailed 105-44 over the Vikings.
“NFA to go and looking at numbers, the meet should be a good one,” coach Josh Welch said. ”I think we have a good shot at beating them but they’re a little stronger than Fitch and East Lyme.”
The Centaurs (2-0, 2-0 ECC Div. I) needed that as the meet against the Falcons was not all that competitive.
Another reason for athletes like senior Reegan Reynolds; it was her last athletic outing on the home turf.
“That’s really crazy to me,” Reynolds said. “I’ve been doing this since freshman year and it’s kind of like all my other sports. I kept saying all year that I still had track so it’s not my last Senior Night but (Wednesday) is kind of a sad moment for sure—my last time here.”
Reynolds and Allard led the way.
Allard captured first-place finishes in the 100-meter (12.5 seconds); 300-meter hurdles (48 seconds) and both the 4x100m relay (with Elise Coyle, Ella Lidonde and Emma Weitknecht) and the 4x400m relay (with Reynolds, Weitknecht and Talia Tremblay).
“I’m really proud,” Allard said of the four first-place finishes. ”I knew they had really strong 100m runners so I was a little nervous about that but it was a really good run for me as I had a (personal best) by about (5/10’s of a second). That’s a lot for me because I had not gone sub-13 yet. I was really excited about that. I think I can still get my time down in the 300m hurdles a bit but I was happy with it.”
Reynolds added a pair of individual wins in the long jump (15-feet, 4-inches) and triple jump (32-4) in addition to the 4x400m relay win.
Senior Julia Coyle won both the 1600 and 3200m races and Lily Morgis took first in both the discus and javelin.
Senior Jillian Edwards tied for first in the high jump with sophomore Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain winning the 800m, Tremblay won the 400m and Avery Plouffe captured the shotput.
Welch added, because of the Centaurs’ dominance, the meet did give him a chance to work on a few things.
Welch said, like usual, Allard “killed it.”
“Not her greatest times (with the exception of the 100m) but solid times. She was coming off the (twisted) ankle in the barrel-roll (in the 300m hurdles) at East Lyme so this shows she has bounced back. She has a lot more under there, though.”
Edwards, in addition to tying for first-place in the high jump, had second-place finishes in both pole vault and 100m.
Elise Coyle was second in long jump and 400m; D’Alleva-Bochain took a second in the javelin, Plouffe was second in discus, Olivia Tracy took seconds to Coyle in both the 1600 and 3200m races and Tremblay was second in the 200m.
Boys’ Track
It was a first for sophomore Eli Manning. Manning captured first-place finishes in the shotput, javelin and discus for a first time in a dual meet.
The Manning performance was impressive but wasn’t enough on its own to garner the Centaurs a win as they fell to Fitch in a boys’ track meet in Groton, 109.67-40.33.
The loss dropped Woodstock to 0-2 overall and in Div. I of the ECC.
Discus was Manning’s favorite, at least, among the throwing events as he cleared 122-feet, 7-inches. He also threw the shotput 39-6 ½ and the javelin 128-2.
He wants to qualify for the States in both of those events against NFA. “I’m a foot and a half off in shotput and I’m 8 feet away in javelin,” he said.
But his proudest moment on Wednesday came in a totally unrelated event.
“It was the first time I had done pole vault and I cleared 7 feet,” Manning said. “I’m training to do the decathlon later this year and I need to do the pole vault for that.”
The only other first-place finish for Woodstock belonged to Christian Menounos in the 400m.
Charlie Caggiano (800m), Colton Sallum (3200m), the 4x400m relay team (Caggiano, Aiden Bachand, Aiden Tyler, and Menounos), Joel Koleszar (1600m), Collin Teal (pole vault) and Thatcher Paterson (triple jump) all had second-place finishes.
The Centaurs host Norwich Free Academy in their only home meet of the season on Wednesday on South Campus.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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wa golf pg 10 5-9-24
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captions, page 11:
clockwise from top left:
Donny Sousa putts on the 8th hole. Boys' golf photos by Rich Garceau/Woodstock Academy.
Isabella Siwko tees off in a match versus Coventry. Girls' golf photos by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.
Reagan Scheck, standing, and Isabella Mawson look over Mawson’s putt on the first green.
Brady Hebert hits his second shot.
Woodstock
Academy downs
Killingly in golf;
wins 4 straight
Woodstock Academy coach Rich Garceau agreed; getting a win against Killingly in boys’ golf is no small feat.
“We tied Killingly about three or four years ago, but the last time we beat Killingly was about eight years ago,” Garceau said. “Killingly certainly has set the standard for success in high school boys’ golf over the past 10 years or so, so certainly going into the match we knew we would need to work and not quit on ourselves to have any chance to win. I was very proud of the team because they went into the match with a determination to do well.”
And do well is what the Centaurs did.
Woodstock came away with a 4 ½ - 2 ½ win over their neighboring rivals.
It was a nice boost going into a pair of matches with Bacon Academy and Stonington on Friday.
The Centaurs pulled out a pair of 6-1 victories in those matches to raise their record to 7-2 overall.
What made the win over Killingly even more satisfying for Woodstock was the way in which the team pulled out the victory.
The top two players did not have their finest days.
Logan Rawson carded a 41 and Donny Sousa shot a 44.
“Logan and Donny, respectively, struggled by their standards and I was really proud of them because they fought through their struggles and still turned in a decent score. Had they given up on themselves and posted anything much higher than that, we would have had a much greater difficulty notching the win,” Garceau said.
Sousa did split his match with Killingly’s Layne O’Leary to account for the half point.
That meant it was up to the youngsters — and they came through.
Freshman Brady Hebert tied for medalist in the match with a four-over par 39 to down Killingly’s Quin Crowley by three strokes.
Sophomore Aidan O’Connor shot a 42 to best Sebastian Sierakowski by seven.
That was the two points the Centaurs needed as they also best Killingly in aggregate strokes, 166-171, to take the two points in that category for the win.
“Brady Hebert and Aidan O’Connor had to dig deep in themselves and post scores to help lift our two team leaders,” Garceau said. “The Killingly match is one of those times where I could really see how under those circumstances, golf becomes a team sport. The two that usually lift the less experienced players needed lifting themselves and the younger, less experienced players stepped up for the win.”
But it was Rawson and Sousa who carried the day in Stonington.
Sousa earned medalist honors with an even-par 36 while Rawson was just one stroke behind to lead the Centaurs to the win over the Bears and Bobcats.
Woodstock had started the week with a 5-2 loss to East Lyme.
The Centaurs got wins at the bookends as Rawson shot a 40 at the Old Lyme Country Club from the top of the Centaurs lineup and Nick Sivertsen added a win from the fifth slot with a 45.
It was not enough, however, to keep East Lyme from continuing its undefeated ways.
The Centaurs bounced back on Wednesday with a 7-0 win over Tourtellotte.
Rawson and Sousa led Woodstock with a four-over par 40 while O’Connor was five strokes back of that.
“I am very pleased with the week. Regardless of the relatively close loss at East Lyme, the team showed tremendous growth, not only in their level of play on the course but they also seemed to have reached a new level of maturity and understanding the mental process of keeping in themselves and focusing on the shot and the ultimate team goal,” Garceau said.
Girls’ Golf
Experience may be lacking and numbers may be low but the girls’ golf team has been making some strides.
The Centaurs played three matches this past week and were in contention for much of the time spent on the course.
It’s just none went their way at the end as Coventry, East Lyme and Stonington all posted victories.
Coaches can keep track of matches by the new app that players record their scores on for each hole and it shows, in real time, their coach how the match is progressing.
“We were tied with East Lyme, which on paper is a better team than us, with two holes left and we just didn’t finish the last two holes as well as I had hoped. Against Stonington, it was the same thing. We were within a shot or two with a couple holes to play,” said coach Earl Semmelrock.
Unfortunately, in both instances, the Centaurs lost by eight strokes.
The Vikings downed the Centaurs 225-233 at the Quinnatisset Country Club in Thompson and the Bears downed Woodstock Academy 216-224 at the Elmridge Golf Course in Stonington.
“It’s good to see the progress. We do have some things to work on but we finally have a week coming up where we will have three practice days which I think we get a lot out of. We had a practice prior to (the Stonington match) and it showed. We just have to be more consistent overall,” Semmelrock added.
Freshman Reagan Scheck was pretty consistent for Woodstock.
She carded a 47 against both Coventry (a 199-225 loss early in the week) and East Lyme and a 49 against Stonington.
“Reagan’s playing well,” Semmelrock said. “She could have been medalist (against Stonington) but she had one bad hole, the eighth, where she lost two balls. She’s always asking how she can improve and I’ve told her that she just has to keep the big numbers off the scorecard. She has a really good attitude and I think we will see her scores come down more before the end of the year.”
Bella Mawson struggled a bit early in the week but came to practice, worked on some things, and brought her score down to a 52 against Stonington.
The Centaurs ended the week with a 1-6 overall record and are 1-5 in the ECC.
“We’re improving and with only one match this week and three practice days, that should help. We’re halfway done the season now and it will be over before we know it but I’m pleased with the progress that we’re making,” Semmelrock said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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state WV pg 11 5-9-24
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caption:
CT State Representative Anne Dauphinais, right, and Westview Child Care Center Director Katy Holzer in a classroom at Westview Child Care Center.
DAYVILLE — Westview Health Care Center had a productive visit recently with the State of Connecticut’s 44th District State House Representative Anne Dauphinais.
Representative Dauphinais met with Westview Administrator/Executive Vice President David T. Panteleakos to discuss matters affecting the nursing home industry and to tour the brand-new Westview Child Care Center. Discussions included: an update on Westview’s operations and programs, the unprecedented pandemic residual impact on Westview and its residents, increasing community need for child care, and the ever-growing need for the State of Connecticut to adequately fund the Medicaid program for all providers.
One of the key elements of the discussion was the growing juxtaposition of regulations and reimbursements. There are understandable and necessary increases in employment costs, but unimaginable increases in the costs of providing care have also joined the raising of rates. The aforementioned underfunded reimbursement rates to providers and unprecedented inflationary costs are not currently being fully reimbursed by the Medicaid program.
Describing the architectural landscape on the Westview campus is no small task—but that is for very valid reasons. Westview Health Care Center is a 103-bed skilled nursing facility that also includes a wing for outpatient physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and aquatic therapy. In the structure of Westview Health Care Center, there is also a well-considered and well-created gym for sports medicine. Across the street from Westview Health Care Center is the 75-unit independent and assisted living facility: Country Living at Westview Commons. Adjacent to the main facility of Westview Health Care Center located across Ware Road is Westview Child Care Center, licensed for up to 76 students.
As part of its long-range plan to vertically integrate its operations, Westview Health Care Center invested in Country Living at Westview Commons to create a caring and comfortable community of seniors to live their silver years to the fullest. Westview Health Care Center invested in Westview Child Care Center to address the ever-growing demand for child care and to attract and retain valuable staff members at all Westview entities. During the conversation between Representative Dauphinais and Westview Executive Vice President David T. Panteleakos, they offered remarks about the complexities and challenges that nursing homes and other health care facilities face amid rampant inflation without proper private and government funding. Everyone agrees in concept with higher pay rates for all health care workers, higher staffing levels, and enhanced operational regulations—paired with proper funding.
Katy Holzer, Westview Child Care Center director, joined the chorus of collective praise for the visit from Representative Dauphinais. “We were thrilled to showcase to Connecticut State Representative Anne Dauphinais the success of Westview’s model of employer-based childcare. We designed Westview Child Care Center to address employment challenges while fulfilling our commitment to serving our community’s critical child care needs. Witnessing our bustling classrooms and growing waitlist, Representative Dauphinais echoed the pressing demand for quality child care in our area. With 42 eager families awaiting enrollment, we are excited to announce that we are expanding our impact by adding eight much-needed seats to our infant-toddler program. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Anne Dauphinais for her visit and her continued support of Westview’s mission to provide excellent care to an intergenerational family of clients.”
“It is always wonderful to visit David, and his wonderful staff of care providers at Westview Health Care Center,” said Representative Dauphinais. “Along with the tour of the new daycare center, which was fabulous, we also spoke of the many challenges that are facing healthcare across Connecticut and our country. As a member of the General Assembly’s Public Health Committee, it is important to me to have as much information as possible when voting on important healthcare related matters.”
Panteleakos said: “I am truly grateful for Representative Anne Dauphinais visit to Westview’s family of facilities. I am always impressed when a political leader of our community takes the time to visit in the field with their respective constituents to learn more about what is actually happening on the ground. Our message about nursing home reimbursement is that proper funding is essential and needed in order to meet the very regulations promulgated by our government agencies. Thank you to Representative Dauphinais for visiting and listening!”
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wd fair pg 11 5-9-24
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WOODSTOCK — The 163rd annual Woodstock Fair is receiving a facelift.
The Woodstock Agricultural Society agreed to move the Main Stage to the site on the grounds that has been the location of the Fiesta Shows’ Kiddieland rides for the past several years.
“I’m pleased that the board of directors of the Woodstock Fair is in favor of bringing noticeable changes to the fairgrounds without changing the heart of the long-time Agricultural fair. The barns, animals, exhibits and the majority of the carnival rides will stay in their long-time spots and yet we have succeeded in changing some of the feel for those who have been attending for years”, said Society president Jeff Sandness.
“This will allow for more people to view the shows on the stage. It will also allow a different variety of entertainment to be presented in the Main Stage area as it has much more space to be utilized,” said Woodstock Fair general manager and entertainment director Marc Allard.
The move will also bring much more to the center portion of the Fairgrounds which had been occupied by tour buses and accommodation for those performing on the Main Stage.
The former Main Stage area will now be designated Center Stage, sponsored by Jewett City Savings Bank, and will feature local and regional bands, some long-time Woodstock Fair staples such as the East Woodstock Cornet Band and the Old Time Fiddlers Club of Rhode Island, and several variety acts.
Sept. 2, Center Stage will host a brand-new attraction as the Woodstock Fair will present its first Championship Cornhole Tournament with a $3,000 first-place prize to the winning two-person team.
The Fiesta Shows’ Kiddieland will be moved to the center of the Fairgrounds. The fair will now have additional attractions in the front of the grounds adjacent to the service gate including tethered balloon rides during the fair, weather permitting.
The former South Stage will now become the Fabulous Family Fun area with games and activities for all ages.
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