Police pg 8 2-2-23
- Details
- Category: Current Issue
The following charges were listed in the Putnam Police Department logs. The people charged are innocent until proven guilty in court. The Town Crier will publish dispositions of cases at the request of the accused. The dispositions must be accompanied by the proper documentation. The Putnam Police Department confidential Tip Line is 860-963-0000.
Jan. 26
Andrew Cote, 30, Railroad Street, Putnam; third-degree assault, risk of injury to child, interfering with police, disorderly conduct.
Jan. 29
Caleb Santa, 29, Main Street, Leicester, Mass.; third-degree assault, disorderly conduct, third-degree criminal mischief.
.
huh pg 8 2-2-23
- Details
- Category: Current Issue
Huh? Already?
Is it March already? Warmer days and cold nights make the maple sap run. These traditional buckets are on Rt. 97 in Pomfret. Linda Lemmon photo.
.
WA pg 1 2-9-23
- Details
- Category: Current Issue
WA’s Braiden
Saucier to be
honored
It was supposed to be a memorable day for Woodstock Academy senior Braiden Saucier.
It was Friday, Sept. 9, and it was the first football game of his final year in high school.
It was a day that Braiden Saucier now, truly, does not remember.
And a day that his father, Woodstock Academy football coach and athletic director Sean Saucier; his mother, Woodstock Academy Director of Health Services Bobbie-Jo, and sister Kaylee, will never forget.
But it is what has happened since that fateful day that will be the topic of discussion in New Haven in March.
It will highlight the resilience of a young man who has come back from a traumatic event to resume not only his senior year of high school but also his athletic career and be a model for future Centaurs and others to follow.
Braiden Saucier will be honored on March 11 at both the Breakfast of Champions at the Omni Hotel and the 55th annual Walter Camp Black Tie Gala at Yale University in New Haven.
The Woodstock Academy senior will be the recipient of the Walter Camp Foundation UCAN Inspiration Award during the Walter Camp Weekend which brings college football nobility to Connecticut to honor those who excelled in the game in 2022.
“You go through an experience like this and there is that outpouring of support but, inevitably, life goes back to normal. When I was told about this award, it’s a nice feeling to know that he impacted people,” Sean Saucier said.
It was a situation that few have experienced in high school football and one that no one ever wants to be a part of.
Braiden Saucier had just come off the field in the first quarter of the Centaurs game against Enfield in September. He went over to talk to an assistant coach briefly when he slumped to the ground and soon fell to all fours. Sean Saucier was a little confused.
It was just the first quarter and it wasn’t a horribly warm evening so his original thought, a cramp, didn’t seem likely.
Then, Braiden rolled over on his back. His father approached and saw Braiden experiencing what he thought, initially, was a seizure.
The game was stopped. “That went on for about 30 seconds and then, it was clear that (Braiden) needed more help,” Sean said. He, Woodstock Academy trainer Tyler McCarthy and Doctor Chris McDermott worked on the young man.
“I think it was a solid 10 minutes of resuscitation, AED (Automatic External Defibrillator) shocks, and finally we got to the point where the paramedic had him hooked up to a vitals machine and we had a relatively normal, steady heart rate,” Sean said. It helped, immensely, that there was a doctor on the scene quickly.
“Dr. McDermott (father of Braiden’s teammate, Seamus) was crucial. I didn’t understand it at the time, but he secured (Braiden’s) airway which ended up being very important for the ambulance ride to make sure he could receive breathing assistance,” Sean added. “It was touch-and-go for five or 10 minutes. (The heart rate) wasn’t steady. It wasn’t consistent. But by the time we got him into the ambulance, he was pretty stable.”
It’s a time when no one truly knows how they will react.
Fortunately, Sean has a military background as well as his educational and athletic experience and his training kicked in.
“Instinct took over, the adrenaline, the shock, and that’s how I operate. I’m decent in crisis. I don’t panic or freeze. I actually go the other way and slow down a bit when something big is going on. Things happened quickly and I knew what to do and had help to do it,” Sean said.
In what may be a blessing, Braiden remembers little. “I remember going to school and I went with my grandmother to Wal-Mart to get some drinks for the game and that’s it until about, maybe, three or four days after,” Braiden said.
He was on a ventilator that Friday night.
He was quickly taken off that on Saturday but while he was alert and oriented, even talking and sitting up in a chair, he remembers none of it.
“When you have that type of trauma and you are sedated, a lot of times, you suffer short-term memory loss for like 48-to-72 hours,” Sean said. “That’s why he doesn’t remember the whole weekend even though we talked, he had visitors, and we watched the (New England) Patriots on that Sunday.”
Braiden said he doesn’t remember what happened until a few days later when he was in the hospital. “My Dad and my Mom did a great job of explaining it bit-by-bit and not all at one time because I was just getting my memory back and it was such a big thing,” Braiden said. “They didn’t want to overwhelm me all at once.”
There was only one kink in the works. Braiden wanted his phone.
On it was over 100 messages from friends and family wishing him the best and, of course, social media. “We were trying to lay it out in pieces and he’s looking on Twitter and getting information on his own situation,” Sean said.
The hospital, both Baystate Medical in Springfield and Boston Children’s, would be his home for the next 30 days. It was difficult. He’s a young man. His football team was on the field, his classmates going to school, he was in bed.
And during that time, he went through the inevitable “Why me?” moments. “It runs through your head,” Braiden said. “Being in the hospital for a month means there is a lot of time to think about things. I definitely questioned why it was me that it happened to but, at this point, not anymore. I’m happy with where I am at and trying my best to move forward.”
During his time in the hospital, Braiden did undergo a bypass procedure to make sure the blood flow went around the artery previously damaged by an undiagnosed childhood disease which was determined to be the cause of the event.
“It’s always going to be with me, literally and figuratively. I had major surgery so I wake up in the morning, see the scars, and know that it happened,” Braiden said.
But complain? No.
He came home and after about a week and a half, found his way out to the practice field, and back to school.
“Everybody was very helpful in my transition back. They made it easy to return; easy to return to school and a sense of normalcy,” Braiden said.
And he brought something else to his teammates, the knowledge that even such a traumatic event can be overcome if one tries hard enough. In the team’s first game after the incident, Braiden Face-timed his teammates on their bus ride home following a win over Weaver High School to congratulate them.
He returned to the sidelines to support the team in an away game at Bacon Academy and was there for a home game against Guilford.
“One of my younger teammates’ parents came up to me (during the Guilford game) and said they hoped their kid would become half the leader that I’ve been. That meant the world to me because it would have been easy, after that, to not come back but immediately after, all I wanted to do was be back around my guys and be the best teammate that I could be,” Braiden said.
He was cleared to play athletically again on Nov. 22 but only for non-contact sports such as basketball, not football or lacrosse. Still, he suited up for the Thanksgiving Day football game against Killingly.
He came off the sidelines and took the final snap of the game.
“Two or three days before the game, we thought about it. It wasn’t an idea in our head the whole time but we discussed it and the whole team, the coaches, thought it would be a full-circle moment if I dressed. I wasn’t sure I was going to see the field but to take that snap was special,” Braiden said.
Even though he wasn’t in the best of physical shape, Braiden returned to the basketball court for the start of the season.
It was a carrot that was thrown out at Boston Children’s Hospital who cleared him to play.
Sean admits, early in the basketball season, it was difficult to watch him play, a little more stressful than he anticipated.
“Even though there are still risks, I wanted to be there for all my teammates and play alongside them,” Braiden said. “My Mom and Dad were skeptical about it at first but we’re a family that revolves around sports so I think everyone is happy that I’m back on the court.”
It’s that kind of thought process that inspires people including his father.
“I think it’s hard for anyone, adult or not, to maintain a positive attitude, the correct outlook on life when things happen to us. He’s a model for everyone, not just kids, on how to handle life’s challenges. What more can you ask for?” Sean said.
Braiden has played all but two games for the Centaurs this basketball season.
He had to sit out due to a more common malady; a sprained ankle.
As Sean points out, an inspiration award isn’t given just because something bad happens. It’s how that adversity is handled. “It’s a testament to him. His comeback. His attitude. Never once complained. Never. Whether it was in the hospital or after. Getting his fitness back, having the courage to play sports again, to play basketball, dressing on Thanksgiving and taking a snap, put all those things together and that’s where the inspiration award comes from,” Sean said.
The two will head to New Haven where Braiden will actually receive the award during a morning “Breakfast of Champions” Connecticut high school awards ceremony.
“I can’t wait. We have a hotel room for two nights. The family is coming down; both his teammates who got honored by the Walter Camp Foundation (Seamus McDermott and Marcus McGregor) will be there as will Tyler and Dr. McDermott, which is good because they were such an integral part of everything that night. We’re really looking forward to the day,” Sean said.
The two will then go back to the room, put on tuxedos, get in a limo and be driven to Yale University for the nighttime festivities, the 55th annual Black Tie National Awards Dinner.
The guest list for that event includes Walter Camp Player of the Year, Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams of the University of Southern California and Sonny Dykes, head coach of Texas Christian University.
“It’s a real honor. Not many people get to go and attend these things. I’m looking forward to going and having a fun time,” Braiden said.
It will put a final exclamation mark on an event that no one anticipated, but few have handled as gracefully as Braiden Saucier and his family.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
..
Centuar pg 1 2-9-23
- Details
- Category: Current Issue
The Woodstock Academy gymnastics team had been stuck around 133 when it came to team scoring for the last several meets. That’s good, but certainly not a guarantee of success as the postseason approaches. The Centaurs easily eclipsed that number on Saturday when they downed Killingly 137.45-132.0. What happened to suddenly boost the Woodstock score to the season high?
“Allie Boyd happened,” said coach Kasey Tocchio. “That girl has been on fire. She has such drive behind her this year. We all know she has talent and that she still has more in her. She has really worked hard to pull it out. Her start values and scores jumped tremendously (Saturday). I let her know that a lot of the points were hers.”
The sophomore finished with a 34.15 total including a 9.0 on the beam and an 8.5 on the vault. Classmate Olivia Aleman still led the Centaurs in scoring as she finished second in the All-Around with a 36.85 total. The sophomore finished first in vault (9.45) and floor (9.4) and third on bars (9.15). Freshman Julia Kerr also contributed a third-place finish in the beam with a 9.15.
The Centaurs are now 6-1 in the ECC as they also received a forfeit victory over East Lyme. Killingly is now 5-2.
Both Woodstock Academy and Killingly finished off the regular season with a meet at Norwich Free Academy on Monday. The meet ended too late for this edition.
It’s good timing for that as the ECC Championship meet, where the Centaurs will be looking to make it 13 straight titles, takes place at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Centaurs did fall to 7-2 overall as they lost Saturday to non-league foe, Daniel Hand from Madison, in the tri-meet.
Hand’s Morgan Flickinger was the top All-Around performer with a 36.95 total to lead the Tigers to a 139.2 total.
Indoor Track
It was a surprise to many when the ECC announced recently that the league’s indoor track championship meets were going to be held at their traditional site, the Coast Guard Academy in New London.
The site was scheduled to be undergoing refurbishment but the ECC, which had originally planned to journey to the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven for the championships, was allowed to utilize the Coast Guard facility on Saturday for both the league’s Division I and II championships.
“I was surprised and there are pros and cons to the venue,” said Woodstock Academy coach Josh Welch. “The odd length track often means odd length relays so no chance to qualify (for state competition).”
For example, the 4x800m relay is a 4x720m at Coast Guard and the 4x200m is a 4x180m.
A good thing did happen Saturday as the league did figure out a way to run a normal 4x400m and that was good for the Centaurs quartet of Owen Tracy, Joel Koleszar, Carter Saracina and Charles Caggiano who qualified for States in 3 minutes, 54 seconds in the Division I competition.
Christian Menounos finished second in the 1000m in 2:41.20 which put him just 3 ½ seconds off the school record. He also finished second in the 3200m and ran a strong 800m leg in the sprint medley relay.
Jared Eaton also had a good performance as he finished second in the shotput with a personal best 47-feet, 3 ½ inches. Eaton is just 8 ½ feet away from qualifying for Nationals.
Senior Liam Wilcox also had a strong day as he finished fourth in the high jump, clearing the bar in a personal best 5-6. He also placed fourth in the 55m hurdles.
The performances helped the Centaurs finish in fourth place overall in the ECC Division I competition with 48 points. East Lyme finished first.
The girls’ team also took home a fourth-place finish but were much closer to the Vikings who took first in the girls’ competition as well. East Lyme finished with 136 while the Centaurs put together a 72-point performance.
Juliet Allard won the 300m in a personal best 44.45 seconds. The girls’ 4x720m team of Sydney Lord, Tessa Brown, Olivia Tracy and Julia Coyle also brought home first-place medals.
Coyle was also second in the 1600m while Bella Sorrentino was third in the shotput and fifth in the 55m hurdles. Sorrentino, her sister Mia, Talia Tremblay and Allard were third in the 4x180m relay. Magdalena Myslenski was fourth in the shotput and Tremblay was fourth in the 600m. Olivia Tracy also qualified for the States with a personal best time in the 1000m.
Speaking of States, that is next on the agenda for the Centaurs. The girls will go to New Haven first as they compete on Friday in the Class L state championship meet. The Centaurs will send 14 athletes to that competition. It will be a quick trip home and trip back to New Haven for Welch as the boys compete on Saturday morning beginning at 10 a.m. in the Class M state championship. Twenty boys will make the trek to New Haven for that competition.
Boys’ Basketball
Coach Donte Adams knew he had to accomplish one thing; keep Killingly senior Yianni Baribeau off balance. To accomplish that, the defense was going to have to step up.
Baribeau scored 17 points in the first quarter alone in the meeting between the two teams at Killingly earlier in the season. The plan was to keep switching defenses and keep Killingly, and most of all Baribeau, guessing. It worked to perfection.
Last Wednesday, Baribeau finished with 10 points and the Centaurs who walked off their home floor with a 40-30 win.
Baribeau had eight of his points in the first half and then, saddled with a bit of foul trouble, scored only two in the second half, on 1-for-8 shooting.
“We keyed in on him and just wanted to make sure he didn’t get as many points as last time. We followed him everywhere and denied him to make sure he didn’t get the ball in the first place,” senior Brandon Nagle said.
The Centaurs led by only a point at the end of the third quarter, but rained a trio of 3-pointers, two by Garrett Bushey, down on Killingly to start the second quarter.
It helped Woodstock build a double-digit lead, 21-11, in the first five minutes of the quarter and it maintained it for the most part.
A basket by James D’Alleva-Bochain off a nice feed by Hunter Larson had the Centaurs in front, 26-17, at the half.
Both teams experienced a very quiet third quarter with Woodstock getting a sole bucket, a 3-pointer from Larson (14 points), and Killingly getting a pair of treys from Johnny Kazantis who led the visitors with 14 points.
Nagle hadn’t hit a bucket before the fourth quarter but had seven points, including a 3-pointer, to keep Killingly at bay. The win raised the Centaurs record to 4-11.
They still have a shot to make the state tournament but it’s a tough road. To get to eight wins, they can only afford to lose one of their last five games.
But while a state tournament berth is always a goal, improvement as the season goes on is even more important.
The Centaurs hosted St. Bernard the day before and the Saints won, 63-35. Carter Morissette and Bushey each finished with nine points to lead Woodstock. Nagle added seven points and seven rebounds and James D’Alleva-Bochain had eight boards. Amare Marshall led St. Bernard with 14 points while Alex Johnson added 11.
Boys’ Hockey
Jan. 21 was a long time ago. The boys’ hockey team certainly knows that. That was the last time it stepped on the ice to play a game.
Two weeks later, the Centaurs finally got to don the skates again in a competitive manner and posted a 5-0 shutout victory over Smithfield.
Donnie Sousa took a pass from Maxx Corradi and tallied just 3 minutes, 49 seconds into the contest. But that was also the score at the end of the first 15-minute period.
The story was almost identical in the second period. This time, Corradi was the one who put it in the net just 3:36 into the period off an assist from Seamus Coleman.
It, however, was also the only goal of the period. But the rust finally peeled off in the third as both Corradi and Sousa netted their second goals of the game and Noah Sampson had a goal and two assists to guarantee the Centaurs the win.
Girls’ Hockey
It was not the best of time to catch the Avon/Southington Cooperative team. This season, there really is not a good time to meet the Nighthawks who now possess a 13-1 record. But it was especially difficult when it was the last game in a four-game week for the girls’ hockey team.
The Centaurs hung in early but lost to Avon/Southington, 5-1, Saturday.
Woodstock scored the first goal of the game as Maci Corradi was able to poke the puck into the net just 6 minutes, 34 seconds into the game.
It was one of only two shots that the Centaurs were able to get at Nighthawks goalie Sophia Ojala in the opening period.
“That was just plain hard work by Maci,” said assistant coach Jeff Boshka. “We knew we probably weren’t going to get many chances and when we did, we had to take advantage of them and that’s what she did.”
It was the 13th goal of the season for the freshman who had help from Riley Faber and Ellary Sampson.
But Avon/Southington tied the game 3 ½ minutes later.
It was the only shot that eluded senior goalie Elizabeth Morgis who had 20 saves in the first period alone and finished with 45.
Eventually, the Avon/Southington pressure caught up to Morgis and the Woodstock defense, scoring three more goals in the second period and then added another goal in the third for the final.
The Centaurs celebrated Senior Night on Friday but could not celebrate a victory as well as they lost to Daniel Hand, 4-2. Prior to Friday night’s game, the Centaurs honored their four seniors; Co-captains Bryn Miller and Keynila Hochard and fellow seniors Caitlyn Flynn and Morgis.
“It was a special night for some great kids. The younger players read a tribute to each of them, tears were shed, smiles and hugs were given and it was just a wonderful night. They’re a great group, great leaders,” Boshka said.
Sampson scored her third goal in three games in the first period to get the Centaurs on the board early. The first period ended in a 1-all tie but Daniel Hand took over the rest of the way. There were two goals in the second period and one more goal in the third.
Woodstock did counter with a late second period goal as Paige Hunckley, off assists from Sampson and Mia Williamson, tallied with 11 seconds to play in the second.
After not playing in nine days, the Centaurs opened the week by scoring a pair of victories over the Fairfield Co-Op team, winning 2-1 and then won Wednesday 6-0.
Flynn got things started off an assist from Williamson to make it 1-0 just 8 minutes, 24 seconds into the game. Corradi followed a few minutes later with help from Flynn and Williamson and Sampson, who had scored her first career goal on Monday, finished off the first period scoring with just under three minutes left off an assist from Allison Griswold. In the third period Corradi scored her second goal of the game three minutes into the period with help from Flynn. Sophia Gouveia tallied off assists from Sampson and Juliette Hammer four minutes later and Williamson took a pace from Corradi to finish off the scoring with 6 ½ minutes to play.
On Monday, Hochard knocked home the game-winner for the Centaurs with just over seven minutes to play off an assist from Hammer. Hochard was also involved in Woodstock’s first goal as she and Gouveia both assisted on the first career goal for Sampson in the first period. The Centaurs generally outplayed their hosts as they outshot Fairfield, 35-13.
The defense also stepped up as it killed off a pair of 5-on-3 penalty opportunities for Fairfield.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
Madison Martinez concentrates on her beam routine. Photo by Sean Saucier/Woodstock Academy.
Those who won medals at the ECC Div. I indoor track championship. Photo by Josh Welch/Woodstock Academy.
The Woodstock Academy girls’ hockey team celebrated Senior Night Feb. 3 and honored, from left: Co-Captain Keynila Hochard, Caitlyn Flynn, Co-Captain Bryn Miller and Elizabeth Morgis. Photo by Jared Boutin/Woodstock Academy.
..