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Clears Hurdle
Woodstock Academy freshman Juliet Allard clears the final hurdle in the 300m race. Allard finished first and qualified for States in the event against Fitch.
Crosses
Line
Talia Tremblay crosses the finish line first for Woodstock in the 400m race against Fitch. Tremblay also won the 200m race on a very windy day on the South Campus track.
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A pleasant spring day in late April, it was not. Temperatures were in the mid-50’s but the wind felt like it was gusting at about the same speed as the temperature.
It made it feel more like early March April 27. Those conditions made it difficult for Woodstock and Fitch girls’ track teams.
“The 200m and 300 (meter hurdles) were the worst to run. (Runners) really have to pick up speed, slingshot around the corner and you just get slapped in the face with this wind. It makes it a challenge to keep moving,” said coach Josh Welch.
The Centaurs persevered and the result was an easy 115-30 win over Fitch which raised Woodstock’s record to 2-0 overall and in Div. I of the ECC.
Junior Bella Sorrentino took part in the 4x100m relay, the 100m hurdles, the shotput and the long jump.
She ran the first leg of the 4x100 and helped the Centaurs build the early lead and pull out the win. She followed with a first-place finish in both the hurdles and shotput and was second in the long jump.
She qualified for state competition in all four of her events in the meet with NFA the week before.
“I don’t have to worry about qualifying and can just concentrate on my times and stuff,” Sorrentino said.
Welch said: “She took on the shotput and was fantastic there again. Her long jump was solid, not her personal best, but still great and her hurdles continue to be really impressive. She’s really helping to hold down the 4x100 team. She is part of what glues it together at practice and at races.”
Woodstock garnered firsts in everything except the high jump and long jump.
Sophomore Talia Tremblay won the 200 and 400m races and was a member of the winning 4x400 team. Tremblay’s 64-second time in the 400 qualified her for state competition in the event.
Senior Linsey Arends ran and finished first in both the 800 and 1600-meter races and then came back to help the Centaurs win the 4x400.
“That was a tough thing to do and it mimics something we might ask her to do against E. Lyme (this Wednesday). It’s a triple event that you will not see p.r’s in anywhere which you want to see as an athlete but it will take three victories from an (opposing) team,” Welch said.
Freshman Juliet Allard won both the 100m and the 300m hurdles, qualifying for the States in the hurdles with a 49.6-second finish.
In field events, junior Magdalena Myslenski had a personal best as she cleared the pole vault bar at 7-feet, 6-inches despite the wind.
“In practice, she’s pushing 8-feet, 8-6, pretty comfortably so she is hitting 7-6 like clockwork. It was good to see her put it down despite the wind,” Welch said.
Myslenski also placed first in the discus and javelin.
The girls’ track team also participated in the Dave Tetlow Relays, formerly known as the Ledyard Relays, April 30.
The unique team-oriented competition features events not seen during the regular track season.
The Centaurs took home first-place medals from one of those, winning the 4x1600m race. Lauren Brule, Julia Coyle, Arends and Leah Castle formed the winning team.
Woodstock also took a second in the 4x100m hurdles relay with Abby Morin, Jill Edwards, Sorrentino and Rebecca Nazer earning the medal.
Boys’ Track: Centaurs Fall to Fitch
The Woodstock boys’ track team saved its best for last. The Centaurs may have lost to Fitch, 93-57, in Groton April 27 but they had their share of highlights.
None better, according to coach Peter Lusa, than the effort of the 4x400m relay team in the final running event of the meet.
The Falcons broke out to the early lead but Owen Tracy and Vince Bastura gradually closed the gap and then Bastura handed the baton to senior Ian Hoffman.
Hoffman ran around the track in 54 seconds and took over the lead just 5 meters from the finish line for the win.
The win was difficult because of the wind.
Woodstock (0-2, 0-2 ECC Div. I) received another fine performance from senior Keenan LaMontagne. LaMontagne finished first in both the discus and shotput and recorded a personal best 163-foot, 7-inch throw in the discus.
Jared Eaton finished second in the shotput and got his personal best in the discus, 119-6, good enough for a third-place finish.
Another personal best came in the javelin where Silas Strandson finished second with a throw of 132-6 for second place and Chase Young took third.
Woodstock finished first in two distance races: Vince Bastura won the 1600m in 4 minutes, 55 seconds; and Christian Menounos followed up with a win in the 3200m.
“The pace wasn’t very fast, and Christian was either first or second the whole race with two different Fitch runners challenging him at times during the race. He took the lead for the last time with 400 meters to go and then, blasted through the last 200 meters to win by 5 meters,” Lusa said.
The 4x100m relay team of Scout Favreau, Braeden Emerson, Carter Saracina and Jeff Phongsa also brought home a first-place finish.
The Centaurs traveled to the Dave Tetlow Relays in Ledyard where LaMontagne had a pretty eventful day. He won the discus competition at the event with a throw of 158-feet, 5-inches. That effort broke the former record at the event, 156-1, which had stood since 1989.
LaMontagne also won the shotput competition.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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