centaurs win pg 7 3-10-22
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caption:
Champions
The Woodstock Academy gymnastics team proudly displays the CIAC State Open championship plaque (held by junior and State Open individual champion Taylor Markley). Photo by Kasey Tocchio.
The Woodstock Academy gymnastics team is the best in the State for a third time in five years.
The Centaurs captured the State Open championship with a 141.525 total March 5.
That total put them ahead of second-place Daniel Hand High from Madison which finished with a 139.575 total.
“I think this was something we’ve been gearing toward,” said coach Kasey Tocchio. “We knew we had the injuries and other stuff but we knew that by the end of the season, we would have healthy bodies, a full team and we would be ready to go. It was an awesome way to finish out.”
The Centaurs were coming off their 11th straight state championship a week ago and that performance buoyed their hopes heading into the State Open.
“This one was really special,” Tocchio said. “There were some awesome Connecticut teams and I was competing against one of my good friends, (coach) Kelly (Smith) from Daniel Hand. It was neck-and-neck, we’re not winning by five or six points. It came down to staying on beam, sticking some of the landings. It was well deserved. The girls worked really hard for it.”
Junior Taylor Markley led the way, saving her best for the last state meet of the season as she finished with a season-high 38.775 All-Around performance to take home the individual title from the Open. Markley finished first in the competition in all four events.
Markley had the additional burden of going into the competition with all eyes upon her as she was seeded No. 1. “There was a little pressure but I think high school meets are just fun. I like to go out there and have fun. I don’t really worry about the pressure or anything,” Markley said.
The Centaurs, seeded second as a team coming into the meet, started on the bars which was fine with Markley.
“I like starting on bars and ending on vault,” she said.
There was an issue with the bars before the competition as the tension cables were not holding tight. Once that was figured out, Markley felt she had a strong first warmup routine although the second wasn’t so great.
“In the competition, I just (tossed aside) that second warmup and knew I could do it, and I saw my Mom in the stands right before and I knew I could,” Markley said.
She finished with a 9.75 on bars. She followed that up with a 9.65 on beam.
“She was a little wobbly, a little more than normal, but it was such a solid effort,” Tocchio said. “She followed that with a beautiful routine on the floor.”
Markley scored a 9.575 on the floor and finished off with a 9.8 vault to win the individual title.
Freshman Olivia Aleman finished third in the All-Around competition with a 36.375. Aleman finished with a 9.275 vault; 9.2 floor, 9.1 bars and 8.8 on the beam.
“Olivia had a great meet and, like we have said all year, she is still not showing everything that she can do. There is just so much more to come from her. She was just so solid on the four events for us. That was huge.”
It wasn’t all that long ago that the Centaurs sported two other gymnasts, Paige Stuyniski and Grace Logan, who talked about pushing each other both in practice and the meets.
The dynamic between Markley and Aleman is similar.
“We push each other and also do USA gymnastics together. We’ve been together for a really long time and it’s nice to have her as a teammate on both teams,” Markley said. “Liv is a great gymnast and is getting better and better every meet as she comes back from her injury. She is still not at her full potential which is crazy because she is so good.”
Logan and Stuyniski led the Centaurs to State Open titles from 2014 through 2017.
“I feel like every team is different and this team especially,” Tocchio said. “(Senior) Lindsey (Gillies) has kind of gone through it. Taylor, as a junior, hasn’t really ever competed in high school (she was injured much of her freshman season), Olivia is a freshman and we have three other girls who have not been there before. It’s a completely new team and one that hasn’t experienced that back-to-back championship feeling so this one was definitely different than past ones.” Gillies also had a strong meet for the Centaurs, tying for third in vault with a 9.3. The senior scored an 8.675 on bars; 8.5 on beam and 8.1 on the floor.
The Centaurs will have another new experience March 12 — the New England gymnastics championship. “I think the girls just have to stay confident in their own minds, do what they know how to do. Everyone is doing what they are capable of in their routines, they just have to believe in themselves,” Tocchio said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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psa pg 7 3-10-22
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caption, page 8:
Landon Pettigrew. Photo by Heather Stewart
PSA soccer
player: Look
at him now
Shortly after enrolling at Putnam Science Academy for the spring semester of 2021, Landon Pettigrew was talking with one of his teachers.
He told the teacher that he had been one of the better players in the ECC while at Plainfield High School, prompting the teacher to respond that he’ll be able to then help out on PSA’s soccer team.
“Um, no,” Pettigrew quickly answered. “With this team, I (stink).”
“I saw our captain (Aidan Muller) and he was the best soccer player I’ve ever played with, by a really wide margin. I was like ‘Oh my God, I’m not even going to play here.’”
It turns out that may have been a little bit of an exaggeration because look at him now. Last week, Pettigrew, who lives in Plainfield, announced that he was going to play soccer next year at Division II D’Youville College in Buffalo, N.Y.
“I really like the coach there,” he said. “The soccer facilities were really good. I know a couple of the players there (former PSA players Paulo Carvalho and Luis Felipe Santos) and they told me that I’d fit in and really have a chance to compete with the team and compete for a starting spot.
“Before PSA, I thought I was just going to screw off and get some random job and get money. I wouldn’t be going to college next year if I didn’t come here. So I’m excited to go. Now I’ve got a chance to shoot my shot and go to college and play soccer. I’m excited to go to college and get my degree and play soccer at the same time.
Mustangs soccer coach Ryan Dunnigan said Pettigrew, a reserve defender, didn’t (“stink”) but was rather getting used to playing at a higher level. The speed of play, the level of skill, the fitness requirements that Pettigrew was used to, all changed when he got to PSA. He was also behind the 8-ball because the rest of the team had been there for a while and was used to the expectations.
“When he came here in the spring, he was definitely farther behind,” Dunnigan said. “But this summer he really took into control what he could control, which was his fitness. He came in a lot fitter and I could tell that he was playing and working out and running throughout the summer. When we played against each other in the fall and would go 11 versus 11 in practice, there wasn’t a big drop in level between him and another kid who I would consider a ‘first team guy’.
“He might go through some of those growing pains again next year, but I think he’ll transition into it as well as he did here.”
D’Youville, a school of roughly 3,000 students, just completed its first season at the D-II level after moving up from D-III. The Saints, coached by Brendan Murphy, play in the East Coast Conference.
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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police pg 8 3-10-22
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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.
March 1
Yamilette Vega, 33, North Street, Taftville; failure to display marker plate, operating an unregistered motor vehicle, misuse of registration, insufficient insurance and operating with a suspended license.
March 5
Dylan H. Leduc, 21, State Avenue, Dayville; operating under the influence, operating while under suspension, failure to maintain lane.
Matthew Dunnack, 33, Pomfret Street, Putnam; disorderly conduct.
Katie Maurice, 30, Pomfret Street, Putnam; disorderly conduct.
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Mural pg 1 3-17-22
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Mural on the fast track
Get out your paintbrushes; come help
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — All the pieces are falling into place.
Juneteenth (June 19) is the targeted installation date of the MLK39 Racial Equity Mural for northeastern Connecticut. It will be unveiled on the side of the Hale YMCA Youth and Family Center.
Internationally renowned local muralist Emida Roller said the mural will measure 12 feet by 40 feet and will be installed on the two-story wall, visible from Kennedy Drive.
There will be 15 8-foot by 4-foot aluminum panels.
The panels are removable. The Hale YMCA has committed to the panels gracing the exterior wall of the YMCA for at least two years.
Roller said the mural will be painted on Polytab materials indoors and then adhered to the panels before the exterior installation.
The northeast corner was surveyed on how the mural should represent MLK and this community. Roller, who is also working on or has completed other MLK murals in the state, said the Putnam project received 128 responses. “This is the first time I have had this many responses. There were many similar responses, and a very good variety of ideas shared on the survey. From local, regional and national civil rights and human rights heroes to great MLK quotes. Diversity of cultures to the underground railroad to freedom marches.”
She said: “The design is done (just awaiting the faces of local kids to be sent to me). The mural will feature local children, local plants and much more. Local and national heroes- Prudence Crandall, Sarah Harris and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will also be on the mural.”
Two “community paint days” are scheduled and looking for volunteers. The first one is from 12:30 to 7:30 p.m. March 23 at Hale YMCA Youth and Family Center. The second one is on April 6 at Quinebaug Valley Community College at a time to be determined.
Volunteers can register online at https://www.theriseupgroup.org/northeastctpublicart.
The Putnam MLK39 Steering Committee is a partnership between local community members, Town of Putnam, local businesses, the Hale YMCA Youth and Family Center, and RiseUP for Arts/Northeast CT Murals.
The project hit its funding goal. Funding came from “generous sponsorships from Centreville Bank, Jewett City Savings, bankHometown, Sawmill Pottery, and more than 50 donations from individuals and organizations from the local community,” according to the committee.
Important Links:
Volunteer Signup: https://www.theriseupgroup.org/northeastctpublicart
MLK39 Racial Equity Mural Tour: https://www.theriseupgroup.org/mlk39